Don Preston (ne Donald Jack Preston) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter whose career parallels the history of rock 'n' roll from the 1950s to the present. He notably recorded in the 1970s with Leon Russell on Leon Russell and the Shelter People and other albums, and with Joe Cocker on Mad Dogs and Englishmen (as "The Gentle Giant"). He backed Russell at George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971 and appeared in the documentary film and on the live album The Concert for Bangladesh.
1950s: Early influences included B.B. King, Lowell Fulson, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, and other emerging blues artists heard on late-night AM radio broadcasts. Within a few years, Preston would be playing the same bills with them as they headlined in the Los Angeles area. He had the opportunity to play his guitar with many other icons in clubs, halls, and historic L.A. venues like El Monte Legion Stadium, emcee’d by Art Laboe. As a member of the Legion's house band, The Masked Phantoms, and at Harmony Park, he backed hitmakers The Penguins, The Coasters, The Olympics, The Jaguars, Ritchie Valens, The Righteous Brothers, Gene Vincent, Don Julian and the Meadowlarks, and Jessie Hill, among others. Those early experiences resonate in his music, as does the influence of guitarists who have inspired him, including Merle Travis, Les Paul, Barney Kessel, Chet Atkins, B.B. King, Albert King, Freddie King, Tommy Crook, Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Bryant, Billy Butler, and Wayne Bennett, to name a few. His first session date at age 16 was playing for Jim Balcom, with Earl Palmer, Plas Johnson, and Barney Kessel.
1960s: In the 1960s, Preston's band, Don and the Deacons, played at the popular Cinnamon Cinder, a Studio City club owned by Bob Eubanks. At that time, he also played in the band Cotton Candy that had evolved from another house band called The Vibrants. From there, he joined The Shindogs with Joey Cooper, Chuck Blackwell, and Delaney Bramlett, who had been regulars on the popular TV show Shindig!. In 1966, the group's harmonies produced a hit single, and they went on the road performing in several West Coast states.
In the late 50s to 60s, a number of talented musicians from Oklahoma migrated to Southern California to make their way in Hollywood's music business. Among them were artists such as Chuck Blackwell, JJ Cale, David Gates, Jim Karstein, Jim Keltner, and Leon Russell (Claude Russell Bridges), whom Preston first met in 1959 while standing in for Johnny (JJ) Cale on guitar with a SoCal bar band.
As has been noted, Los Angeles in the 1960s was a germinating ground for a new strain of blues/rock. During this era, Preston recorded two albums on A&M Records, both produced by Gordon Shryock. The first was Bluse (1968), and the second was Hot Air Through A Straw (1968) by Don Preston & The South with Bob Young, Casey Van Beek, and Bobby Cochran. He also recorded an album on Stax Records titled Still Rock (1969), as well as solo albums on Shelter Records. His songwriting also produced a song for Three Dog Night, “Circle For A Landing,” which was later used in the Ken Burn's documentary The Vietnam War.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Preston_(guitarist))