Don Preston (guitarist)

Don Preston
Born	Denver, Colorado, United States
Genres	Rock
Occupations	Session musician
Instruments	Guitars, vocals
Years active	1950s-present
Associated acts	Leon Russell, Joe Cocker, Canned Heat
Website	donprestonguitar.com

Don Preston is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He recorded in the 1970s with Leon Russell on Leon Russell and the Shelter People and other albums, and with Joe Cocker on Mad Dogs and Englishmen (as "The Gentle Giant"). He backed George Harrison on the The Concert for Bangladesh film and heard on the album, The Concert for Bangla Desh.

Preston recorded two albums on A&M Records, both produced by Gordon Shryock. The first was Bluse (1968) and the second was Hot Air From A Straw From ... Don Preston & The South. The group also included Bob Young, Casey Van Beek, and Bobby Cochran.

Biography

Preston was born in Denver, Colorado, and moved to Whittier, California at age 8. He started playing guitar and sang in the Sewart-Barber Boys Choir. By age 11, he was performing with a traveling youth troupe that performed at store openings, company parties, and USO clubs throughout Southern California.

In the 1950s, he performed with The Penguins, The Coasters, The Olympics, The Jaguars, Ritchie Valens, The Righteous Brothers, Gene Vincent, Don Julian and the Meadowlarks, and Jessie Hill.

In the 1960s, his band, Don and the Deacons, played at the Cinnamon Cinder, a North Hollywood club owned by Bob Eubanks. From there, he formed The Shindogs with Joey Cooper, Chuck Blackwell and Delaney Bramlett.

He performed and recorded in the 1970s with Leon Russell (including Carney and Leon Live), Joe Cocker and on the The Concert for Bangladesh. He also recorded and performed with Freddie King, Rick Nelson and J. J. Cale.

The other Don Preston

Preston has sometimes been confused with another rock musician named Don Preston, a keyboardist for Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. Preston the keyboardist actually received a royalty check for Preston the guitarist's work, and cashed it by mistake.^[1]

References

1. ^ "Don Preston". United Mutations. http://www.united-mutations.com/p/don_preston.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-03. 

External links

• Don Preston Guitar
• Don Preston at Allmusic

Persondata
Name	Preston, Don
Alternative names
Short description	American guitarist, singer and songwriter
Date of birth
Place of birth	Denver, Colorado, United States
Date of death
Place of death