AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Billy Preston

Artist:Billy Preston

Song:Nothing from Nothing

Album:Ultimate Collection

These days Billy Preston is probably best remembered for playing keyboards on Beatles albums in the late 60s. But he went on to have success in the mid 70s. The 1974 single Nothing from Nothing was one of his two #1 hits. He was born Sept. 2, 1946 in Houston but he grew up in Los Angeles with his mom. He was a self taught child prodigy who played organ with gospel singer Mahalia Jackson at age ten. Then he appeared on Nat King Cole's TV show singing Blueberry Hill with Cole. Then he appeared in the 1958 W.C. Handy biopic St. Louis Blues playing a young W.C. Handy. Preston joined Little Richard's band in 1962. And while touring Europe, he met The Beatles in Hamburg, Germany. He released his 1963 debut album 16 Yr. Old Soul on Sam Cooke's SAR label. Preston signed with Vee Jay for the 1965 album The Most Exciting Organ Ever and performed on the TV show Shindig!. Preston joined Ray Charles' band in 1967. Musicians were asking him to play on their records. But the big one was The Beatles. Preston played on the Get Back sessions. He was known as The Fifth Beatle. Preston appeared in the film Let It Be. I recommend watching the 2021 documentary The Beatles: Get Back which features the concert on the roof of the Apple Records building. This was The Beatles' final concert. Preston plays electric piano. That documentary can be streamed on Disney+. Preston signed with Apple and released the 1969 album That's the Way God Planned It. The single That's the Way God Planned It was a hit in England. George Harrison produced that album and Preston toured with Harrison after The Beatles split up. Preston signed with A&M Records in 1971 and that's when he had his greatest success. The 1972 instrumental Outa-Space reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then he topped the charts with the 1973 single Will It Go Round in Circles. And he topped the charts again with the 1974 single Nothing from Nothing. And that was the peak of Preston's career. Nothing from Nothing is from Preston's 1974 album The Kids & Me. Preston produced and played keyboards. He wrote most of the songs with longtime songwriting partner Bruce Fisher. They wrote plenty of songs together. You can get all of Preston's hits on this Hip-O budget comp. Preston also played on The Rolling Stones albums and toured with them. Preston left A&M and signed with Motown in 1979. He also recorded for Word's CCM label Myrrh. He scored a 1979 top five hit with the single With You I'm Born Again featuring  Syreeta. He recorded for Motown until 1984. By the 80s, Preston was addicted to cocaine and alcohol. After leaving Motown, he played sessions with Luther Vandross and others. He went to jail for cocaine possession and insurance fraud. After leaving jail, Preston's health deteriorated until he died on June 6, 2006 at age 59. Here's Billy Preston and an all star band performing Nothing from Nothing in a 1975 episode of The Midnight Special. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Gene Pitney

Artist:Gene Pitney

Song:Only Love Can Break a Heart

Album:Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart: The Collection

Gene Pitney was one of the top singers of the early 60s. He had several top ten hits. The 1962 single Only Love Can Break a Heart was his biggest hit. He also wrote songs. He was born Feb. 17, 1940 in Hartford, CT. and he grew up in Rockville, CT. He listened to doo wop and R&B singer Clyde McPhatter was a big influence. He had a band in high school and he recorded a couple of singles for Decca and recorded as Billy Bryan. After releasing the 1960 single I'll Find You on the Festival label in 1960, he signed with songwriter Aaron Schroeder's new label Musicor. Schroeder had written several Elvis Presley hits including Elvis' biggest hit It's Now or Never. Then Pitney had a little luck when he sang the theme for the 1961 film Town Without Pity and it reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was nominated for an Oscar and Pitney sang it on the broadcast. That was followed by Pitney's first top five hit (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance and that was followed by Only Love Can Break a Heart. That song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The #1 song at the time was He's a Rebel by The Crystals. Guess what? Pitney wrote that song. The album Only Love Can Break a Heart was produced by Schroeder and his frequent partner Wally Gold. Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote Only Love Can Break a Heart and (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance and Bacharach arranged and conducted. Those two singles turned out to be Pitney's biggest hits. Musicor was sold to Gusto Records and they license Pitney's music to oldies labels. This 2CD comp is on the British label Music Club and is available as a budget CD. Pitney was actually more popular in England than the US. Like many singers of that era, Pitney career was derailed by Beatlemania. After a couple more hits, Pitney turned to the country market and recorded with George Jones. By the 70s, he was touring mostly in England, Europe and Australia. Pitney topped the British charts in 1989 when he recorded his 1967 single Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart with Soft Cell lead singer Marc Almond. Pitney was inducted into The Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Pitney was on tour in Cardiff, Wales when he died in his hotel room from a heart attack on Apr. 5, 2006 at age 66. Here's Gene Pitney performing Only Love Can Break a Heart. This is the only live footage I could find of Pitney performing this song. And yes, he is lip syncing but he would have lip synced anyway.  

