Let's talk about Bill Withers.

Do you still love me? I am 64.

Amateurist, can you give me a more comprehensive S/D for Bill Withers?

Or alternately, I'll burn you a CD in trade for some Arabic music stuff.

Also always loved "Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)," esp. Gladys Knight's spine-chilling version...

Just the two of us
Let's get together, baby
Just the two of us
We can make it
Just the two of us
We can make it
Just the two of us
Just the two of us we can make it

Such a classic, classic song, made even better with the saxophonic (that even a word?) presence of Grover Washington, Jr. Interesting thing: I actually saw the ep of "American Bandstand" where they used this song as a "spotlight dance" song, and that was just about the classiest moment they'd ever had. Even the lighting was understated.

if you're in to this you should definitely check out Eugene McDaniels' AMAZING "Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse". by far one of my favorite albums of all time. funk, folk, soul. one of two albums i own in two formats (record and cd). the other being kinda similar too - Shuggie Otis "Inspiration Information"

Bit of a tangent here, but does anyone know of any other West Virginia natives who (a) had a career comparable (quality- and/or longeivity-wise) to Withers and (b) weren't working in folk, C&W, or bluegrass? This WV native is curious. . .

put it in a microwave until its bill withers.

It's really gratifying to see the Bill Withers love here. Good question about West Virginia; what's the black population there, percentage-wise?

The drumming on Still Bill is sort of a miracle; the backing band is basically the Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band, whose own records I haven't heard (recommendations?)--all kinds of crazy 16th notes on the hi-hat and stuff.

And 'borrowing' records from your parents = k-classic.

i just picked up the record (25$) of Charles Wright and the 103rd st Rhythm Band's "Express Yourself" for a friend. it has the song made most famous by NWA on (duh) "Express Yourself." the album's cool but i don't think it's worth 25$. if it's available on used cd i'd look for it.

and i didn't realize they were the backing band on Still Bill. that's cool to know.

Wrong. Finest cover of "Ain't No Sunshine" is by Jack Natz's BLACKSNAKES.

http://www.consumerrevolt.de/crawl.jpg

I just heard the sound of 20 ILx0rs being fired.

put it in the microwave until its bill withers

yeah i was just going to bring this one up, too. i like the version on the live at carnegie hall album best. more/less relevant than ever?

-- Douglas (il...), April 19th, 2003.

I don't know where it came from, but I've got a version of it by Fiona Apple that's pretty true to the original.

Joe Simon I like too--he recorded for Sound Stage 7 in Nashville. A bit more of a conventionally "good" singer but great.

...and I'd do it again.

It's always a cool breeze to the earholes when "Soul Shadows" comes on during the drive-time Quiet Storm show.

my god, his version of "Everybody's Talkin'" is as good as anyone's. I suppose I'll just go through his readily available discog over the next day or two, there's not much wrong in there.

Got Carnegie on and Grandma's Hands just destroyed me.

This one maybe? I know I'd never heard the song (I knew his earlier hits but had stopped listening to the radio by the time of "Lovely Day") till I saw it on a commercial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ2XBzq387c

Withers got a real royalty juice when S.O.U.L S.Y.S.T.E.M'S pop house cover on The Bodyguard soundtrack got some play:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7TK11aA5Sg

genuinely tearing up right now, thinking about the warmth and observation and life he put on record. hopefully the news does mean more people get turned on to his catalog, discover carnegie hall, etc. he was obviously very famous and successful but he deserves to be one of the dozen musicians every single person knows the name of.

yes

i think he's on a par with hank williams, today especially

lovely moment from the Still Bill doc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYbSnoKexMs

I'm gutted to hear this, RIP

His live album is among the best I've heard. Rarely has a sense of warmth and communion between performer and audience been more palpable.

Read the news, sighed, and fired said album up. And all the comments about it throughout the thread are accurate. Glad he was here, you know?

It's possible my first introduction to Bill Withers as a ... concept? Aesthetic? As something more than just some nice songs I'd heard here and there growing up, might have been in here, hilariously:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUI3_USzHYU

“It’s not my fault you got lovesick during the Quiet Storm."

Live at Carnegie is one of the best live albums ever. I remember discovering him as a teenager and picking up the albums whenever i saw them in dollar bins, which was often. Of all the punk and weirdo music I used to play as a kid, Bill Withers was one of the only things my parents would complain about, having overdosed on hearing "Lean on Me" a billion times on the radio over the years, they would tell me.

One of the things that always made him stand out to me was that he had so many good songs on the topic of platonic friendship, which is a rarer song subject than you'd think it would be. I guess as a result of already being a grownass adult when he started his career, his songs always seem so mature and grounded in actual real adult life & experiences. You could really see him living in those songs, walking around out there in the real world. Very easy for me to get choked up thinking about him, his life, and his body of work. A giant.

we had a live performance of ‘lean on me’ at our wedding ceremony, just such an elegantly crafted expression of something universal

really broken up by this tbh, one of those incredibly rare performers whose songs have become an indelible part of popular culture

I can't think of a cover of any of his songs that I honestly like, but I'm open to recommendations (mention Club Nouveau and get FP'D).

