News & Updates — Rolling Stones

Billy Preston / Sept 2, 1946 - June 6, 2006

Billy Preston / Sept 2, 1946 - June 6, 2006

Happy birthday to another one they sometimes call The Fifth Beatle, Billy Preston. The future top session man grew up in Los Angeles a piano prodigy. At 10 he was performing with Mahalia Jackson and was on TV at 11 dueting with Nat King Cole. He played a young WC Handy in the biopic St Louis Blues in '58. He joined Little Richard's group in '62 as the band organist, meeting the Beatles in Germany. In '63 he played on Sam Cooke's absolute classic Night Beat. The same year Cooke produced Preston's first album, 16 Year Old Soul. He joined Ray...

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Bob Wills / March 6, 1905 - May 13, 1975

Bob Wills / March 6, 1905 - May 13, 1975

Some may say it's not "cool" to like honky music but those hipster blowhards may be missing out on the godfather of country swing. This fiddlin' bandleader Bob Wills helped set the template for jazzy licks in hillbilly music and his bands burned up dances of up to 10,000 people a night around Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, the West Coast and the South. He originally came from a musical family in Texas and played mostly with young black musicians before hoboing and train-hopping. He married, became a barber and hit the stage as a comic/musician and cut his first records...

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Bobby Womack / March 4, 1944 - July 27, 2014

Bobby Womack / March 4, 1944 - July 27, 2014

The career of the great Bobby Womack spanned many generations, styles and roles...from the doo-wop with his brothers in The Valentinos to session work with everybody from the Rolling Stones to Sam Cooke. He was a major influence on Jimi Hendrix. He was a left-handed guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, producer, soundtrack composer (Across 110th St is a classic!), label head...you have certainly heard the work of Bobby beyond the few songs of his on oldies radio. Just a SMALL sampling of artists he collaborated with include Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, Sly & the Family Stone, Gabor Szabo,...

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