| 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.
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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.
I, Al Ferguson, played guitar with Don and the Deacons at the north Hollywood Cinnamon Cinder after the famous Pastel Six along with Bud Deal, on sax, Bill ...... on base and sorry, I don't remember our drummers name. We opened up for the Rolling Stones Concert in Long Beach, May 16th 1965, along with an other Cinnamon Cinder band from Long Beach, The Vibrents. Back then, I don't think people were really aware of just how great of a guitar player Don Preston was, is !. There is a picture of Don (on his website), playing a concert with George Harrison and Eric Clapton looking in awe of Don's playing. Now thats a compliment. Take a look.
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]