biography by Ed Hogan
Songwriter/singer/guitarist Bill Withers is best remembered for the classic “Lean on Me” and his other million-selling singles “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Use Me,” but he has a sizable cache of great songs to his credit. Al Jarreau recorded an entire CD of Withers’ songs on Tribute to Bill Withers (Culture Press 1998). His popular radio-aired LP track from Still Bill, “Who Is He? (And What Is He to You?),” was a 1974 R&B hit for Creative Source.
Born July 4, 1938, in Slab Fork, WV, Withers was the youngest of six children. His father died when he was a child and he was raised by his mother and grandmother. After a nine-year stint in the Navy, Withers moved to Los Angeles to pursue a music career in 1967. He recorded demos at night while working at the Boeing aircraft company where he made toilet seats. His recording career began after being introduced to Clarence Avant, president of Sussex Records.
Stax Records stalwart Booker T. Jones produced his debut album, Just As I Am (with some co-production by Al Jackson, Jr.), which included his first charting single, “Ain’t No Sunshine” that went gold and made it to number six R&B and number three pop in summer 1971 and won a Grammy as Best R&B Song. Its follow-up, “Grandma Hands,” peaked at number 18 R&B in fall 1971. The song was later covered by the Staple Singers and received airplay as a track from their 1973 Stax LP Be What You Are. “Just As I Am” featured lead guitar by Stephen Stills and hit number five R&B in summer 1971.
Withers wrote “Lean on Me” based on his experiences growing up in a West Virginia coal mining town. Times were hard and when a neighbor needed something beyond their means, the rest of the community would chip in and help. He came up with the chord progression while noodling around on his new Wurlitzer electric piano. The sound of the chords reminded Withers of the hymns that he heard at church while he was growing up. On the session for “Lean on Me,” members of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band (“Express Yourself,” “Loveland”) were used: drummer James Gadson, keyboardist Ray Jackson, guitarist Benorce Blackman (co-wrote with Withers “The Best You Can” from Making Music), and bassist Melvin Dunlop. His second gold single, “Lean on Me,” landed at number one R&B and number one pop for three weeks on Billboard’s charts in summer 1972. It was included on his Still Bill album which went gold, holding the number one R&B spot for six weeks and hitting number four pop in spring 1972. “Lean on Me” has became a standard with hit covers by U.K. rock band Mud and Club Nouveau. “Lean on Me” was also the title theme of a 1989 movie starring Morgan Freeman. Still Bill also included “Use Me” (gold, number two R&B for two weeks and number two pop for two weeks in fall 1972) .
Withers’ Sussex catalog also included Bill Withers Live at Carnegie Hall, ‘Justments, and The Best of Bill Withers. Withers contributed “Better Days” to the soundtrack of the Bill Cosby 1971 western Man And Boy, released on Sussex. There was a duet single with Bobby Womack on United Artists, “It’s All Over Now,” from summer 1975.
After a legal battle with Sussex, Withers signed with Columbia Records. Columbia later bought his Sussex masters when the label went out of business. Withers was briefly married actress Denise Nicholas (ABC-TV’s Room 222 and the 1972 horror film Blacula) in the early ’70s. His releases on Columbia were Making Music (“Make Love to Your Mind,” number ten R&B), which hit number seven R&B in late 1975; Naked and Warm; Menagerie (“Lovely Day,” a number six R&B hit), which went gold in 1977; and ‘Bout Love from spring 1979.
Teaming with Elektra Records artist Grover Washington, Jr., Withers sang the crystalline ballad “Just the Two of Us,” written by Withers, Ralph MacDonald, and William Salter. It went to number three R&B and held the number two pop spot for three weeks in early 1981. “Just the Two of Us” was redone with hilarious effect in the Mike Myers movie Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, released in summer 1999. Withers teamed with MacDonald for MacDonald’s Polydor single “In the Name of Love” in summer 1984.
