Billy Preston Movies
In this music video compilation, Motown fans are treated to 100 video clips featuring their favorite Motor City music artists. The era may be gone, but the groove lingers on as Martha and the Vandellas, The Contours, Billy Preston, Marvelous Marv Johnson, The Elgins, and The Supremes deliver hit after toe tapping hit. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Wells, The Miracles, (more)
Don Cheadle stars as outspoken ex-convict and iconic radio personality Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene in a powerful biopic detailing the life and career of a media figure whose voice instilled the black community with hope during the turbulent 1960s. After talking his way onto the Washington, D.C. airwaves in the era of free love, a man emboldened by the inspirational soul music and rapidly expanding social consciousness that defined the decade openly courts controversy as his put-upon producer, Dewey Hughes (Chiwetel Ejiofor), runs interference. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Ejiofor, (more)
- 2005
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Soft rock star Michael McDonald headlines this live Motown themed concert recorded in high definition by PBS. McDonald is also joined by special guests throughout the show such as Toni Braxton and India Arie. Some of the songs featured in the performance include I Second That Emotion and What's Going On. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael McDonald
A teenage boy develops a sense of purpose and some new friends through an unlikely alliance with a aging musician and his horse in this drama for the whole family. Fifteen-year-old Patrick McCardle (Zac Efron) is the son of a former professional football player, Jim (William R. Moses), who wants his boy to follow in his footsteps as an athlete. But Patrick has never had much aptitude or interest in football, baseball, or track, and doesn't feel especially close either to his father or his classmates at school. Patrick has struck up a friendship with Houston Jones (Bill Cobbs), an elderly blues musician who likes to drink and tell stories, but Jim considers Jones a bad influence and Patrick avoids telling his father about the time they spend together. In his younger days, Jones was a jockey and horse trainer, and when he rescues an injured race horse, Jones is convinced the animal has what it takes to be a winner again. Jones sets his sights on entering the horse in the State Cup Steeplechase Race, and Patrick becomes his right hand man, along with Jill (Crystal Hunt) and Chuck (Rob Pinkston), two new kids who have just moved into town from the big city. With only six weeks before the race, can Jones and his three young assistants turn an underdog into a champion? ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Cobbs
- 2004
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Eric Clapton pays homage to one of his greatest influences -- the rural blues musician Robert Johnson, who left behind a legacy of remarkable songs and recordings following his death in 1938 -- in this special DVD-CD release. The DVD in Eric Clapton: Sessions for Robert J. features footage of Clapton and his band rehearing for the tour which followed the release of Clapton's album Me and Mr. Johnson, as well as performing an acoustic set in the Dallas warehouse where Johnson's final recording session was held; the CD features music drawn from the same sessions. Selections include "Love in Vain," "If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day," "Stop Breaking Down Blues," "Hellhound on My Trail," "From Four Until Late," and many more. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Clapton
Both as a member of the Beatles and as a solo artist, George Harrison was one of the best loved and most influential musicians of his generation, and when he died November 29, 2001, after a long battle with cancer, it was a tremendous blow to the many great artists who were his friends and collaborators. A year to the day after his passing, a handful of pop music royalty who had known and worked with Harrison staged a special concert at London's Royal Albert Hall to play his music and honor his art and memory. Concert for George is a documentary which presents highlights from the Harrison memorial concert, featuring performances by Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Tom Petty and the Heartberakers, Jeff Lynne, Billy Preston, Jools Holland, Sam Brown, and Joe Brown. A portion of the profits from the film's release will be donated to The Material World Foundation, a charitable organization founded by Harrison. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Brown, Eric Clapton, (more)
Dan Aykroyd and John Landis teamed to script this sequel to The Blues Brothers (1980), which they also co-scripted. With Landis once again at the helm as director, Aykroyd re-creates his role of rhythm-and-blues man Elwood Blues, and the film's numerous R&B performances and production numbers include Aretha Franklin singing her classic "Respect". Released from prison after serving 18 years for the havoc depicted in the first film, Elwood learns that while he was serving time, his pal Jake Blues (John Belushi) has died, as did their hi-de-ho music mentor Curtis (Cab Calloway). Times have changed, but the blues beat goes on. Elwood visits Mother Mary Stigmata (Kathleen Freeman), who runs the orphanage where Elwood and Jake were raised, and she puts 10-year-old Buster (J. Evan Bonifant) in Elwood's care. Seeking a loan, Elwood visits Curtis' son, Cabel Chamberlain (Joe Morton), and Buster picks Cabel's pocket. Now, 18 years after the original "mission from God," Elwood attempts to reorganize the Blues Brothers Band, beginning with bartender Mighty Mack McTeer (John Goodman) as a replacement for Jake. With the Russian Mafia in hot pursuit, Elwood, Mack, and Buster head cross-country, locating band members as they travel pell-mell toward a scheduled battle of the bands in Louisiana where the Blues Brothers Band competes with the Lousiana Gator Boys Band (Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Dr. John, Travis Tritt, Steve