Preston Love
Encyclopedia
Preston Haines Love was a renowned alto saxophonist, bandleader
and songwriter
from Omaha, Nebraska
.
.
He became renowned as a professional sideman and saxophone balladeer in the heyday of the big band
era. He was a member of the bands of Nat Towles
, Lloyd Hunter
, Snub Mosley
, Lucky Millinder
and Fats Waller
before getting his big break with the Count Basie Orchestra
when he was 22. Love played and recorded with the Count Basie band from 1945–1947 and played on Basie's only #1 hit record, 'Open The Door Richard.'
Love eventually became a bandleader himself, playing with Lena Horne
, Billie Holiday
, his friends Johnny Otis
and Wynonie Harris
, with whom he had several hits. In the early 1960s Love worked with Ray Charles
in California and Aretha Franklin
, eventually becoming Motown's West Coast house bandleader with whom he played & toured with The Four Tops, The Temptations
, Tammi Terrell
, Marvin Gaye
, Gladys Knight
and others. Love also recorded with Nichelle Nichols
, Janis Joplin
, Frank Zappa
(Freak Out), Shuggie Otis
, T-Bone Walker
, Charles Brown
, Ruth Brown
, and many others. Love also appears in the Clint Eastwood
film, Play Misty For Me with the Johnny Otis band. (Love toured the U.S. and Europe quite frequently into the 2000s, additionally lecturing and writing about the history he was part of. Other legends he played with included the Temptations
, Smokey Robinson
, Diana Ross
, Stevie Wonder
and Aretha Franklin
.
In his later years Love moved back to Omaha, wrote a book, led bands, the last of which featured his daughter vocalist Portia Love, drummer Gary E. Foster, pianist Orville Johnson, and bassist Nate Mickels, and was an advertising agent for the Omaha Star
, a local newspaper serving the city's African American
community. His daughter is Laura Love.
In February 2004, Preston Love died after battling prostate cancer
.
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
from Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
.
Biography
Preston Love grew up in North Omaha and graduated from North HighOmaha North High School
Omaha North High Magnet School is a public high school located at 4410 N 36th Street in Omaha, Nebraska. The school is a science, technology, engineering and mathematics magnet school in the Omaha Public Schools district. North has won several awards, including being named a 2007 Magnet Schools of...
.
He became renowned as a professional sideman and saxophone balladeer in the heyday of the big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
era. He was a member of the bands of Nat Towles
Nat Towles
Nat Towles was an African American musician, jazz and big band leader popular in his hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana, North Omaha, Nebraska and Chicago, Illinois. He was also music educator in Austin, Texas...
, Lloyd Hunter
Lloyd Hunter
Lloyd Hunter was a trumpeter and big band leader from North Omaha, Nebraska. He led band across the Midwest from 1923 until his death. Hunter had also worked with Jessie Stone in Kansas City, Missouri.-Biography:...
, Snub Mosley
Snub Mosley
Lawrence Leo "Snub" Mosley was an American jazz trombonist.-Biography:...
, Lucky Millinder
Lucky Millinder
Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder was an American rhythm and blues and swing bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical taste made his bands successful...
and Fats Waller
Fats Waller
Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...
before getting his big break with the Count Basie Orchestra
Count Basie Orchestra
The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie. The band survived the late '40s decline in big band popularity and went on to produce notable collaborations with singers such as Frank Sinatra and Ella...
when he was 22. Love played and recorded with the Count Basie band from 1945–1947 and played on Basie's only #1 hit record, 'Open The Door Richard.'
Love eventually became a bandleader himself, playing with Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
, Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, his friends Johnny Otis
Johnny Otis
Johnny Otis is an American singer, musician, talent scout, disc jockey, composer, arranger, recording artist, record producer, vibraphonist, drummer, percussionist, bandleader, and impresario.He is commonly referred to as The Godfather Of Rhythm And Blues.-Personal life:Otis, the son of Alexander...
and Wynonie Harris
Wynonie Harris
Wynonie Harris , born in Omaha, Nebraska, was an American blues shouter and rhythm and blues singer of upbeat songs, featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics. With fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952, Harris is generally considered one of rock and roll's forerunners, influencing Elvis Presley...
