I've always loved Withers's backporch, almost DIY take on '70s soul. The combination of his folksy burr and soaring Gamble-Huff-esque strings is very effective. Also he wrote some deathless songs. I hope he's relaxing somewhere right now, awash in royalty statements.
― Amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 18 April 2003 21:07 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 18 April 2003 21:10 (twenty years ago) link
Do you still love me? I am 64.
― Amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 18 April 2003 21:13 (twenty years ago) link
― Amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 18 April 2003 21:14 (twenty years ago) link
― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Friday, 18 April 2003 21:23 (twenty years ago) link
― Amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 18 April 2003 21:24 (twenty years ago) link
Amateurist, can you give me a more comprehensive S/D for Bill Withers?
― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 18 April 2003 21:50 (twenty years ago) link
Or alternately, I'll burn you a CD in trade for some Arabic music stuff.
― Amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 18 April 2003 21:52 (twenty years ago) link
― Jay K (Jay K), Friday, 18 April 2003 22:23 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 18 April 2003 22:45 (twenty years ago) link
― Chris V. (Chris V), Friday, 18 April 2003 22:46 (twenty years ago) link
Also always loved "Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)," esp. Gladys Knight's spine-chilling version...
― Douglas (Douglas), Saturday, 19 April 2003 00:00 (twenty years ago) link
― mosurock (mosurock), Saturday, 19 April 2003 00:12 (twenty years ago) link
Just the two of us We can make it if we try Just the two of us Just the two of us Building castles in the sky Just the two of us You and I
We look for love, no time for tears Wasted waters's all that is And it don't make no flowers grow Good things might come to those who wait Not to those who wait to late We got to go for all we know
I hear the crystal raindrops fall On the window down the hall And it becomes the morning dew Darling, when the morning comes And I see the morning sun I want to be the one with you
Just the two of us We can make it if we try Just the two of us Just the two of us Building big castles way on high Just the two of us You and I
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.
― Dee the Lurker (Dee the Lurker), Saturday, 19 April 2003 00:36 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 19 April 2003 00:38 (twenty years ago) link
― Sean (Sean), Saturday, 19 April 2003 00:38 (twenty years ago) link
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"
― JasonD (JasonD), Saturday, 19 April 2003 00:41 (twenty years ago) link
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. . .
― Jeff Wright, Saturday, 19 April 2003 02:04 (twenty years ago) link
― michael wells (michael w.), Saturday, 19 April 2003 02:22 (twenty years ago) link
― Chris A. (Chris A.), Saturday, 19 April 2003 02:50 (twenty years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 19 April 2003 02:50 (twenty years ago) link
put it in a microwave until its bill withers.
― michael wells (michael w.), Saturday, 19 April 2003 02:51 (twenty years ago) link
― gabbneb (gabbneb), Saturday, 19 April 2003 02:52 (twenty years ago) link
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.
― Amateurist (amateurist), Saturday, 19 April 2003 06:21 (twenty years ago) link
― rumpelstiltskin, Saturday, 19 April 2003 07:18 (twenty years ago) link
― Amateurist (amateurist), Saturday, 19 April 2003 16:06 (twenty years ago) link
― Jay K (Jay K), Saturday, 19 April 2003 17:14 (twenty years ago) link
― autovac (autovac), Saturday, 19 April 2003 19:22 (twenty years ago) link
And 'borrowing' records from your parents = k-classic.
― Cozen (Cozen), Saturday, 19 April 2003 19:24 (twenty years ago) link
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.
― JasonD (JasonD), Saturday, 19 April 2003 19:31 (twenty years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Saturday, 19 April 2003 20:12 (twenty years ago) link
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 20 April 2003 19:42 (twenty years ago) link
― luna (luna.c), Sunday, 20 April 2003 19:53 (twenty years ago) link
― mosurock (mosurock), Sunday, 20 April 2003 22:26 (twenty years ago) link
Wrong. Finest cover of "Ain't No Sunshine" is by Jack Natz's BLACKSNAKES.
http://www.consumerrevolt.de/crawl.jpg
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 20 April 2003 23:57 (twenty years ago) link
― Amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 21 April 2003 00:03 (twenty years ago) link
I just heard the sound of 20 ILx0rs being fired.
― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Monday, 21 April 2003 00:04 (twenty years ago) link
put it in the microwave until its bill withers
― del a robbo, Saturday, 17 May 2003 16:39 (twenty years ago) link
― jed (jed_e_3), Thursday, 5 August 2004 16:59 (nineteen years ago) link
― neil tacus (tacit), Thursday, 5 August 2004 18:21 (nineteen years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 5 August 2004 18:22 (nineteen years ago) link
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?
