\n\tDuring a recent phone interview, Barclay and Allain spoke with Billboard about illuminating a musical genius \u2014 and the troubled soul inside.<\/p>\n
\n\tOne comment early in the documentary immediately stands out: \u201cHow did we let this boy get away?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBarclay: When Gloria Jones [a member with Preston of \u201860s gospel group The Cogics] said that, it was a thunderclap for us. It summarized a lot of the people who really love Billy. You can see that love in the film, but also their regret that somehow they missed helping him when he really needed help. So it seemed like sort of a benchmark for the film. It\u2019s our hope that people will look at this film and think about how they can help people they love. <\/p>\n
\n\tThat\u2019s reason enough to have a film like this out there: not just about the glory of Billy Preston, but also the cautionary tale about the next Billy Preston who might be in a similar situation. Like not finding a place in church, even though he loves God. Feeling lost and very lonely \u2014 from friends\u2019 accounts \u2014 even though he was there with the biggest stars of the era.<\/p>\n
\n\tToward the end, there\u2019s another striking comment: \u201cCan you imagine if church was really what it says it is?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBarclay: Coming from Sandra Crouch as a pastor really says a lot. And that\u2019s a question we bring up. The Black church has always had a huge influence on music. But it\u2019s also had a huge influence on the psyche of many of the people who believe and want to please God with their music and their lives. And there comes this conflict. And so what if the church was embracing and tolerant and did the things that Jesus says we should be doing? That would be something we\u2019d all want to flock to.<\/p>\n
\n\tAllain: And when Billy Porter says that everybody knows there are queens in the church, that\u2019s something we also don\u2019t talk about. I love that we touch on it in the film because, just like Paris was saying, there are so many people that are affected by this sort of hypocrisy going on.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn chronicling Preston\u2019s life, how did you go about balancing his illustrious career, his faith and the sexual politics?<\/p>\n
\n\tAllain: We didn\u2019t want to do a hagiography and just talk about all the great things without really understanding him. What we attempted to do was to really get behind his smile a little bit and see what else was going on there. I think his music actually shines brighter because of it, you know. It was definitely a balancing act, though.<\/p>\n
\n\tBarclay: We approached it through the eyes of love. When you love someone, you see everything: their faults, failings and what makes them lovable. In Billy\u2019s case, it was not only that enormous talent, but his kindness that his smile sort of exemplified. We just really focused on that. We struggled with the balance, trying to figure out how we actually put this together in a way that expresses that love. But I think we found something that seems to work.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat\u2019s your favorite Billy Preston song?<\/p>\n
\n\tBarclay: I\u2019ll go with \u201cMorning Star,\u201d which is pretty obscure. But you hear it in the movie after his mother dies. It\u2019s really poetic, featuring more of his classical leanings in how he plays the piano. It\u2019s also a love song to his mother. When I hear that song, I also think of my mother, who\u2019s 90, and how she is my morning star, as Billy says in the song. I also think that song extends his legacy of love even further into the new generation.<\/p>\n
\n\tAllain: I love \u201cI Wrote a Simple Song.\u201d Every time that comes on, I just groove to it. Then there\u2019s \u201cYou Are So Beautiful.\u201d And, of course, \u201cThat\u2019s the Way God Planned It.\u201d There\u2019s so many, it\u2019s hard to pick.<\/p>\n
\n\tHow did you come to choose that George Harrison-produced song as the documentary\u2019s title?<\/p>\n
\n\tAllain: We had a lot of different titles, but kept coming back to that one. For a character who\u2019s a little enigmatic, that you can\u2019t really get beyond \u2026 \u00a0it was his statement.<\/p>\n
\n\tBarclay: It also leaves the audience with the question: Is that the way God planned it? Billy says in the movie that everything he\u2019s done and everything that\u2019s happened to him has been what God has planned. And when you get to the troubles that he\u2019s had, the addiction, you wonder if that\u2019s the way God planned it as well. Or was there something else happening here.<\/p>\n
\n\tDid you ever feel like Billy was watching while the documentary was being filmed?<\/p>\n
\n\tAllain: So many of our interviewees said they had dreams about Billy coming to them. Gloria Jones told us that Billy came to her in a solid gold Mercedes. Since she knew him for so long, I asked Gloria if he would approve. And she said absolutely.<\/p>\n
\n\tBarclay: Manny Kellough [Preston\u2019s drummer] mentioned that before his interview, he had a dream about Billy appearing, nodding to him and then disappearing. And we actually had it in the movie for a minute, although it was one of those things that has to go when you want to tell the story. But we\u2019re feeling touched and blessed by this film.<\/p>\n
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