Free Album Streaming: New CDs from Lucinda Williams, Devotchka, The Low Anthem, & More

Billy Preston's first solo album, getting its first release in over 45 years, is one of the albums available for free preview.  

New Lucinda Williams and rare Johnny Cash and Billy Preston are among the interesting new releases you can preview for free this week. There are many more albums than those listed here, especially on the AOL Music and Spinner sites.

KCRW Album Preview: 
"Blessed" by Lucinda Williams* (streaming until March 1)
"Smart Flesh" by The Low Anthem* (streaming until Feb. 27)
"100 Lovers" by Devotchka* (streaming until Feb. 27)

* Also streaming on NPR (below)

NPR First Listen:
"Anna Calvi" by London singer-songwriter Anna Calvi (streaming until March 1)
"Fading Parade" by Papercuts (which NPR calls "warmly psychedelic") (streaming until March 1)

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"From Memphis to Hollywood - Bootleg Vol. 2" by Johnny Cash (A compilation with "demos, unreleased songs and rare singles from the '50s to the late '60s.")
"Rachel Goodrich" by Rachel Goodrich

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"Fixin' to Die" by G. Love
"The Color" by Yellowbirds (AOL says, "This is the debut album from the Brooklyn, N.Y. psychedelic sextet fronted by Apollo Sunshine's Sam Cohen.")
"16 Year Old Soul" by Billy Preston (Debut album by the late, legendary keyboardist who played with The Beatles and Eric Clapton, and had a long solo career. This album was released Feb. 22nd, marking the first time in 45 years that it has been available. See Billboard article on Billy Preston's "16 year Old Soul" here)

Also on AOL Music: reissues of albums by The Ronettes, The Crystals, and Darlene Love, as well as a Phil Spector retrospective.

Billy Preston: He Played with Everyone from Ray Charles to Beatles and the Stones

Seeing Billy Preston on last night’s replay of the first Saturday Night Live show reminded me of what an amazing talent he was. Preston, who died a couple of years ago at the age of 59, had a number of hits in the 1970s as a solo artist (including “Nothing from Nothing,” which he performed on SNL) but he is best known as a versatile keyboard player who collaborated with a who’s who of star musicians.

Billy Preston started performing as a child, playing with gospel and soul legends including Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Aretha Franklin, and Little Richard, among others.

He is the only musician to have played with both the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, and was often called the “fifth Beatle.” In fact, when the Beatles were nearing their end there was discussion of making Preston an official member of the band. That didn’t happen, but their single "Get Back" was credited to "the Beatles with Billy Preston" – said to be the only time that the band allowed a side player to be so credited. And Preston also was playing with the band their final public performance, the famous rooftop gig they played in London.[

Despite being hospitalized with kidney disease in his later years, Billy Preston continued to record and tour with various musicians. I was lucky enough to see him playing at part of Eric Clapton’s band a couple of years before he died, in a concert at Madison Square Garden. I was surprised to see him playing, since the show was not that long after he had been hospitalized.

It was good to see Billy Preston in his prime on SNL, but it was also sad to think of how many great talents from that show died too young: Billy Preston, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, and of course George Carlin.