― vahid (vahid), Thursday, 5 August 2004 19:13 (nineteen years ago) link
― Sonny A. (Keiko), Thursday, 5 August 2004 19:15 (nineteen years ago) link
-- 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.
― JC-L (JC-L), Thursday, 5 August 2004 19:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 5 August 2004 19:39 (nineteen years ago) link
Joe Simon I like too--he recorded for Sound Stage 7 in Nashville. A bit more of a conventionally "good" singer but great.
― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Thursday, 5 August 2004 19:46 (nineteen years ago) link
...and I'd do it again.
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 5 August 2004 21:11 (nineteen years ago) link
― splooge (thesplooge), Friday, 6 August 2004 07:59 (nineteen years ago) link
― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Friday, 6 August 2004 10:19 (nineteen years ago) link
It's always a cool breeze to the earholes when "Soul Shadows" comes on during the drive-time Quiet Storm show.
― briania (briania), Friday, 6 August 2004 11:08 (nineteen years ago) link
― willem (willem), Friday, 6 August 2004 11:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Friday, 6 August 2004 13:06 (nineteen years ago) link
― splooge (thesplooge), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:01 (nineteen years ago) link
highlights, as vahid noted above, "I can't write left handed" - more relevant than ever now. the long held note on "she's go-o-o-o-o-o-one" in the track "hope she'll be happier" is probably even more astonishing than the one on "Lovely Day".
if you don't have this album you must buy it.
― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 28 June 2006 22:08 (seventeen years ago) link
also seek out the soundtrack to SAVE THE CHILDREN (a 1973 concert movie of a Jesse Jackson/Operation PUSH rally from the year before)...bill starts out his portion of the album by saying something like: "ten years ago, if we saw THIS many black people in one place...even WE woulda been scared!" kinda makes up for the fact that he starts out "lean on me" wildly offkey
― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:11 (seventeen years ago) link
― Stormy Davis (diamond), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:20 (seventeen years ago) link
― poortheatre (poortheatre), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:49 (seventeen years ago) link
(you should also check out the DVD that comes with the recent reissue of JUST AS I AM...my man Bill is just going OFF in the modern-day interview segments!)
― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Thursday, 29 June 2006 03:56 (seventeen years ago) link
JUST AS I AM was actually reissued on Columbia in the eighties featuring an updated photo of a bearded Bill in a suit (my, how far we've come), but the new CD version (again on Columbia) restores the original day-job cover from '71!
― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Thursday, 29 June 2006 04:03 (seventeen years ago) link
http://img.hmv.co.jp/image/jacket/190/14/5/8/355.jpg http://www.comicgenius.com/DiscoFever/disco_profiles/george_mccrae/images/rock.gif
― flëétwøöd måçk (jaxon), Thursday, 29 June 2006 04:39 (seventeen years ago) link
― Fastnbulbous (Fastnbulbous), Friday, 27 October 2006 18:03 (seventeen years ago) link
Then he changed labels and got more and more "quiet storm" as the years went on, and that's where I get off the train re: Withers. But damn if JUST AS I AM, STILL BILL, the live LP and JUSTMENTS weren't an incredible four-album run.
― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Monday, 30 October 2006 07:57 (seventeen years ago) link
It's a disco edit/extended mix that sounds like Bill Withers and Quincy Jones being chopped and blunted by Madlib and then fed through the Akufen machine for a futuristic cleaning.
Italo-disco/Cosmic DJs love this track - I have no idea who did this remix - but if it were 3600 minutes long it would still be too short.
― greypejooze (Ryanssssss), Monday, 30 October 2006 12:14 (seventeen years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 30 October 2006 14:06 (seventeen years ago) link
― Rodney... (R. J. Greene), Monday, 30 October 2006 21:56 (seventeen years ago) link
― edde (edde), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 00:49 (seventeen years ago) link
― struttin' with some barbecue (jimnaseum), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 01:48 (seventeen years ago) link
OMG just bought Carnegie Hall, and it really is beautiful. And as a rule I hate live albums... It's just so charming, and the band are so understated yet wildly funky. Grandma's Hands is genuinely affecting.
I just felt I wanted to share this.
― Daniel Giraffe, Monday, 18 June 2007 10:06 (sixteen years ago) link
his drummer is teh shit! so subtle and funky. unbelievable. must get the carnegie hall.
much much love for horace andy's "ain't no sunshine."
― andrew m., Monday, 18 June 2007 17:02 (sixteen years ago) link
Live At Carnegie Hall is the greatest soul record there is. James Brown invented more, Otis Redding is the greater singer, Aretha Franklin could do a wider variety of things, Al Green was more magical. None came close to summing up a cultural moment the way Live At Carnegie Hall did. Bill Withers' world is the one we would all want to live in, and the fact that we don't is why soul died and was replaced by funk and then hip hop (which, of course, have their own virtues).