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Bill Frisell

Artist:Bill Frisell

Song:Moon River

Album:When You Wish Upon a Star

I have written about jazz guitarist Bill Frisell before. But he's so versatile and records so many different kinds of music, he's kind of hard to classify. This recording of Henry Mancini's Moon River is from the 2016 album When You Wish Upon a Star. It's an album of movie themes. Frisell studied with Jim Hall at Berklee in Boston. Hall is probably his main influence and Frisell has mostly stuck with acoustic guitar. Frisell's big break came in 1982 when Pat Metheny was unable to make a recording session and he recommended Frisell to drummer Paul Motian. Frisell became ECM Records' in house guitarist through the 80s and recorded three albums for ECM. He also worked a lot with John Zorn in his band Naked City and also Paul Motian and Joe Lovano. Then Frisell signed with Warner's Nonesuch label in 1989 and recorded for them for twenty years. And that is when most jazz fans got to hear Frisell on albums like Have a Little Faith (1992) and This Land (1994). Since leaving Nonesuch in 2009, Frisell has recorded for Savoy, OKeh and he currently records for Blue Note. He first recorded Moon River on the 2001 album Bill Frisell with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones. That album is out of print. But when I saw that Frisell recorded an album of movie themes and that was more interesting anyway. Of course Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer wrote Moon River for the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's. Star Audrey Hepburn sang it in the film and it won a Best Original Song Oscar. Andy Williams performed it on the Oscar broadcast. It's generally considered to be his signature song though it was never released as a single. The album When You Wish Upon a Star is on OKeh and was produced by Lee Townsend who was recommended by Charlie Haden's daughter Petra Haden who sings on this album. Other musicians are Eyvind King on viola, Thomas Morgan on bass and Rudy Royston on drums. Morgan and Royston have toured with Frisell. I know there are jazz fans who like jazz versions of movie themes so this would be of interest to them. As I said, Frisell currently records for Blue Note and he released an album in Feb. 2026. He will appear at Birdland in New York with Ron Carter in October. Then he will tour Europe. Here's Bill Frisell with Thomas Morgan and Rudy Royston performing Moon River at the 2025 Jarasum Jazz Festival in South Korea. 

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Richard Elliot

Artist:Richard Elliot

Song:When a Man Loves a Woman

Album:The Best of Richard Elliot

Saxophonist Richard Elliot was a member of Tower of Power in the 80s. Since leaving the band, he has had a lot of success in the Smooth Jazz market. Elliot recorded for Blue Note in the 90s. This 1989 cover of the Percy Sledge classic When a Man Loves a Woman is one of his most popular recordings. he was born Jan. 16, 1960 in Glasgow, Scotland but his family moved to Los Angeles when he was three. He played clarinet as a child and switched to saxophone as a teen. Elliot was a fan of Motown and Philadelphia International. So he moved to Detroit in 1972 and toured with Natalie Cole and The Pointer Sisters. Elliot returned to Los Angeles and while touring with Melissa Manchester, he also played in the fusion band Kittyhawk led by guitarist Daniel Bortz. Elliot played lyricon and saxophone. After Kittyhawk released two albums on EMI America, Elliot left to join Tower of Power in 1982. He also worked with Yellowjackets, recorded his first solo album in 1984 and played sessions. The 1989 album Take to the Skies was one of three albums that Elliot recorded for Intima Records which was owned by Enigma Records with Capitol distribution. After Elliot had success with his recording of When a Man Loves a Woman, he signed with Capitol owned Blue Note Records. Elliot wrote and produced most of the songs. Musicians were Alan Hinds on guitar, Naoki Yanai on bass and Bob Harsen on drums and percussion. I think this was his band at the time. Elliot played keyboards and sax. Bobby Caldwell and Marilyn Scott were special guests. You can get When a Man Loves a Woman on this budget comp. Elliot recorded for Blue Note until 2001. He currently records for Shanachie meaning he owns the recordings. Shanachie is strictly a distributor. Elliot's latest album was released in 2024. Like many Smooth Jazz artists, Elliot is always touring and he does a lot of Smooth Jazz Cruises. Here's Richard Elliot performing When a Man Loves a Woman on the German TV show Ohne Filter. There's a video for When a Man Loves a Woman but Elliot barely appears in it. So I prefer this.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Marcin Wacilewski Trio

