New Haven Coliseum – Deep Purple – Billy Preston (Photo credit: Carl Lender)
When I saw 200 men on Oprah Winfrey, many with wives and families, but who had also been molested as children, I had to give them a private Hooray! They survived. Mr. Tyler Perry brought them together, for he was a victim of Childhood sexual abuse as well. I looked at those men and realized that they were the blessed few, who survived and for all practical purposes, were living productive, successful lives. Not to say that they don’t have thoughts, demons even, to plague them about their past. But the message is and always be “It was NOT their fault”.
The genius man Mr. Billy Preston, often called the Fifth Beatle (which is pretty much true) was a victim of such abuse at nine years old. This is a man that I followed much of my younger life until his death. I followed him because he was superb as a Performer, almost unbelievable was his ability to cross over in music genres and outdo some of the best, on the piano, organ, as a Songwriter, Singer. He could do Session work with the Rockers, Jazz Men, Blues Men, Soul Men, Pop – whatever the genre. He was often called the Musician’s Musician. He worked for and with the likes of the Beatles, Eric Clapton, Little Richard, Ray Charles, Syreeta Wright, Nat King Cole, The Rolling Stones. This man ran the gamut and all of the people that he worked with attested to his comfort and brilliance in his music, so much so that he only brought the best out of their music. He was gifted. He was particularly fond of Ray Charles, too.
Billy Preston and The Beatles Totally Mashed up on YouTube and Flickr (Photo credit: FredMikeRudy)
Mr. Preston was a good man and being Gay in the day when he performed with the greats in Rock, Pop and Roll, while drugs and partying were in abundance, he had to deal with the fact that most of these men sought out women while on the Road but he did not. He had to live alternatively and to those who knew and loved him knew that this posed a problem with him as he struggled with his sexuality and the word of God that he learned in Church as a child. In fact, he carried his good book with him wherever he went. He could only talk to a few people about the incident that reeked havoc in his life because when he went to his mother, she did not comfort him but more or less did not believe him. Denial. Everyone’s perception seems to be that the demons that chased him from this childhood incidence(s) was what made him fall into the abyss of drugs and ultimately, his death. How dare a mother not listen to her child, even if it was not as prevalent then as it is today, this molestation of the young.
Mr. Preston is an example but it doesn’t dim the fact that many men may be struggling with the same thing. Many times it is the girls who we worry about and rightly so. But it is also the young men. The best thing we can do for all involved is to keep good watch on our young, take no person for granted and trust fully who we allow our children with. It’s no crime in making sure that you know who you surround yourself with and women should be more careful when, out of loneliness, they bring a man into their homes.
Yes, Oprah’s show was very helpful and cathartic to these men as they had lived and experienced having to have their childhood ripped from them and then having to deal with it as men while thinking they could be less than men or be sexually confused. Listening to the story of Billy Preston and Tyler Perry compelled me write.
English: Oprah Winfrey
Billy Preston abused drugs to to Maximum and he drank. Hypertension brought on by his lifestyle, he fell into Kidney failure and died in 2006. To hear his friends and relatives speak of him breaks the heart. This brilliant man could not cope with the lifestyle that he led that he saw as in contradiction to the WORD. Well, every man to his own convictions I say, but if there are men out there who have been too abused and though it may confuse and hurt them, we all serve the same God who sees and knows all. And the occurance was no fault of them and they are so very Forgiven. Peace.