"Outa-Space" is an instrumental recorded by

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...

that originally appeared on his 1971 A&M Records-debut album, ''

I Wrote a Simple Song ''I Wrote a Simple Song'' is the sixth studio album by American soul musician Billy Preston. Released in November 1971, it was his first album for A&M Records and marked the start of a run of commercial success in the United States that lasted th ...

''. To create the primary instrumental sound, Preston played a

clavinet The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tension ...

through a wah wah pedal. The song was created by Preston improvising while calling out chord changes to the backing band. He later added organ and hand claps. Preston named the song "Outa-Space" for the instrumental's spacy sound. While he thought it would be a hit, A&M was skeptical and issued it as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of "

" in December 1971. However, radio DJs began flipping the single and, while "I Wrote a Simple Song" only reached #77 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, "Outa-Space" peaked at #2, showing that Preston's feelings about it were correct.

Chart performance

"Outa-Space" was kept out of the top spot by " Lean on Me" by Bill Withers. The instrumental also topped the R&B Singles chart for a week, succeeding the aforementioned "Lean on Me". The single was certified gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for sales of one million copies. In late 1972, "Outa-Space" peaked at #44 on the UK Singles Chart. "Outa-Space" won the

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for Best Pop Instrumental Performance of 1972. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the #22 song for 1972. Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1972

Song in Pop Culture

*In the 1990s,

Intel Corporation Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 series ...

used the song to promote their MMX-enabled Pentium processors.

References

1972 singles Billy Preston songs 1970s instrumentals Pop instrumentals Songs written by Billy Preston A&M Records singles 1972 songs Cashbox number-one singles {{1970s-single-stub