Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned It
(USA, 104 min.)
Dir. Paris Barclay
While so many musicians receive the bio-doc treatment these days, few of them have a story as worthy and as complicated as Billy Preston. From strictly a musical perspective, his impact is enormous, from contributing to numerous number one records, playing keys behind some of the most legendary acts of all time, or simply redefining the use of the Hammond organ in popular music, all of which are worthy of commemoration. Yet due to his struggles both personal and professional, the darker side of his story, while not as well known, makes a complete portrait even more difficult.
Credit, then, to Paris Barclay, a veteran and Emmy award-winning director whose career has spanned working on celebrated music videos to nearly 200 episodes of television. Despite the usual hagiographic impulses in such telling, Barclay navigates deftly, if perhaps gingerly, around aspects of Preston’s life that the subject himself went out of his way to avoid discussing.
Barclay’s film does an excellent job of tracing the various threads of Preston’s varied career, starting with his debut as a five year old conducting a gospel choir right through to his final sessions just before his death. Along the way, he’s central to the biggest names in music—The Beatles, Ray Charles, Little Richard, The Rolling Stones—but also a slew of other rock ‘n’ roll, soul, gospel and R&B legends with whom he either collaborated or simply paved the path for their own success.
With a series of talking heads interviews from a wide range of participants spanning from Eric Clapton to Billy Porter, Barclay paints as detailed a portrait of the man as possible. On the music front, this is accomplished extraordinarily well, refusing to simply check off various accomplishments and instead tracing the various phases of his career in ways that illustrate both the changing landscapes of the industry and Preston’s own journey.
Anyone that has caught even a glimpse of Peter Jackson’s extraordinary Beatles’ Get Back epic will know how brightly Preston’s talent can shine when given the chance, and thanks to archival interviews, Billy’s own words provide welcome context to his perspective of the famed rooftop concert atop the Apple Records building. Ringo Star and Olivia Harrison both represent this Beatles-adjacent era, but also Preston’s eventual migration to A&M records where some of his biggest successes were to be found.
It’s no surprise that drug use was rampant during this era, and a surprisingly moving testimony from Clapton speaks not only to his attempts to foster Preston’s sobriety, but we witness the emotional scars from the guitarist’s own, well-documented path to recovery.
Yet the biggest revelation for many, and the one handled with the most reticence, regards the more personal aspects of Preston’s life. Porter talks about Preston’s sexuality from the perspective of a proudly out individual while speaking not only to the real social and cultural barriers that required closeting back in the day, but also how the added pressures of navigating the culture of the Black church makes the circumstances as they are. The argument made is that while the preacher would speak of fire and brimstone for those engaged in homosexual acts, the not-so-hidden secret was that many members of the band and choir on that same rostrum would outside of church live contrary to what was being preached and sung.
The film therefore connects Preston’s personal struggles with the likes of other legends like Little Richard, whose own recent documentary was far less subtle in its handling of the matter. While other talents who equally were on the “down low” like the “King of Gospel” James Cleveland, this film implies that the teenage Preston was the subject of molestation while sharing a room on tour with Richard, communicated this allegation to his manager/mother, and was told to simply let things go.
It’s this darkest of aspects of Preston’s damaged childhood that in turn gets attached to allegations made against the man himself, jailed not only for his use of narcotics, but for using pornography to try to sway minors. It’s an appalling aspect of his life, of course, and there’s never a moment where that aspect is merely brushed off, nor is the contextualization meant as an excuse. Instead, it’s an aspect of Preston’s story that must be confronted within the greater context of the life of a musical genius.
There are those who would, perhaps justifiably, set this entire subject as a red line and dismiss the entirety of anything else presented in the film. Yet as Preston’s story surely demonstrates, the complications of victim/victimizer are certainly areas greyer than often portrayed, and his very real struggles with both his identity and his trauma were far more insidiously wrapped up in the very secrecy with which he lived his live, thus the shining of light into the darkest of corners may, the filmmakers would certainly argue, be of far greater benefit than simple cancellation or censorship.
And so, we get with this film something that’s often claimed but rarely live up to, a truly deeper understanding of all the facets of the subject. Preston’s magnetism and talent receive a full showcase, while those who deeply loved him are here to speak to his struggles, misfortunes, and missteps. Even the judge who sentenced him to prison for cocaine possession is interviewed, in his words to provide context on how incarceration can occasionally grant the space to reset one’s life, if only briefly.
The myriad archive clips intrinsic are very well presented, and it’s surely the addition of Olivia Harrison as an executive producer that paved the way for the clearance of so much material. While this kind of authorised telling often softens its subject, Harrison’s involvement is a positive exemplar where the material is granted from the likes of the Bangladesh concert footage that opens up this doc, without ever evoking the oft-required caveat of avoiding pungent aspects of the performer’s past.
Barclay’s film proves to not only be a definitive portrait, but also a powerful reminder for generations to come not only of the magnificent musical talents of this legend. It’s a film equally about how Preston’s personal struggles are meant to be empathised and engaged with, while never requiring from the audience acceptance or dismissal of these hinted-at acts in order to have a clean perspective of the balance between the artist and the man.
Preston’s life may not have gone in the direction that he deserved, nor has his artistry been embraced nearly as much as it should be years after his biggest successes, but the time is surely ripe for this fulsome understanding of all he was and all he did. That’s the Way God Planned It a must-see for fans of the veritable genius, but also for people who are only being introduced to this most remarkable and complex of subjects.