― Kenny, Thursday, 19 July 2007 17:44 (sixteen years ago) link
I just picked up a two-fer of his first couple, but I need to listen. Which is the story with a lot of music I own. : (
― The Reverend, Thursday, 19 July 2007 18:42 (sixteen years ago) link
Live At Carnegie Hall is the greatest soul record there is
^^^^^^
― El Tomboto, Friday, 12 October 2007 11:43 (sixteen years ago) link
hmmmmmm. I just have a studio effort.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 12 October 2007 15:51 (sixteen years ago) link
No, you need that Carnegie Hall album. Seriously.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 12 October 2007 15:57 (sixteen years ago) link
^
― The Reverend, Friday, 12 October 2007 16:38 (sixteen years ago) link
― Dimension 5ive, Friday, 12 October 2007 16:57 (sixteen years ago) link
more love for Menagerie! it's as good as Still Bill.
Search 'It ain't because of me baby'
― poortheatre, Friday, 12 October 2007 18:27 (sixteen years ago) link
-- El Tomboto, Friday, October 12, 2007 11:43 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Link
― jed_, Friday, 12 October 2007 18:37 (sixteen years ago) link
http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:CK8DlNIOUwuJPM:http://www.80stees.com/images/products/Peanuts_Charlie_Brown_Yellow_Shirt-T.jpg
― James Redd and the Blecchs, Friday, 12 October 2007 18:38 (sixteen years ago) link
this is true
― tremendoid, Friday, 12 October 2007 21:55 (sixteen years ago) link
got the Live at Carnegie Hall record at the behest of this thread - good shit! thx for the rec everybody
― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 19 November 2007 23:32 (sixteen years ago) link
I Can't Write Lefthanded kills - weird version of Ain't No Sunshine tho (I like it but the drummer has an odd take on the rhythm)
― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 19 November 2007 23:33 (sixteen years ago) link
I saw a dvd at a friend's house, can't remember now if it was an "Old Grey Whistle Test" or some American thing, but anyhow, Bill Withers doing "Ain't No Sunshine" moved me to tears. Soooo beautiful. I also love the story about how he couldn't come up w/lyrics for a bridge, so he just kept the "I know, I know, I know..." part.
― dell, Tuesday, 20 November 2007 00:53 (sixteen years ago) link
I can feel my heart just athumpinanaskippin
― sprinkle me mayne (The Reverend), Sunday, 21 September 2008 05:25 (fifteen years ago) link
In a room with soft satin pillowsCrackling fireplace keeps us warmWhispering wind through weeping willowsSweet Wanomi resting in my arms
In a soft light her eyes are gleamingPretty little hand covers up her mouth when she yawnsWake me up, I must be dreaming thatSweet Wanomi resting in my arms
Sleepy kisses warm me softlyGet much warmer later onI reach for the light and turn it offSweet Wanomi resting in my arms
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, 13 November 2008 04:36 (fifteen years ago) link
so in <3 with that song today
I'm convinced he's one of our greatest songwriters
― Thugocrat (PappaWheelie V), Thursday, 13 November 2008 05:31 (fifteen years ago) link
as am I
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, 13 November 2008 05:45 (fifteen years ago) link
That's so great. On the B side of the "Grandma's Hands" single.
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Thursday, 13 November 2008 07:37 (fifteen years ago) link
Nice riffette at the beginning.
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Thursday, 13 November 2008 07:42 (fifteen years ago) link
Wanomi, not the Reverend.
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Thursday, 13 November 2008 07:45 (fifteen years ago) link
thanks for clearing that up
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, 13 November 2008 07:46 (fifteen years ago) link
Glad to.
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Thursday, 13 November 2008 08:03 (fifteen years ago) link
Somehow I scored Live a t Carnegie Hall for $.50. Holy shit!
Girl (I guess) I just broke up with was not a fan of "Grandma's Hands". FUCK YOU, CLARA...YOU'RE BOTH WRONG AND GONE FOREVER, APPARENTLY.
― BODY PROP (nickalicious), Thursday, 13 November 2008 08:14 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah, that is a dealbreaker
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, 13 November 2008 08:18 (fifteen years ago) link
hahaha wtf how could anyone not like that song
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 13 November 2008 16:33 (fifteen years ago) link
no one could not like that song
― Jordan, Thursday, 13 November 2008 16:43 (fifteen years ago) link
does she like blackstreet?
― Jordan, Thursday, 13 November 2008 16:44 (fifteen years ago) link
And I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know,I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, Iknow, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, hey I'll leave the young thing alone.
― ⊂⊃ ⊂⊃ ⊂⊃ ⊂⊃ ⊂⊃ ⊂⊃ (Pleasant Plains), Thursday, 13 November 2008 17:04 (fifteen years ago) link
nickalicious, is your ex not a fan of grandmas?
