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Vacanick
Member
07-12-2004
| Monday, May 22, 2006 - 9:44 am
Rest in Peace Katherine!

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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - 7:14 am
Former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen dies By CRAGG HINES Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr., a Texas patrician who made a sizable fortune in private business and an even bigger name in national government as a U.S. senator and Treasury secretary, died today. He was 85. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3882276.html
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - 8:33 am
His son and George W were in the national guard together.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - 10:34 am
The man had so many accomplishments and that's what you remember?!?
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - 11:09 am
No Texannie, just offering up the tidbit of information. I actually liked Bentsen, a bit conservative for my tastes but I respected him. I think he would have made a great VP and probably a better presidential candidate than what was ultimately picked.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, May 23, 2006 - 11:15 am
ok! LOL I agree. He was a really nice man too.
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Max
Moderator
08-12-2000
| Sunday, May 28, 2006 - 10:23 pm
'Die Hard,' 'Breakfast Club' actor Gleason dead at 67 link BURBANK, California (AP) -- Paul Gleason, who played the go-to bad guy in "Trading Places" and the angry high school principal in "The Breakfast Club," has died. He was 67. Gleason died at a local hospital Saturday of mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer linked to asbestos, said his wife, Susan Gleason.

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Max
Moderator
08-12-2000
| Sunday, May 28, 2006 - 10:24 pm

