Number 1 With A Bullet: Billy Preston’s “Will It Go Round In Circles”

Billy Preston - "Will It Go Round in Circles" (A&M, 1973)

After playing keyboard for the Beatles in their later years (and recording a pair of discs for their Apple imprint), Billy Preston moved back to Los Angeles, signed with A&M Records and began producing his biggest hits.

Billy’s first single for A&M was “I Wrote a Simple Song,” a tune that was released in 1972. Billy said from the start that he preferred the funky B-side, “Outa-Space,” to slow balladry of the A-side and, in the end, DJ’s and radio listeners agreed. “I Wrote a Simple Song” stalled at #77 while “Outa-Space” rocketed to #2.

Looking for a follow-up, Preston walked into a writing session one day and said to his partner, Bruce Fisher, that he “had a song with no melody.” The line would become one of the hooks in “Will It Go Round in Circles.”

The song became a huge success, allowing Fisher to resign from his mail room job at NBC and winning Preston his first of two #1 hits in July 1973.

Check out more songs that were “#1 with a Bullet.

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