Withers’ last charting LP was Watching You, Watching Me in spring 1985. He occasionally did dates with Grover Washington, Jr. during the ’90s. His songs and recordings have been used as both the source of numerous covers (Aaron Neville’s “Use Me”) and sampled by a multitude of hip-hop/rap groups. Withers resurfaced in the 21st century, playing concerts, and having his albums reissued in various countries. He is also the subject of the 2010 bio-documentary Still Bill, by filmmakers Damani Baker and Alex Vlack.
review by Andy Kellman
Better late than never. The ideal time to release something of this scope was 2009, around the time the Bill Withers documentary Still Bill came out. Between then and the November 2012 release of this box, many of Withers’ albums were reissued by BBR (U.K.) and Reel Music (U.S.) with great care. So, after all that, here’s an all-encompassing package that features each one of Withers albums — 1971’s Just as I Am through 1985’s Watching You Watching Me — all newly mastered from the original analog tapes. A compact clamshell box contains the discs with replica LP sleeves that reproduce the front and back covers. The front of the Still Bill sleeve cleverly has that “window style” slit down the middle. The 39-page booklet should seal the deal for those whose funds haven’t been depleted by the later wave of reissues. It features a typically humble note from Withers, an essay from Michael Eric Dyson, dozens of pictures, and full recording details. For beginners, this nine-disc box is a plunge, and not every album is a classic, but it retails for around the price of a typical five- or six-disc set.
tracks: disc 1
1 Harlem 3:23
2 Ain’t No Sunshine 2:05
3 Grandma’s Hands 2:01
4 Sweet Wanomi 2:32
5 Everybody’s Talkin’ 3:24
6 Do It Good 2:52
7 Hope She’ll Be Happier 3:50
8 Let It Be 2:36
9 I’m Her Daddy 3:18
10 In My Heart 4:19
11 Moanin’ and Groanin’ 2:58
12 Better Off Dead 2:14
tracks: disc 2
1 Lonely Town, Lonely Street 3:40
2 Let Me in Your Life 2:40
3 Who Is He (And What Is He to You)? 3:12
4 Use Me 3:42
5 Lean on Me 4:18
6 Kissing My Love 3:49
7 I Don’t Know 3:02
8 Another Day to Run 4:38
9 I Don’t Want You on My Mind 4:32
10 Take It All In and Check It All Out 2:36
tracks: disc 3
1 Use Me 8:34
2 Friend of Mine 4:28
3 Ain’t No Sunshine 2:57
4 Grandma’s Hands 4:53
5 World Keeps Going Around 5:19
6 Let Me in Your Life 4:15
7 Better Off Dead 3:41
8 For My Friend 3:01
9 I Can’t Write Lefthanded 6:43
10 Lean on Me 5:47
11 Lonely Town, Lonely Street 3:58
12 Hope She’ll Be Happier 4:26
13 Let Us Love 5:19
14 Harlem/Cold Baloney 13:42
tracks: disc 4
1 You 5:23
2 The Same Love That Made Me Laugh 3:25
3 Stories 2:47
4 Green Grass 3:11
5 Ruby Lee 3:19
6 Heartbreak Road 3:09
7 Can We Pretend 3:49
8 Liza 3:04
9 Make a Smile for Me 3:16
10 Rainroad Man 6:28
tracks: disc 5
1 I Wish You Well 3:57
2 The Best You Can 2:22
3 Make Love to Your Mind 6:23
4 I Love You Dawn 2:36
5 She’s Lonely 5:15
6 Sometimes a Song 4:45
7 Paint Your Pretty Picture 5:43
8 Family Table 3:13
9 Don’t You Want to Stay? 4:04
10 Hello Like Before 5:29
tracks: disc 6
1 Close to Me 3:56
2 Naked & Warm (Heaven! Oh! Heaven!) 5:46
3 Where You Are 3:54
4 Dreams 5:32
5 If I Didn’t Mean You Well 3:04
6 I’ll Be with You 3:12
7 City of the Angels 10:44
8 My Imagination 4:52
tracks: disc 7
1 Lovely Day 4:14
2 I Want to Spend the Night 3:41
3 Lovely Night for Dancing 5:49
4 Then You Smile at Me 4:53
5 She Wants to (Get on Down) 3:15
6 It Ain’t Because of Me Baby 3:30
7 Tender Things 5:00
8 Wintertime 3:16
9 Let Me Be the One You Need 4:45
tracks: disc 8
1 All Because of You 3:50
2 Dedicated to You My Love 4:49
3 Don’t It Make It Better 4:13
4 You Got the Stuff 7:16
5 Look to Each Other for Love 4:25
6 Love 4:59
7 Love Is 4:23
8 Memories are That Way 5:04
tracks: disc 9
1 Oh Yeah! 4:04
2 Something That Turns You On 4:26
3 Don’t Make Me Wait 4:02
4 Heart in Your Life 4:16
5 Watching You Watch Me 5:49
6 We Could Be Sweet Lovers 3:27
7 You Just Can’t Smile It Away 4:41
8 Steppin’ Right Along 5:46
9 Whatever Happens 3:15
10 You Try to Find a Love 5:21