― mr. mayan end times guy (The Reverend), Thursday, 13 November 2008 22:49 (fifteen years ago) link
OLYMPIA DUKAKIS & BO BEREK IN TOO MANY GRANDMAS!
― L@OO@K WHOS AWAKE NOW (PappaWheelie V), Thursday, 13 November 2008 23:03 (fifteen years ago) link
Still Bill, still chill:
Q: Bill Withers, you're having a moment. It seems like wherever you go, one of your songs is playing.A: I don't know. Marcia deals with all that stuff in the office, so she's probably more aware of that than I am. So I'll take your word for it.Q: So you have no interest in a comeback?A: There's a time for everything. And at certain times in your life, when you're young enough for that kind of vanity, you draw attention to yourself. And some people can do that into their eighties. It depends on your personality and how you've been socialized. I wasn't socialized in the entertainment business. I was in the Navy for nine years, I had a life outside of this well into my thirties [Withers worked in the aeronautics industry even after "Ain't No Sunshine" became a hit]. You know, this whole music thing was something that came into my life after I was formed socially. So it was fun, it served its purpose, I still like it, but it's not my main focus. In fact, it hasn't been for a long time. There are other requirements. You're somebody's father, you're somebody's husband, you're somebody's friend. And for me, it was important that I not neglect those other requirements just to satisfy some personal need that I might have for approval or attention from people that I don't even know.Q: That seems incredibly wise.A: I don't know how wise it is. I think we protect ourselves, if we're lucky, [from taking] on more than we're naturally equipped to handle. And I don't know if I'm built to be the center of attention all the time. I've been fortunate enough that the music that I've done seems to have its own life without me having to show up everywhere and wave. Then again, we all live according to the options that are provided to us. Maybe if I had to, I'd be grinding it out every night in some joint somewhere.
A: I don't know. Marcia deals with all that stuff in the office, so she's probably more aware of that than I am. So I'll take your word for it.
Q: So you have no interest in a comeback?
A: There's a time for everything. And at certain times in your life, when you're young enough for that kind of vanity, you draw attention to yourself. And some people can do that into their eighties. It depends on your personality and how you've been socialized. I wasn't socialized in the entertainment business. I was in the Navy for nine years, I had a life outside of this well into my thirties [Withers worked in the aeronautics industry even after "Ain't No Sunshine" became a hit]. You know, this whole music thing was something that came into my life after I was formed socially. So it was fun, it served its purpose, I still like it, but it's not my main focus. In fact, it hasn't been for a long time. There are other requirements. You're somebody's father, you're somebody's husband, you're somebody's friend. And for me, it was important that I not neglect those other requirements just to satisfy some personal need that I might have for approval or attention from people that I don't even know.
Q: That seems incredibly wise.
A: I don't know how wise it is. I think we protect ourselves, if we're lucky, [from taking] on more than we're naturally equipped to handle. And I don't know if I'm built to be the center of attention all the time. I've been fortunate enough that the music that I've done seems to have its own life without me having to show up everywhere and wave. Then again, we all live according to the options that are provided to us. Maybe if I had to, I'd be grinding it out every night in some joint somewhere.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 13 June 2009 14:16 (fourteen years ago) link
I mean, seriously, dude's a role model for life.
Also this (referring to the new Still Bill documentary):
Q: In "Still Bill," you're clearly ambivalent about fame, and uncomfortable in the spotlight. Have you watched the movie yet?A: Some of it. When we got down to the end and they were editing and re-cutting and stuff, I got tired of it. I turned it over to my wife. I was like, "This is wringing me out. I'm done." I said, "I wanna go to Home Depot. If there's anything embarrassing, make them take it out. I'll be over in the aisle with the new flush valves."
A: Some of it. When we got down to the end and they were editing and re-cutting and stuff, I got tired of it. I turned it over to my wife. I was like, "This is wringing me out. I'm done." I said, "I wanna go to Home Depot. If there's anything embarrassing, make them take it out. I'll be over in the aisle with the new flush valves."
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 13 June 2009 14:17 (fourteen years ago) link
it's the Wallace Stevens ethos, and it's marvelous: nothing is worth sweating out as long as you're happy in the present and know you're good enough that you don't need people to see the strain anyway.
― Bud Huxtable (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 13 June 2009 14:28 (fourteen years ago) link
if bill withers and dusty springfield got together and had a little too much wine, that would be the perfect thing for this day
― surm, Saturday, 13 June 2009 16:01 (fourteen years ago) link
"I mean, seriously, dude's a role model for life.'
otm
this is great, thanks for alerting me to it. really looking forward to seeing this doc. "...carnegie hall" is still my fallback album for when i'm feeling down, even the between song banter is enough to bring cheer. it's got me out of a few holes.
