Over the last few years, I've noticed that when I find myself in the mood to listen to a specific artist, I often binge-listen to a whole bunch of albums by said artist. I may not listen to everything that artist recorded--maybe a handful of albums, depending on the size of the artist's catalogue and what I have in my collection. This week, I did--with the exception of a few odds and ends--listen to the entire catalogue of this week's artist. I acquired a boxed set of all nine of his albums released between 1971 and 1985. I don't know why I hadn't before--it's not like I wasn't already a fan of his work. In fact, one of his songs, which we'll get to in a bit, is one of my Top 10 favourite songs. (FULL DISCLOSURE: due to a tie in the #6 slot, there are actually 11 songs in my Top 10 list. Since I recently included a list of my Top 10 favourite albums, I'll include my Top 10 favourite songs at the end of this post. I realize no one asked for this information, but I'm a compulsive listmaker. And you can compare and contrast or submit your own lists.)
I've always considered this week's artist to be one of the greatest voices in pop music, especially in R&B/soul music and it's been great reacquainting myself with many songs I knew and acquainting myself with a large number of songs that I didn't. Even as the overall sound of soul music evolved through the 1970s and the 1980s, his voice seemed to integrate seamlessly into that evolution. As someone who has always rooted for the older guys, I was always impressed by the impact he had, especially given the fact that he didn't release his first album until he was almost 33 years old--late by entertainment industry standards.
William Harrison "Bill" Withers Jr. was born on 4 July, 1938, in West Virginia. His parents divorced when he was three and he was raised largely by his mother and her family. He joined the Navy at 17 and served for nine years. It was during that time that he developed an interest in singing and songwriting. When he got out of the Navy, he went to work as a mechanical assembler working for a number of companies including Ford, IBM, and Douglas Aircraft Corporation (later McDonnell Douglas), during which time he also began to write and perform his own songs.
After a 1967 single failed to gain any traction, his big break came in 1971, when he was introduced to legendary musician/producer/arranger Booker T. Jones. Jones was impressed by what he heard and when he asked Withers if he had enough songs to fill an album, they sat down and made one. The song "Harlem" was released as the album's first single, however disc jockeys seemed to prefer the B-side, a little ballad called "Ain't No Sunshine," which climbed to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the start of a whole new career for Withers.
His follow-up album, 1972's Still Bill yielded the R&B classics "Lean On Me" and "Use Me." Over the next decade and a half, Withers would go on to win three Grammy Awards (along with six other nominations). I hate to use euphemisms, but due to creative differences, he walked away from the music industry in 1985 after releasing his ninth album, Watching You, Watching Me. Over the years he would continue to pop up from time to time. A 2009 documentary, also titled Still Bill, explored his reasons for leaving. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005, the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2007, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. The last I had heard from him was in 2004 when he appeared on Jimmy Buffett's album License to Chill. Withers contributed two songs to the album, "Simply Complicated," which he co-wrote with Buffett, and "Playin' the Loser Again," which he wrote and sang as a duet.
Bill Withers died from heart complications on 20 March, 2020, at the age of 81. His was one of those celebrity deaths that actually saddened me, just because I have such fond memories of his music. I remember waking up on the morning of my 27th birthday with his 1977 hit "Lovely Day" stuck in my head. I spent that day roaming the streets of London, England, constantly singing the chorus (my sister was gracious enough to sing backup). When I had heard he died, I remember sitting at the top of my stairs, listening to that song, and crying. And "Ain't No Sunshine" ranks at #7 on my list of Top 10 favourite songs.
Given the fact that I have been listening to so much of his music over the last week, and that yesterday would have been his 87th birthday, I thought I would commemorate him this week, wondering why I never did before. To me, there is something almost mystical about that first album that he did with Booker T. Jones, who not only produced and arranged, but also played guitar and keyboards on the album. Fellow MGs Donald "Duck" Dunn and Al Jackson Jr. played bass and drums respectively. The great Stephen Stills (as Withers wrote, "THAT Stephen Stills") played guitar and legendary session drummer Jim Keltner also sat in. Featuring almost hypnotic covers of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'" and The Beatles' "Let It Be" (#2 on my Top 10) along with ten Withers originals, please enjoy 1971's Just As I Am.
Until next week, stay safe, be good to your neighbours, and please remember that if at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
Yours in peace, love, and rock and roll!
The Reverend Will the Thrill
The Reverend Will the Thrill's Top 10 Favourite Songs:
1. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by The Rolling Stones (1969)
2. "Let It Be" by The Beatles (1970)--preferably the LP version of the song and not the single version usually played on the radio
3. "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" by The First Edition (1967)
4. "Like To Get To Know You" by Spanky & Our Gang (1968)
5. "Never Been To Spain" by Three Dog Night (1971)
6. "Still Crazy After All These Years" by Paul Simon (1975) / "Watching the Wheels" by John Lennon (1980) (TIE)
7. "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers (1971)
8. "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum (1967)
9. "Clap For the Wolfman" by The Guess Who (1974)
10. "Rio" by Michael Nesmith (1977)
(Dates are based on the release of the album on which the song was featured.)
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