Winwood, Clarence Clemmons, Isaac Hayes). Filmed in Toronto and Chicago, this movie reunited Aykroyd and Goodman, who were seen previously in the 1996 video, The Return of the Blues Brothers, a performance taped January 24, 1995 at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. Elsewhere, the Blues Brothers are kept alive in a half-dozen or so websites, such as the House of Blues, and live stage productions. In England, the stage show A Tribute to the Blues Brothers began in 1991. At the request of Aykroyd and Judy Belushi, the title of that production was changed to The Official Tribute to the Blues Brothers. With various cast members in the roles of Jake and Elwood (Con O'Neill, Warwick Evans, Brad Henshaw, Simon Foster), the show toured Britain throughout the 1990s. The "original Blues Brother" (who coached John Belushi and originated some of the blues raps used by Belushi) is Curtis Salgado (of the Robert Cray Band). One cast member of Blues Brothers 2000, bluesman Junior Wells, the last of the great Chicago harmonica players, died in January 1998, only days before the film was released. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman, (more)
- 199z
Aimed at children, this tuneful animated video is designed to teach children about the Ten Commandments via the lively Kingdom Chums, a group of Christian pop singers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
This film, loosely-based on the book by Bob Woodward, follows the career of comedian John Belushi (Michael Chiklis) as his spirit is guided through the past by the Angel Velasquez (Ray Sharkey). ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Chiklis, Ray Sharkey, (more)
Zalman King wrote and directed this soft-core Harlequinesque Romance that plays like Tennessee Williams meets Fredericks of Hollywood. April Delongpre (Sherilyn Fenn) is the daughter of a powerful senator and heiress to an old and respectable Southern family. April is engaged to marry the granite-handsome Chad Douglas Fairchild (Martin Hewitt) within a few days. But Chad has gone to Tuscaloosa to sign papers for their condo and the rest of the family has headed off to the lake, leaving April in the house alone with nothing to do except take long and languid showers--until she sets her eyes on the pecs of carnival roustabout Perry (Richard Tyson). Soon the two are making tasteful love in every nook and cranny of April's mansion. Unfortunately for the two sexual athletes, April's grandmother (Louise Fletcher) has assigned the local sheriff (Burl Ives) to keep an eye on her. And an eye on her he keeps, so that during the wedding ceremony, he has quite a story to tell. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sherilyn Fenn, Richard Tyson, (more)
In this madcap comedy, Demi Moore plays Cassandra and John Cusack is Hoops McCann, two people who eventually fall in love and help each other out. Hoops is a cartoonist working on a teen love story that he hopes will get him accepted into art school. Cassandra is a troubled young woman about to lose her home to a money-hungry developer. Characters with names like Squid Calamari, Clay Stork, or Ack Ack Raymond are involved in the unfolding romance and figure in several slapstick routines. Several cartoon sequences are inserted throughout this comedy to comment on the story. This was director Savage Steve Holland's second feature-length film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cusack, Demi Moore, (more)
- 1985
This release compiles television appearances by a number of beloved R&B performers including Ben E. King, Billy Preston, Gladys Knight, and Sam Moore. Among the songs performed are "Soul Man," "Spanish Harlem," "Band of Gold," and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rufus Thomas, Sam Moore, (more)
- 1984
In this standard, slightly maudlin drama developed by Mick Jagger and director Gene Taft, Charles (Nick Mancuso) is a rock 'n roll star forced to take on his 13-year-old son Job (Byron Thames) when the boy's mother dies, and a clash of cultures, generations, and backgrounds results. Job was the result of a one-night stand and had never really known his father. That fact coupled with his training in the military academy he attends leaves him unprepared for the world of touring rock musicians. He and his father have a lot to work out together -- and they do so quite predictably, in-between music sets and concerts. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick Mancuso, Byron Thames, (more)
- 1984
This program brings together some of the great names in soul and R&B for a performance of some of the greatest songs ever to come out of that musical genre. Dionne Warwick, Smokey Robinson, and Billy Preston are among the stars in this musical aggregation. They give soulful renditions of all-time favorites, such as "Walk on By," and "The Tracks of My Tears." ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
- 1982
In a careful, step-by-step manner, this documentary traces the lives and careers of the Beatles from childhood to breakup. The post-Beatle lives of John, Paul, George and Ringo are gingerly touched upon in the film's closing sequences, with emphasis given the senseless 1980 murder of John Lennon. Through rare family photos, early home movies and TV kinescopes we are shown the matriculation of the Beatles from a bedraggled punk group to a well-tailored, mop-topped foursome under the aegis of Brian Epstein. We are also briefly introduced to might-have-been Beatles Stu Sutcliffe and Pete Best. George Martin, the producer who oversaw such late-1960s Beatles projects as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, reveals several intriguing trade secrets and wonderful bits of backstage gossip. By incorporating shots of Beatles merchandising, imitation groups, and the ear-piercing reactions of the Fab Four's fans (as well as several shots of disillusioned young ladies during the team's waning years), the amazing impact of the foursome on the 1960s music industry is forcefully brought home. Malcolm McDowell narrates this priceless pop-culture montage. The Complete Beatles was originally produced for home video by MGM/United Artists, the company which in 1982 held the video rights for the Beatles flicks A Hard Day's Night and Help. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gerry Marsden
