Billy Preston's first album, That's the Way God Planned It, was almost all gospel-oriented, and the second side was generally good. But the material that wasn't good wrecked the first side, and the backing throughout the whole album wasn't as funky as real gospel should be. Too slick. "That's the Way God Planned It," an incredible single, was easily 100 times better than anything else on the album.

Encouraging Words, Preston's new album, is also uneven. In fact, there really aren't even any notable cuts on the whole album, with the exceptions of "Little Girl" and "Oh Sweet, Lord." Most of the rest of it is marred by the blah material and Preston's weak singing. As a result, the album never even gets started, really.

Billy Preston is a perfectly good organist and pianist; and he's also an adequate singer, even at gospel, when he tries. But too much of the stuff on these two albums comes off as slick, casually thrown together pop gospel music. Preston, to be sure, can be great when he has the right vehicle, as "That's the Way God Planned It" attests. Unfortunately, he doesn't very often on these two albums. (RS 74)

MIKE SAUNDERS