― jed_, Saturday, 13 June 2009 16:02 (fourteen years ago) link
awww i wanna hang out at the home depot with bill withers
― psychgawsple, Saturday, 13 June 2009 16:35 (fourteen years ago) link
The films will be shown at the Silverdocs Film Festival on Thursday[June 18] at 9 p.m. and Friday [June 19] at 9:45 p.m., respectively.)
Hmmmmm. Wonder if I can make one of these showings
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 13 June 2009 22:28 (fourteen years ago) link
― psychgawsple, Saturday, June 13, 2009 9:35 AM Bookmark
this.
― The Reverend, Sunday, 14 June 2009 12:30 (fourteen years ago) link
awesome interview, esp. the end
http://www.maximumfun.org/sound-young-america/bill-withers-soul-legend-interview-sound-young-america
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Wednesday, 8 July 2009 16:28 (fourteen years ago) link
omg "Then You Smile at Me"
― please banhammer don't b*hurt em (The Reverend), Wednesday, 2 December 2009 11:08 (fourteen years ago) link
one of my favourite youtubes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIdIqbv7SPo
james gadson is such a dude.
― caek, Wednesday, 2 December 2009 12:59 (fourteen years ago) link
i just used "i wish you well" as a fill in the blanks exercise for some adult esl students and they all dug it. also recently played the carnegie hall version of grandma's hands for a new grandmother and she got all filled up :)
― rent, Wednesday, 2 December 2009 13:16 (fourteen years ago) link
really love "grandma's hands"
i wish i had discovered this guy earlier
surely Anthony Hamilton is influenced by Bill ?
― lukevalentine, Sunday, 14 February 2010 22:59 (fourteen years ago) link
Uh huh. When he first came out, his press was all "Al Green x Bill Withers".
Anyway, if you haven't heard "Kissing My Love", you need to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmJNrU6wPyM
― The Reverend, Sunday, 14 February 2010 23:16 (fourteen years ago) link
bill withers is god.
― by another name (amateurist), Monday, 15 February 2010 01:46 (fourteen years ago) link
As just received via e-mail:
Still Bill, a project by filmmakers Damani Baker and Alex Vlack, had what seemed like a simple idea: make a film about Bill Withers. Eight years later, on May 11th, the film will be released exclusively through www.stillbillthemovie.com. The full physical DVD and digital download are available through the website, as well as a deluxe package which includes exclusive merchandise. The DVD includes never bonus features, such as live performances from the Bill Withers Tribute Concert and conversations with Graham Nash, Bill Russell, and Jim Brown.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 11 May 2010 18:02 (thirteen years ago) link
cold baloney!
― Brio, Tuesday, 11 May 2010 18:22 (thirteen years ago) link
Really loving 'Justments lately, but every time I get to that song where he talks about the special relationship between a young niece and a wise older uncle I get creeped out, even though I probably shouldn't.
― dlp9001, Tuesday, 29 June 2010 02:04 (thirteen years ago) link
the doc is extraordinary: fascinating and moving. i had tears in my eyes 3 or 4 times.
― jed_, Thursday, 15 July 2010 01:19 (thirteen years ago) link
and you can watch an edited version of it here in english w/ dutch subtitles (maybe it depends on where you are)
http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=11120054&silverlight=true
― jed_, Thursday, 15 July 2010 01:20 (thirteen years ago) link
i'm bumping this in case anyone missed it. you NEED to watch this.
― jed_, Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:13 (thirteen years ago) link
I just finished torrenting it this morning. Gonna watch tonight.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:13 (thirteen years ago) link
jed_ never mind on that. It's a fake/scam torrent.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 16 July 2010 06:37 (thirteen years ago) link
ah ok cool. i wondered what was happening with it.
― jed_, Friday, 16 July 2010 11:38 (thirteen years ago) link
put yourself in jesus' hands, grandma's hands
― d4n, d4n, d4n (yausah, yausah, yausah) (The Reverend), Sunday, 22 August 2010 10:49 (thirteen years ago) link
because grandma is jesus
finally found a copy of live @ carnegie hall on vinyl :)
― just sayin, Saturday, 25 September 2010 15:05 (thirteen years ago) link
:)
― The Reverend, Saturday, 25 September 2010 16:17 (thirteen years ago) link
watched the edited version of doc that jed links to up thread. my goodness, i had the impression that he was a cool guy, but it's almost ridiculous. he is so genuinely and inspiringly humble. really devastatingly beautiful
― dude (del), Saturday, 25 September 2010 17:36 (thirteen years ago) link
(bill withers, i mean. ilxor "jed" can go suck it, obv)
― dude (del), Saturday, 25 September 2010 17:37 (thirteen years ago) link
! do we have a beef?
