Bill Withers’ gritty voice is one of the most recognizable and celebrated in the music industry and his songs are some of the most memorable, thoughtful, and emotional.
“Lean On Me,” “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lovely Day,” “Just the Two of Us,” and “Use Me” are proof of his exceptional songwriting, as well as his warranted and rightful place as one of the music industry’s incomparable artists. A critic once said, many of Withers’ tunes “simmer irresistibly, as if cooking over a low flame.”
Withers, a former Navy aircraft mechanic, released his first album, “Just As I Am,” which contained the hit, “Ain’t No Sunshine,” in 1971. It cracked the Billboard Top 10.
“Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean on Me” and “Just the Two of Us” all won the Grammy Award for best rhythm and blues song. In 1985, after the release of the album, “Watching You Watching Me,” Withers, frustrated with the business, stopped recording and performing.
Ironically, Withers, who was known for his independent spirit, was born William Harrison Withers Jr. on July 4, in West Virginia. At 17, he joined the Navy and spent nine years in the service before quitting in 1965 and taking a job at an airplane parts factory. A visit to a nightclub to see Lou Rawls perform changed his life.
After buying a guitar, learning to play it, and writing songs, Withers recorded a demo. Music executive Clarence Avant, set him up with the keyboardist Booker T. Jones, of Booker T. & The MG’s, to produce an album. Withers was laid off from his factory job a few months before the album, “Just as I Am” came out. After the album’s release, he received two letters on the same day. One was from his workplace asking him to return to work. The other was from “The Tonight Show,” where he appeared in November 1971. Withers would release six other studio albums in the 1970s.
For his musical efforts, Withers was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
Bill Withers died on March 30, 2020, at the age of 81. Legends are defined by their work and how it impacts the culture. We remember Bill Withers so others don’t forget.
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