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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Monday, May 29, 2006 - 4:22 am
"You mess with the bull, you're gonna get the horns!"
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Cablejockey
Member
12-27-2001
| Monday, May 29, 2006 - 6:35 am
So sad. I really enjoyed his movies.
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Tuesday, June 06, 2006 - 9:55 am
Just got this via my news alerts. PHOENIX -- Billy Preston, the exuberant keyboardist who landed dream gigs with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and enjoyed his own series of hit singles, including "Outta Space" and "Nothing From Nothing," died Tuesday at 59. Preston's longtime manager, Joyce Moore, said Preston had been in a coma since November in a care facility and was taken to a hospital in Scottsdale Saturday after his condition deteriorated. "He had a very, very beautiful last few hours and a really beautiful passing," Moore said by telephone from Germany. "He went home good." Preston, who had battled chronic kidney failure, had undergone a kidney transplant in 2002, but the kidney failed and he has been on dialysis treatments ever since, Moore said earlier this year. Known for his big smile and towering afro, Preston was a teen prodigy on the piano and organ, and lent his gospel-tinged touch to classics such as the Beatles' "Get Back" and the Stones' "Can't You Hear Me Knocking?" He broke out as a solo artist in the 1970s, winning a best instrumental Grammy in 1973 for "Outta Space," and scoring other hits with "Will It Go 'Round In Circles," "Nothing From Nothing" and "With You I'm Born Again," a duet with Syreeta Wright.
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Mocha
Member
08-12-2001
| Tuesday, June 06, 2006 - 10:05 am
Aww dang.
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Chewpito
Member
01-04-2004
| Tuesday, June 06, 2006 - 10:20 am
I just heard about Preston, Thinking of him brought back wonderful memorys thru music...what a loss..how sad.
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Retired
Member
07-11-2001
| Tuesday, June 06, 2006 - 10:34 am
Very sad.
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Tuesday, June 06, 2006 - 10:44 am
that makes me very sad ... but happy that his struggle is over ...
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Jhonise
Member
07-10-2003
| Tuesday, June 06, 2006 - 11:32 am
oh shoot.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, June 06, 2006 - 11:48 am
shoot..we listen to his songs at work all the time! glad to hear he had a beautiful passing.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Tuesday, June 06, 2006 - 11:50 am
His name alone brings back lots of good memories from high school.
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Cablejockey
Member
12-27-2001
| Tuesday, June 06, 2006 - 12:59 pm
This is such a shock. I had no idea he was in a coma and now dead! R.I.P. Billy.
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Vacanick
Member
07-12-2004
| Tuesday, June 06, 2006 - 1:15 pm
I had no idea either ... very sad!
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Jedisan
Member
01-11-2002
| Tuesday, June 06, 2006 - 2:50 pm
My first memory of Billy Preston is that he played Sgt. Pepper, in the awful (yet I loved it) movie version of Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts CLub Band - the one with Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees. I may have to go watch that again in memory of Billy. RIP.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Tuesday, June 06, 2006 - 3:54 pm
I use to love that movie!
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, June 07, 2006 - 12:24 am
thought this was a nice article. Singer-songwriter Billy Preston dies at 59 By MICHAEL D. CLARK Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle For a gifted, influential musician often tagged "the fifth Beatle," Billy Preston never became a household name like John, Paul, George or Ringo. But the Houston-born rock, soul and gospel phenom was an essential musical mover and shaker whose keyboards and vocals can be heard on some of rock 'n' roll's most enduring recordings. Preston died Tuesday in Scottsdale, Ariz., of kidney failure at age 59. Preston's topsy-turvy career was full of classic keyboard vamps and massive world tours, as well as addictions and arrests. He remained creatively active through it all, even after a 2002 kidney transplant. He continued to perform live and made a guest appearance on the Red Hot Chili Peppers' recent chart-topping album Stadium Arcadium. Preston was hospitalized when the band invited him to play clavinet on Warlocks, so the Chilis brought the song to him. "We are blessed to have some of the last magic he played," the band said in a statement. The inspired keyboard part that Preston played on Warlocks was emblematic of the work he created over the past four-plus decades, where he brought that magic to so many classic recordings by artists including the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Sly and the Family Stone and Bob Dylan. Preston lived in Houston only two years before his parents split up and he moved to Los Angeles. He took to the keyboard at age 3 and accompanied gospel great Mahalia Jackson by age 10. Two years later he had a small part playing young blues icon W.C. Handy in the movie St. Louis Blues. He would soon join other prime blues, gospel and rock stars such as Ray Charles and Little Richard. Charles reportedly once said, "Billy Preston is the man I would like to carry on the work I have started." But rock 'n' roll, rather than R&B, beckoned. Preston got to know the Beatles in the early '60s while he was on tour with Little Richard. He signed with the Fab Four's Apple Records in the mid-'60s. Though Preston recorded several albums for Apple, he drew more attention for his work with the Beatles as the group's session keyboardist. Preston added keys to The Beatles (better known as "The White Album"), Abbey Road and Let It Be. He performed with the band at its famous final rooftop concert. For his work on the song Get Back, Preston became the only non-Beatle to receive a songwriting credit on the group's singles. After the Beatles split, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr recruited Preston to play on some of their solo albums including Lennon's Plastic Ono Band and Harrison's classic All Things Must Pass. His connection to the Beatles lasted a lifetime. Last year Preston made an appearance on drummer Starr's Choose Love album. The Beatles work made Preston a go-to keyboard player for the next decade. He appeared on Franklin's Live at Fillmore West and Young, Gifted and Black, Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, Eric Clapton's No Reason To Cry and Luther Vandross' The Night I Fell in Love. He was also a staple on the Rolling Stones' experimental and highly regarded '70s recordings such as Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main St. and Goat's Head Soup. Preston also showed glimmers of talent as a songwriter. Joe Cocker scored a No. 5 pop single in 1975 with You Are So Beautiful, a song Preston co-wrote. It resurfaced last month when American Idol winner Taylor Hicks offered his rendition of the song. Preston scored five Top 40 hits of his own in the '70s, including two No. 1's, Will It Go Round in Circles and Nothing From Nothing. To some music fans, these soulful classics suggest a potentially incredible career path not taken. Preston came close to creating his own worldwide notoriety, particularly with his identifiable visage during that era: Big glasses, bigger hair, platform shoes and sparkling '70s duds. The music and the look earned him a spot as the musical guest for the first airing of Saturday Night Live in 1975. Despite Preston's flirtation with fame, his own art was obscured by his legendary work as a sideman. Jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis discovered Preston not through the Beatles, but via Outa-Space, a funky 1972 cut that reached No. 2 on the pop chart. But he says the deck was stacked against Preston's solo career. "The (music industry) back then couldn't sustain itself for talents that didn't revolve around songwriting," Marsalis told the Chronicle. "Billy was a phenomenal musician, but there was no room for that. There were too many great musicians. He was trying to sing and dance, he had the high Afro and platform shoes. "If he concentrated on playing more, he might've been more obscure, but he would have come out on top. Everybody would now talk about Billy Preston The Great. Too many times, particularly with black musicians, there's that pressure for pop stardom or bust." Preston fell on hard times in the '80s. The hits dried up, and addictions and other personal problems resulted in a prison stay. He made a comeback in the '90s, though, catching on with Clapton as a touring keyboardist. More recently he played organ on Charles' Grammy-winning final album Genius Loves Company, as well as the latest albums by Neil Diamond and Clapton last year. And then there's the Chili Peppers' Warlocks, which bridges two generations of funky musical innovators. The Chilis will clearly carry Preston's influence into the future. "He really knew how to bring a song to life," the group said. michael.d.clark@chron.com DISCOGRAPHY A short list of some of Billy Preston's contributions to rock 'n' roll, soul and R&B: Billy Preston, The Most Exciting Organ Ever (1965) A 20-year-old Preston sexes up the keyboard with a mix of originals and covers including the folk staple If I Had a Hammer and Little Richard's Slippin' and Slidin'. The Beatles, Abbey Road (1969) Preston's melodies can be heard prominently on songs like I Want You (She's So Heavy) and the classic Something. The Beatles , Let It Be (1970) His electric piano is particularly prevalent on Get Back, which made him the only non-Beatle to receive a label credit on one of the band's singles. George Harrison, All Things Must Pass (1970) Preston joined Ginger Baker and an uncredited Eric Clapton for the famous jam session at the end of the third album in this three-LP set. Aretha Franklin, Live at Fillmore West (1971) Preston backs the Queen of Soul through familiar fare like the Beatles' Eleanor Rigby. The Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers (1971) He follows Keith Richards' guitar lead on I Got the Blues and bangs the ivories on Can't You Hear Me Knocking. The Rolling Stones , Exile on Main St. (1972) The high-energy scales Preston plays on Shine a Light might be the finest moment among his numerous classic appearances. Billy Preston, The Kids & Me (1974) Two of Preston's most enduring tracks, Nothing From Nothing and You Are So Beautiful, both make their debut here. Ray Charles , Genius Loves Company ( 2004) Preston is present on a number of the duets on Charles' final studio album, accompanying the Genius with whom he'd worked as a teenager. Red Hot Chili Peppers , Stadium Arcadium ( 200 6) His clavinet work on Warlocks may be the last recording of Preston's career. According to sources close to the band, Preston put his part of the recording together between bouts of bed rest. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3942909.html
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - 7:08 am
ARTHUR FRANZ He died a couple of days ago at age 88. I am old enough to remember him in movies. Anyone, please feel free to post his obit, I don't know how.
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Whoami
Member
08-03-2001
| Friday, June 23, 2006 - 5:42 pm
Aaron Spelling dies at 83 Wow! I read an article a day or so ago about his stroke that inferred the stroke was mild enough to not even take him to the hospital! (ETA HERE is that eariler article)
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