― jed_, Saturday, 25 September 2010 22:45 (thirteen years ago) link
oh right, sorry joeks etc.
i think?
― jed_, Saturday, 25 September 2010 22:47 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, clumsy joke. if anything i owe you for emphatically recommending the film. i'm probably going to re-watch it again today
― dude (del), Sunday, 26 September 2010 14:00 (thirteen years ago) link
ha, sorry i realised it was a joke after i posted. it was just one of those interweb things of me missing the obvious.
it's so great isn't it? when he gets up on stage to sing grandma's hand with his friend - huge lump in throat...
― jed_, Sunday, 26 September 2010 14:05 (thirteen years ago) link
it was packed with moments like that. the part where he visits the school...
― dude (del), Sunday, 26 September 2010 14:09 (thirteen years ago) link
damn, the still bill doc is a tear jerker. feel good movie of the year. i want him to be my dad
― jaxon, Thursday, 10 March 2011 18:45 (thirteen years ago) link
Loved the documentary.
― My mom is all about capital gains tax butthurtedness (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 30 April 2011 14:13 (twelve years ago) link
I still need to see that. But I finally got the live at Carnegie Hall cd
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 30 April 2011 14:45 (twelve years ago) link
What an unbelievable human being...loved the bit where he's talking to Cornel West about selling out...just fantastic...restores your faith in human kind...If the scientology had a Withers plateau I would join...
― sonnyboy, Saturday, 30 April 2011 17:35 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmDiTNIm68E
― jaxon, Monday, 1 August 2011 18:03 (twelve years ago) link
Bought the "Still Bill" DVD online yesterday after reading the reviews here. Looking forward to viewing.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Tuesday, 2 August 2011 17:12 (twelve years ago) link
bill withers is the meaning of life.
― jed_, Saturday, 29 October 2011 23:40 (twelve years ago) link
he's also a depressive... what does that tell you?
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Sunday, 30 October 2011 04:59 (twelve years ago) link
Still Bill is on BBC4 tomorrow at 9pm for you UK people.
― jed_, Thursday, 8 March 2012 21:10 (twelve years ago) link
What is Still Bill? He's become a theme in this thing I'm writing just now, yet I know very little about him except that he held the longest note on any hit single ('a lovely daaa-aaaaay') until Morten Harket beat his record.
― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 8 March 2012 21:12 (twelve years ago) link
Still Bill is an amazing documentary about where his head is at now.
― jed_, Thursday, 8 March 2012 21:22 (twelve years ago) link
Got it set to record, thanks for the tip. There's a half-hour Bill Withers In Concert on afterwards too.
― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 8 March 2012 21:24 (twelve years ago) link
get yr 'îron game up, folk-soul
― The Reverend, Thursday, 8 March 2012 22:42 (twelve years ago) link
That documentary is so good.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 8 March 2012 23:00 (twelve years ago) link
I still have not seen it yet. Must remedy that
― curmudgeon, Friday, 9 March 2012 16:36 (twelve years ago) link
I would have liked more focus on the music (and its kinda odd that someone coming to this film completely alien to Withers would probably come away thinking that "Grandma's Hands' was the biggest thing he ever did), but yeah, definitely worth a watch.
― I Fucked Up (jer.fairall), Friday, 9 March 2012 20:31 (twelve years ago) link
that was great. such a good guy ..and voice is still on the button.man, he needs to get some of those home demos released.
― mark e, Friday, 9 March 2012 22:13 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, I watched this last night also... by the time it ended, I found myself absolutely full of admiration for the guy. And I've always loved his music.
― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Saturday, 10 March 2012 16:56 (twelve years ago) link
Haven't watched the doc yet, but I did start my day with the 'live in concert' show that was on immediately afterwards. It was really nice.
― Ismael Klata, Saturday, 10 March 2012 17:04 (twelve years ago) link
http://api.ning.com/files/sDKfZJcDqj5huel7DUYLaQ*c-B7SV7I4kzFSHG1bRbh8F5PeYL-Rh6Q*u1PCNMDmIcz3eg5zjKvb65VvOIZ6N-b*4KMMnTpu/withers.jpgone of the best live albums of all time
― brokering (pimping) (stevie), Saturday, 10 March 2012 21:00 (twelve years ago) link
^ absolutely.
― owenf, Saturday, 10 March 2012 21:04 (twelve years ago) link
thirded
― jed_, Saturday, 10 March 2012 21:09 (twelve years ago) link
fourthed
― Ismael Klata, Saturday, 10 March 2012 21:12 (twelve years ago) link
What they all said.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 10 March 2012 21:14 (twelve years ago) link
sixthded.
― we can be gyros just for one day (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 10 March 2012 21:22 (twelve years ago) link
I can't imagine anyone hearing that record and not loving it.