Artist:Marcin Wasilewski Trio

Song:Cinema Paradiso

Album:January

Polish jazz pianist Marcin Wasilewski is a protege of Polish jazz trumpeter Tomasz Stanko. So not surprisingly, Wasilewski's music is similar to Stanko's and he also records for ECM Records. So if you like minimalist jazz, this could be for you. I find it to be a little too minimalist. But that seems to be true of ECM's music in general. ECM owner Manfred Eicher likes this style so it's not changing. Wasilewski was born Nov. 11, 1975 in Slawno, Poland. He started playing piano at age seven and studied classical music in high school. But he got into jazz and at age 13 formed the Simple Acoustic Trio with friends Slawomir Kurkicwicz on bass and Michal Miskiewicz on drums. These three have played together ever since and they are still together. After self releasing a couple of albums, Stanko hired them to tour and record. After recording three albums with Stanko, Wasilewski signed with ECM and released the 2005 album Trio. This cover of Ennio Morricone's theme from the film Cinema Paradiso is from the 2008 album January. Wasilewski wrote half of the ten songs. The covers are not standards and includes a cover of Prince's Diamonds and Pearls. This album is available as a digital download. As I said, this trio is still together. Their last two albums have been with tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano. Lovano has recorded for ECM since 2019. The album Homage was released last year. They are currently touring at home and in other European countries. They toured the US in 2024. Obviously, they are a much bigger deal in Poland. Here's the Marcin Wasilewski Trio performing Cinema Paradiso. 

  

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Canton Jones

Artist:Canton Jones

Song:Be Healed

Album:Dominionaire

Canton Jones is a gospel artist who writes and produces on his own label. He sometimes raps and his songs can be controversial as he sometimes covers social issues. He was born Jan. 9, 1977 in Deerfield Beach, FL. which is near Miami. As a child, he sang in his father's vocal group. And by age 16, he was writing and producing for others. Jones attended Morehouse College in Atlanta where he joined the Morehouse Glee Club. They sang for celebrities, at the 1996 Olympic Games and held the first ever gospel concert at The Pentagon. Jones' girlfriend at the time who became his wife took him to World Changers Church International led by televangelist Creflo Dollar. Jones says that in his three years there, he grew as a Christian and rededicated his life to Christ. He started his own label CAJO International and released the 2002 album 20 Years, 3 Months and 12 Days followed by the 2004 album The Password. He also appeared on rapper Lil iROCC Williams 2004 album The Sequel and performed the song You and Me on the various artists comp Holy Hip-Hop: Taking the Gospel to the Streets. He was in the World Changers Church choir and a youth pastor signed him to the church's record label Arrow Records with EMI Gospel distribution. After three albums for Arrow, Jones returned to his own label and released the 2011 album Dominionaire. As with all his albums, Jones writes and produces everything. Special guests include Dietrick Haddon. This 2CD album is available on CD. He followed this with a live album and DVD. Jones continues to record and perform. His latest album The Promise Notes (Love Stories from the Word) was released earlier this year. Here's Canton Jones performing Be Healed from the Dominionaire DVD.

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Bill Evans

Artist:Bill Evans

Song:Emily

Album:Quiet Now: Never Let Me Go

This is part of My Jazz for Beginners series complete with an affordable comp and a performance video. A while back, I wrote about pianist Bill Evans' Riverside albums. He recorded for Riverside from 1957-62 and recorded for Verve until 1969. Riverside was having financial problems and declared bankruptcy in 1964. At the time, Evans was not in good condition. The 1961 death of bassist Scott LaFaro put Evans in a tailspin and his heroin addiction got worse. His girlfriend Elaine Schultz was also an addict. They moved to his parents house in Florida and both kicked the habit. So now he's looking for a new label. Norman Granz sold Verve to MGM in 1960. The man in charge at Verve was Creed Taylor. There's no question that Taylor is a more commercial producer than Riverside's Orrin Keepnews. But Evans had to record somewhere and Verve was better than most other options. After Evans appeared on the 1962 album Empathy with Monty Budwig on bass and Shelly Manne on drums, Evans signed with Verve. His first album for Verve was the 1963 album Conversations with Myself. This is solo piano with overdubs. I know that will drive some jazz fans crazy. But the album was very successful and it won a Grammy. With that success, it's not surprising that Taylor wanted to do a sequel. That was the 1967 album Further Conversations with Myself. As with the first album, this is solo piano with overdubs. Helen Keane produced. She produced many jazz artists. Emily was the most popular song from this album as it wasn't a well known song. Johnny Mercer and Johnny Mandel wrote Emily for the 1964 film The Americanization of Emily but it wasn't used in the film. Frank Sinatra and Jack Jones recorded the song. Then Evans recorded it and so did Paul Desmond in 1969. Both performed Emily for many years. You can get Emily on this comp which is available as a digital download. The most significant event for Evans was when he met bassist Eddie Gomez in 1966. Drummer Marty Morell joined in 1968. They were together until 1975. So I might look at that trio in the future. Here's Bill Evans with Eddie Gomez and Marty Morell performing Emily.