Billy Preston, the legendary keyboard player, pop star and "Fifth Beatle," who died on June 6 at the age of 59, is also a Topanga Canyon legend. Preston lived in the Canyon from 1974 through the early '80s. He was known for hosting wild parties and playing at community fundraisers, and was Grand Marshall of the 1980 Topanga Days Parade.
"He was a ‘heavy'–the biggest celebrity Topanga had for quite a while," says Topanga filmmaker Tom Mitchell. Mitchell and his wife Jeanne profiled Preston for the Messenger around the time Preston played in the big Community House fundraiser to help Topanga recover from the floods of 1980.
Mitchell describes Preston as warm, hospitable and fun-loving, with "big-time energy." "There were parties every night at his place," he says, "and all night jam sessions."
 Billy Preston was a major presence in the Topanga music and party scenes in the ‘70s and ‘80s. He graced the cover of the Messenger in 1980 when he performed at the fundraiser to help Topanga recover from that year's flooding. |
Preston began performing as a child prodigy in the '50s, and became one of the most admired R&B keyboard players in the world, performing with everyone from Ray Charles to Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones and many, many others. He had pop hits with "Nothing From Nothing" and "Will it Go Round in Circles," as well as writing Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful." In 1962, while touring Europe with Little Richard, Preston met the Beatles, who were then playing in Hamburg. He later became close friends with George Harrison, who brought him in to play piano on "Get Back" and organ on "Let It Be." He also performed in Harrison's "Concert For Bangladesh" in 1970.
Preston purchased his home on Waveview Drive in 1974 from jazz piano player Mel Henke.
When he lived in Topanga, Preston seemed to have adopted a Western look–photos from the 1980 fundraiser show him in cowboy boots and hat, and Mitchell also recalled riding horses down the creek with Preston and Michael Horse "doing the cowboy and Indian thing."After struggling with drug addiction for years, Preston fell into a coma in November 2005, and never recovered consciousness.