― jed_, Saturday, 10 March 2012 21:22 (twelve years ago) link
I'm surprised this isn't seen as being as canonical as, say, Live At Leeds or It's Too Late To Stop Now. This is beyond captivating from start to finish.
― we can be gyros just for one day (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 10 March 2012 21:30 (twelve years ago) link
even his chat between the songs is enough to make you fall in love with him.
― jed_, Saturday, 10 March 2012 22:03 (twelve years ago) link
just watched this documentary on the iPlayer and whoa, that part where he's talking to the children was proper inspiring. Brilliant.
― boxedjoy, Saturday, 10 March 2012 22:25 (twelve years ago) link
Love Bill but find most live records disposable. How bad do I need to check this out?
― I Fucked Up (jer.fairall), Saturday, 10 March 2012 22:44 (twelve years ago) link
I find live records utterly disposable too. This is pretty much the only one that I fuck with.
― owenf, Saturday, 10 March 2012 22:46 (twelve years ago) link
Well, since looking back over this thread, like one out of every three posts is a rave about Carnegie Hall I'm tossing it on Spotify now, crossing fingers...
― Doctor Casino, Saturday, 10 March 2012 22:51 (twelve years ago) link
just watched this documentary on the iPlayer and whoa, that part where he's talking to the children was proper inspiring. Brilliant.― boxedjoy, Saturday, 10 March 2012 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― boxedjoy, Saturday, 10 March 2012 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
otm. Loved that bit.
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 10 March 2012 23:01 (twelve years ago) link
i don't know if it's inspiring so much as that it shows the two sides of him so nakedly. like, he seems a bit uncomfortable with the performance they give for him and that he's worried that he's not responding appropriately but it flips over into empathy.
they show this interesting clip too where he's singing "just the two of us" and he looks totally dead inside.
― jed_, Saturday, 10 March 2012 23:07 (twelve years ago) link
I don't know, the part where he talks about having to be more forgiving than other people and how it makes for better character seemed like a really positive way to get children who might be victimised to see a way to turn their problems into a sign of strength, that whole part really got to me.
― boxedjoy, Saturday, 10 March 2012 23:14 (twelve years ago) link
yes, so true.
― jed_, Saturday, 10 March 2012 23:26 (twelve years ago) link
― boxedjoy, Saturday, March 10, 2012 5:14 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
yeah, shit was profound. love this guy x1,000,000.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Sunday, 11 March 2012 02:58 (twelve years ago) link
withers is one of those rare dudes who can answer questions off the cuff in fully-turned, beautiful sentences that i would kill to be able to write. i know some people in my personal life who are like that, but the other famous guy who speaks like that is leonard cohen.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Sunday, 11 March 2012 03:07 (twelve years ago) link
Okay since Doctor Casino didn't post again I assume he found the Carnegie Hall album as captivating as the rest of us and is listening to it constantly to the point he can't do anything else.
The documentary is on Netflix Instant BTE.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 12 March 2012 13:37 (twelve years ago) link
The preamble to 'Grandma's Hands' reduces me to a blubbering fool EVERY time I hear it...'"I love that old lady...love that old lady"...and don't get me started on the documentary...
― The Pastiche Liberation Front (sonnyboy), Monday, 12 March 2012 14:05 (twelve years ago) link
the closing jam on harlem/shake 'em on down is so immense. could go on another hour and still be absolutely riveting.
― brokering (pimping) (stevie), Monday, 12 March 2012 15:11 (twelve years ago) link
I've always felt Withers was unfairly overlooked in comparison to the Marvin/Stevie/Al/Sly cannon. Ridiculous statements that most of his albums are disposable reinforce that notion. I wrote about that a few years back. I saved it at the end of a more recent piece on 70s soul - http://www.fastnbulbous.com/70s_soul.htm
At least his albums keep getting reissued.
― Fastnbulbous, Monday, 12 March 2012 16:03 (twelve years ago) link
Bill's albums disposable?! Have they heard Just As I Am??
― I Fucked Up (jer.fairall), Monday, 12 March 2012 16:06 (twelve years ago) link
Still Bill is fucking amazing!
― gospodin simmel, Monday, 12 March 2012 16:46 (twelve years ago) link
― Ned Raggett, Monday, March 12, 2012 9:37 AM Bookmark
haha, i got distracted, finally finished listening to it just now. It's great. I need to find a vinyl copy - my tinny computer speakers aren't really doing justice to the warmth and fullness of the sound. Not to mention that the Spotify ads kind of break the mood. But this is a great album.
