A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

GET BACK, JOJO: I interrupt my hermitage to report the sad news that Billy Preston has died. A respected solo musician and songwriter in his own right, Preston is perhaps most famous for, in shorthand, being the only guy to be a supporting member of both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. He didn't just do it as a bit player on throwaway junk, either -- he was in the studio and on the rooftop for the Let It Be sessions (contributing, most memorably, the electric piano on "Get Back" and the b-side "Don't Let Me Down") and he was essentially part of the Stones for their two best albums, "Exile on Main Street" and "Sticky Fingers," meaning that he drove the groove on "Can't You Hear Me Knocking," for example. If anybody asked me to name the first electric piano player that came to mind, I would say Preston, and if anybody asked me to name the second one, I would say "give me a minute."