The 5th Beatle Teaches Math: Saturday Soundtrack

Billy Preston, who played with the Beatles during their roof top concert, who is one of only two people sharing label credit with the Beatles, who played the part of Sgt. Pepper in the Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Heats Club Band (He sang "Get Back"), who helped the Beatles stick together long enough to complete the Abbey Road album, and who lead all the assembled musicians in "My Sweet Lord" at George Harrison's memorial concert, was one of the most exciting performance musicians of the last 30 years. Here he is playing and singing what is probably his biggest commercial hit. Like some other songs in the Saturday Soundtrack series, I remember first hearing it in my brother Mark's car. Unfortunately, it isn't Billy Preston's best song, and it isn't on the Hammond B3 organ with a Leslie speaker, the instrument that best revealed his musical heart. (There was also a Hammond B3 with a Leslie in the church I grew up in. I never learned to play it but I certainly used to play with it.)