, with whom he had several hits. In the early 1960s Love worked with Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
in California and Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, eventually becoming Motown's West Coast house bandleader with whom he played & toured with The Four Tops, The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
, Tammi Terrell
Tammi Terrell
Thomasina Winifred Montgomery, known as Tammi Terrell was an American singer-songwriter most notable for her association with Motown and her duets with Marvin Gaye. As a teenager she recorded for the Scepter–Wand, Try Me and Checker record labels. She signed with Motown in April 1965 and enjoyed...
, Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
, Gladys Knight
Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...
and others. Love also recorded with Nichelle Nichols
Nichelle Nichols
Nichelle Nichols is an American actress, singer and voice artist. She sang with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton before turning to acting...
, Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
(Freak Out), Shuggie Otis
Shuggie Otis
Shuggie Otis is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, and multi-instrumentalist....
, T-Bone Walker
T-Bone Walker
Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker was a critically acclaimed American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who was one of the most influential pioneers and innovators of the jump blues and electric blues sound. He is the first musician recorded playing blues with the...
, Charles Brown
Charles Brown
Charlie Brown is the principal character in the comic strip Peanuts.Charlie or Charles Brown may also refer to:-Athletes:* Charlie Brown from Dumfries who played for home town club Queen of the South...
, Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " He Treats Your Daughter Mean".For these...
, and many others. Love also appears in the Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
film, Play Misty For Me with the Johnny Otis band. (Love toured the U.S. and Europe quite frequently into the 2000s, additionally lecturing and writing about the history he was part of. Other legends he played with included the Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
, Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
, Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
and Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
.
In his later years Love moved back to Omaha, wrote a book, led bands, the last of which featured his daughter vocalist Portia Love, drummer Gary E. Foster, pianist Orville Johnson, and bassist Nate Mickels, and was an advertising agent for the Omaha Star
Omaha Star
The Omaha Star is a newspaper founded in 1938 in North Omaha, Nebraska by Mildred Brown and her husband S. Edward Gilbert. Housed in the historic Omaha Star building in the Near North Side neighborhood, today the Omaha Star is the only remaining African-American newspaper in Omaha and the only one...
, a local newspaper serving the city's African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
community. His daughter is Laura Love.
In February 2004, Preston Love died after battling prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
.
Solo albums
- Preston Love's Omaha Bar-B-Q, released in 1969
- Omaha Blues, released in 2000
- Preston Love, released in 2003
- Preston Love's final album, the self-titled album, PRESTON LOVE, released in 2003 was produced by Preston's drummer Gary E. Foster. It is unique in that the first half of the album (tracks 1 thru 10) features the legendary saxophonist with his last working band and various special guest artists such as Gary E. Foster, Orville Johnson, Mitch Towne, "Guitar" George Laughery, John Foley, Nate Mickels, Bill Eustice, Dave Polson, and the Michel Pastre Orchestra playing inspired interpretations of originals, blues, swing, jazz & ballads, and the second half (tracks 11 thru 19) features an overview of his career from 1945 to 1969, highlighted by rare live radio broadcast recordings with the Lucky Millinder & Count Basie Orchestras, and selections from the rare funk classic PRESTON LOVE'S OMAHA BAR BQ and the ultra-funky 1969 single CISSY POPCORN & FUNKY CHICKEN.
Books by Love
- A Thousand Honey Creeks Later: My Life in Music from Basie to Motown and Beyond. Wesleyan University Press, Middletown CT, 1997.
Awards
- 1975 First jazz artist-in-residence for the Iowa Arts Council.
- 1992 Received an honorary doctorate from Creighton University.
- 2003 At age 82, he was recognized by the Omaha Press Club as part of their "Face on the Barroom Floor" series that honors notable newsmakers.
- 2005 The non-profit Loves Jazz and Arts Center (LJAC) established.
- 2005 Inducted into the Omaha Black Music Hall of FameOmaha Black Music Hall of FameThe Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame, or the OBMHoF, is a nonprofit organization founded in 2005 to celebrate, document and honour the legacy of the many top vocalists and musicians whose musical careers began in the metropolitan area of Omaha, Nebraska...
.