- 1980
Angel City plays like a Grapes of Wrath updated to the 1980s. Ralph Waite plays a West Virginia farmer who, faced with the prospect of starving to death on his unproductive land, packs up his family and moves to the so-called Promised Land of Florida. There he goes to work on what is euphemistically called a collective farm. But soon he finds himself surrounded in squalor and misery, working back-breaking hours for slave-labor wages. Paul Winfield, Jennifer Warren and Mitchell Ryan co-star in this made for TV movie, which debuted November 12, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
That certifiable Firesign Theatre bunch, led by Philip Proctor and Peter Bergman, is back on the job in J-Men Forever. This time the Firesigners get their mitts on miles of footage culled from several Republic Pictures serials of the 1940s and 1950s. The dialogue emanating from the Republic actors has virtually no relation to what they were really saying. Instead, the footage had been re-edited and dubbed over to form a cockamamie scenario concerning an invading Lightning Bug, which will take over the world by utilizing insidious rock 'n' roll music unless the J-Men get their rears in gear. Like Woody Allen's What's Up, Tiger Lily?, J-Men Forever is a one-joke movie, but that one joke is worth a million laughs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philip Proctor, Peter Bergman, (more)
In this thriller, a baby-sitter is terrorized by an anonymous telephone caller who turns out to be a particularly persistent serial killer. When a stranger calls to ask, "Have you checked the children lately?" teenaged sitter Jill Johnson (Carol Kane) is understandably spooked. After a series of increasingly creepy calls culminates in a request for "your blood...all over me," Jill learns from the police operator that the man is calling from inside the house. One narrow escape and two dead children later, the police capture British maniac Curt Duncan (Tony Beckley). Several years later, the killer escapes from a mental institution and plagues Tracy (Colleen Dewhurst), a hard-drinking New Yorker. Foiled by John Clifford (Charles Durning), the same cop who investigated the original case, Duncan sets his sights back on his original victim, Jill Johnson, who, now married and out to dinner with her husband, has left her own young children at home -- with a baby-sitter. When a Stranger Calls helped inspire Drew Barrymore's famous opening scene in Wes Craven's Scream. Kane, Durning, and director Fred Walton would return for 1993's TV-movie sequel, When a Stranger Calls Back. Beckley died a year after the original film's release. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Kane, Charles Durning, (more)
- 1978
- PG
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Pop star Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees star in this musical, loosely based on the popular 1967 Beatles album Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In the story, Billy Shears, who now heads the Lonely Hearts Club Band, is the grandson of the famous Sergeant Pepper. He is confronted by the need to save the magical musical instruments of the band from the bad guys, led by music tycoon B.D. Brockhurst (Donald Pleasance), who want to steal them. If they succeed, the magic which infuses "Heartland U.S.A." will disappear. Among the many Beatles' songs performed in the film by well-known popular artists are: "She's Leaving Home" (Bee Gees, Jay MacIntosh, John Wheeler), "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" (Steve Martin), "Got To Get You into My Life (Earth, Wind & Fire), "When I'm 64" (Sandy Farina), "Come Together" (Aerosmith), "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (sung by the Bee Gees, Paul Nicholas), "With a Little Help from My Friends" (Peter Frampton, the Bee Gees), "Fixing a Hole" (George Burns), and "Get Back" (Billy Preston). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Frampton, Barry Gibb, (more)
- 1977
- R
Soured on America by his experiences as a POW in Vietnam, General Lawrence Dell (Burt Lancaster) hopes that his government will someday tell the truth about the Southeast Asian debacle, thereby allowing his country to embark upon a healing process. Regarded as a dangerous embarrassment by the higher-ups, Dell is framed on a manslaughter charge and sent to prison. Escaping with three hardened convicts (Paul Winfield, Burt Young, and William Smith), Dell takes over an SAC base, threatening to launch nine Titan missiles if his demands that top-secret Vietnam files be made public are not met. Thus, the fate of the world rests in the hands of the mentally unbalanced Dell, his former superior General MacKenzie (Richard Widmark), and U.S. president David Stevens (Charles Durning). For this picture, Edward Huebach and Ronald M. Cohen adapted Walter Wager's novel Viper Three. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, (more)
- 1975
The premiere episode of the long-running and influential sketch comedy series features host George Carlin and musical guests Janis Ian and Billy Preston. Most of the show's soon-to-be familiar elements are already in place, such as the announcement of "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night," the host monologue, Weekend Update news report, and parody commercials. Memorable moments include the first appearance of the Bees, guest star Andy Kaufman's "Mighty Mouse" routine, and the opening absurdist skit in which a professor (Michael O'Donaghue) teaches a non-English speaker (John Belushi) phrases such as, "I would like to feed your fingertips to the wolverines." Although the series would later be known as Saturday Night Live, this episode was introduced as NBC's Saturday Night, a moniker it would keep until the 14th episode, when the "NBC's" was dropped. The series would not actually be called Saturday Night Live until late in the second season. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Carlin, Janis Ian, (more)
