1981 Billy Preston – The Way I Am

The Way I Am is the fourteenth studio album by Billy Preston, released in 1981. The song The Way I Am was written by David Paich and arranged by Marty Paich.

William Everett “Billy” Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006)  was an American musician whose work included R&B, rock, soul, funk and gospel. Preston became famous first as a session musician with artists including Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Beatles, and was later successful as a solo artist with hit pop singles including “Outa-Space”, its sequel, “Space Race”, “Will It Go Round in Circles” and “Nothing from Nothing”, and a string of albums and guest appearances with Eric Clapton, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and others. In addition, Preston was co-author, with The Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson, of “You Are So Beautiful,” recorded by Preston and later a #5 hit for Joe Cocker.

Alongside Tony Sheridan, Billy Preston was the only other musician to be credited on a Beatles recording: the artists on the number-one hit “Get Back” are given as “The Beatles with Billy Preston”. Since Sheridan was labelled alongside “The Beat Brothers”, Preston is, strictly speaking, the only artist to be labelled explicitly with “The Beatles”. Stephen Stills asked Preston if he could use Preston’s phrase “if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with” and created the hit song.