She never played a piano or picked up a guitar. She couldn’t even carry a tune. Nevertheless, Frances Preston made music every day. Her singular talent was recognizing the talent in others. Her skill was being instrumental in the corporate orchestration of countless compositions.
Her famous quote, “It all begins with a song,” was not just referring to the melody, harmony and rhythms that we mindlessly stream every day; Preston’s words were her way of reminding us all that — at every song’s beginning there’s a Mind, a Composer – a Writer.
From her first days at BMI, Frances noticed this obvious ‘lack of notice,’ and when she took the time to care, it changed everything.
Focusing her attention on the foundation of the music industry, the ‘genesis of a song’, Preston marveled at how a composer’s art painted pictures with words; how their lyrical stories moved an audience, and transported every listener to places both real and imagined.
“It is ironic,” she observed, “the most valuable, insightful among us have frequently gone unnoticed, unappreciated. Though their music has enriched our lives – not to mention the pockets of promoters – the songwriter has gone unsung – and has been for too long poorly compensated.”
Seeing the problem clearly, Frances decided to fix it.
From that day on, Preston’s morning alarm became a ringing reminder of her lifelong mission; …to right every wrong, and secure every right for The Writers.
To that end her professional world was a constant square dance of symphony halls, boardrooms, cocktail parties and courtrooms. Her only respite was the occasional private slow dance of romance and regret.
Ultimately, the life of Frances Preston was a rare unmixed, multi-track recording of lyrical stories that managed to change – everything.
It moved an audience of Congressmen to do what was ‘right’, and eventually transported every unsung writer to a place once only imagined.
“She’s the guardian angel of all songwriters,” Kris Kristofferson grinned, “and that’s why we love her back.”
When her finest accomplishment was finally realized, it was decided that, like her mission, her life-long efforts should not go unsung. So to fix that, a book was conceived; And as the unraveling of her unmixed, multi-track life of lyrical stories commenced, Frances once more recognized the value of…. A Writer.
Kris Kristofferson re-signing with BMI
When I was handpicked for the task of putting this extraordinary life into words, I chose to do so in First Person. Some thought the decision was daring, others considered the move to channel her memories, “brave.” Frances simply glanced up from reading the first few pages and grinned, “You write the way I think.” From that moment on we were a duet, effortlessly connected.
Our scheduled interviews slowly evolved into long lunches, which led to even longer, more
frequent dinners. Eventually our conversations transported us to the backyard of her Green Hills home, where we chatted by the pool, reminisced under the shade trees and relived her professional progress and private pain on the veranda of her ‘Pool house,’ where she invited me to stay.
Backyard Conversations
"It all begins with a song."
- Frances
Those conversations in the backyard, (where Bob Hope once taped a TV Special), became our meeting place. Though the bustle of Nashville’s traffic could be heard from the mansion’s front steps, the high, vine-covered wall that enclosed the estate’s back third made our get-togethers as quiet and intimate as a walk in the forest. In that solitude Frances would lean back in her lawn chair, close her eyes …and reminisce:
“I love it here. There’s nothing like the backyard…"
After a pause, she squinted one eye open in my direction and chuckled, “Actually the backyard is where it all started… Lying on beach towels in the grass behind my parents’ house, a few gal pals and I were gossiping, listening to Elvis on the radio. Suddenly Dad was standing over me, blocking the sun. ‘I’m not giving you any money, this summer’ he said. ‘It’s time to get up and get a job.’ ”
With that backyard story about the back yard, Frances and I set off on an adventure…of a lifetime.
~ Barton Green
Nashville, TN