GRACE JONES
― brimstead, Friday, April 3, 2020 11:39 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

I knew as soon as I posted that an obvious one would either come to me or be pointed out. Yes, Grace's "Use Me" is a solid.

there are so many different versions of 'ain't no sunshine' that at least one or two has to be good, right?

Mick Jagger has a decent cover:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E_lZPAhrbA

Don't rmde at "ft. Lenny Kravitz." He hadn't started to suck yet in early '93.

bill withers is a big one for me. coming up on ecstasy and the dj playing lovely day is one of the most transcendent moments I've ever had with music.

just remembering, freddie king's 'ain't no sunshine,' which is solid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTboI4LDt4I

some rippin' live versions out there too

here's a couple of my favourite versions of "ain't no sunshine"

caterina caselli, 1972:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g53QYP5jPpI

junko ohashi, 1976:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfPgOHcrlIs

Soulful is such an overworked word, but he had one of those voices (Arthur Alexander is another) where just the sheer humanity and... soulfulness of it can often bring me to tears. RIP, Bill.

I love this man so much. what a life.

"You Got The Stuff" off 'Bout Love is a great late 70s deep cut. Especially if you find the version with the disco outro

the most pleasant voice of all time. RIP

so many great songs and a really easy discography to get through.

'stories' always hits me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5RSogOduEA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-2n7VLBHi0

RIP Getting hipped to the live album is one of the best things ILX did for me. That complete albums box Legacy did was an A+ package all the way down.

dunno if its been posted upthread but this live TV set is really something. The version of "Let Me In Your Life" is jaw dropping

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwgggzBgJfM

I'd shared thoughts on Live at Carnegie Hall on Twitter and here's a tidbit:

This is his best album. When I told him I loved it, he smiled and told me "that might've been the best show I ever played." https://t.co/6xO56i8xlR

— Scott Collette (@ScottJCollette) April 3, 2020

Was just listening again to some of it, and was reminded that the strings & horns were overdubbed, surely one of the best instances of sweetening on a live album EVAH.

Hope She's Happier With Him off Carnegie Hall is devastating. Such a beautiful, sad, dark lyric, so perfectly delivered.

i dug my grandmother too

I was sort of shocked by him when I "discovered" him, after having heard his songs for years (and not always realizing they were by the same person). The soulfulness of his voice, concision of his songwriting, richness of his melodies, and an overall sense of maturity that always set him apart — I'm sure partly having to do with not getting famous until he was in his 30s, but also seeming to emanate from from something inside him. Music by a grown-up for grown-ups.

It's been heartening to see the outpouring for him, one of those giants kind of hiding in plain sight.

i always held out hope he would release new music or maybe even play again. The latter option gone forever now; hopeful there will be a posthumous release or two of some merit.

It's been a while since I saw the documentary but iirc it seemed like he was still making some music in his home studio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4j2e2d7U94

^ blessed by the man himself at the start

Hope She's Happier With Him off Carnegie Hall is devastating. Such a beautiful, sad, dark lyric, so perfectly delivered.

― Pinche Cumbion Bien Loco (stevie), Friday, April 3, 2020 12:05 PM (thirty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yes

on percussion, we got a lady

very happy to learn Still Bill is on youtube

Carmen McRae’s version of “Paint your pretty picture” is the only cover I know of that improves on Bill’s take

https://youtu.be/RknfFt06Uzs

Withers got a real royalty juice when S.O.U.L S.Y.S.T.E.M'S pop house cover on The Bodyguard soundtrack got some play

i legitimately love that record

r.i.p. to this great artist

xpost There's something else (very tangentially) cool about that Carmen McRae live album: it might be the first recorded appearance of Joey Baron on drums!

Even chilly darkness has the brightest POLL: Bill Withers' STILL BILL

i moved in to a cozy little trailer with someone i'm in love with a few months ago. we're both jobless since covid but we're lucky to have some savings so in between bouts of anxiety about income we've both slowed down a little bit - not much to do but care for each other.

anyway i played menagerie the morning i heard he'd died and we had coffee and listened to it. the second "lovely day" started i was giving j. meaningful glances and trying to keep from outright bawling. i hadn't actually listened to menagerie before so it was quite a treat -- even the two disco tracks are good. we got to "tender things" and i told j. that bill withers had died and i cried and j. told me that the song's spirit matched mine. a compliment i'll always remember.

i wish i could really say what it is about bill withers that's so special. the familiarity with depression is a part of it. the ability to articulate so clearly what it is about sharing your life with another person that's so fulfilling is another part. and also a healthy, earth-bound sense of ones self in relation to another. a humility, a familiarity with limits. and just the crazy perfect songs, like they're natural fixtures in the world, like the world would be an absurd place by definition if they didn't exist.

My brass band finally finished the tribute that we recorded after he passed, it took awhile to figure out recording in our separate homes and putting a video together:
https://www.facebook.com/mamadigdown/videos/3043741569039500/

All proceeds go to the New Orleans Brass Band Musicians Relief Fund:
https://digdown.bandcamp.com/track/just-the-two-of-us-2

this is solid man, thanks!

thanks u!

The second side of Justments is the best of chill withers

Such a fantastic record. Would like to play Railroad Man out somewhere people might dance to it.

i def would.

also 'justments is his best album.