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 13 March 2012 02:58 (twelve years ago) link
Still Bill is perfect end to end. "I Don't Want You On My Mind" and "Take It All In..." are some kind mutant folk that haven't been duplicated.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 13 March 2012 03:01 (twelve years ago) link
documentary is totally incredible
i love this dude so much
― Whiney vs. (BradNelson), Tuesday, 13 March 2012 03:16 (twelve years ago) link
oh yeah live at carnegie hall is my favorite bill withers record, and while i fuck with live records they're rarely my favorites, especially when the dude's adjacent studio work is just massive. alfred otm re: "mutant folk" as a descriptor
― Whiney vs. (BradNelson), Tuesday, 13 March 2012 03:18 (twelve years ago) link
Just scored the live album on cd for $5 at Barnes & Noble. Listening now, lives up to the rep.
"...he only said eight words last year, and I think six of 'em were 'airport'".
― Mike Love Costume Jewelry on Etsy (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 14 March 2012 01:15 (twelve years ago) link
Cornel West is pretty irritating in this doc
― the sir edmund hillary of sitting through pauly shore films (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 20:20 (twelve years ago) link
yes but he is maybe in it for all of a minute total
― Whiney vs. (BradNelson), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 20:35 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, the live album is great. I'm sorry that I avoided it all these years.
― I Fucked Up (jer.fairall), Thursday, 22 March 2012 01:53 (twelve years ago) link
Grabbed a cheapie Greatest Hits today, and mannn, is it weird to hear these later numbers like "Steppin' Right Along" and "Whatever Happens." They're really kind of listless musically and the canned drums are a huge letdown after the 70s gold. I'm sure quiet storm devotees probably take to this material a little more than I do - the thing is there's still the amazing quality of his voice that almost carries it through. But it's definitely a dropoff.
― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 28 March 2012 20:10 (twelve years ago) link
i think withers himself would admit as much
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 28 March 2012 20:20 (twelve years ago) link
there's that latter-day TV clip in the documentary still bill where he's lip-synching to one of his later minor hits and he just looks dead inside.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 28 March 2012 20:21 (twelve years ago) link
it's not a late minor-hit it's him singing "just the two of us" and it's from the time it was released. it's used to underscore his deep cynicism re. the record industry at that time.
― jed_, Wednesday, 28 March 2012 20:27 (twelve years ago) link
listened to Just As I Am this morning. how many records end with the singer killing himself?
― Dominique, Thursday, 5 April 2012 15:49 (eleven years ago) link
Was talking to a drummer the other day and he was telling me James Gadson was his main man
― zing left unguarded, the j/k palace in flames (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 9 April 2012 03:33 (eleven years ago) link
Still find it kind've mind-blowing that New Zealand's #1 single of 1988, 6 weeks at the top, etc, was a cover of an album cut from his '85 album Watching You Watching Me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8U8FK6wEfc
― etc, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 10:54 (eleven years ago) link
oh yes ...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Sussex-Columbia-Album-Masters/dp/B008S80PCE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1352975059&sr=8-5
― mark e, Thursday, 15 November 2012 10:31 (eleven years ago) link
wow
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 15 November 2012 15:28 (eleven years ago) link
its ace.picked it up from fopp today for £21.they've even replicated the foldout sleeve that 'still bill' had.of course the love for the 1st two is well known, but damn, '+justments' is fantastic .. looking forward to digging through the pretty thorough booklet, seems to have a lot of detail.well chuffed.
― mark e, Thursday, 15 November 2012 15:32 (eleven years ago) link
Wow, that's tempting.
Was anyone else surprised that the doc's hung so much weight on "Grandma's Hands?" That's the one apparently iconic Withers track that I didn't know was so highly rated, esp. compared to "Ain't No Sunshine," "Use Me," "Lean On Me," et al.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 15 November 2012 16:16 (eleven years ago) link
Well, Blackstreet sampling it should have told ya something's up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KL9mRus19o
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 15 November 2012 16:21 (eleven years ago) link
I was a little surprised by that too, but I was glad they spent so much time on it relative to "Lean On Me" (which is great and all, but no "Grandma's Hands").
xp
― 5-Hour Enmity (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 15 November 2012 16:22 (eleven years ago) link
I love me some "No Diggity." I guess I just never knew the sample.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 15 November 2012 16:57 (eleven years ago) link
i never picked up re the sample.
just hope it helped him out $$ a la david axelrod and 'the edge'.
also, now i see why the live album gets so much love.
its f*cking brilliant.
the only real duffer is the 1985 album, 'watching you .. ' that's full of nasty mid 80s production. just dreadful.
the rest however, hits so many of my sweet spots.
i have bought a few boxsets this year (the byrds, simple minds, neil young, tom moulton, cabaret voltaire, roxy music), but i have to say, this is the one i will be revisiting the most.
― mark e, Friday, 16 November 2012 17:56 (eleven years ago) link
letz talk abt withers mane
― thraeds of life (The Reverend), Friday, 16 November 2012 19:23 (eleven years ago) link
discovered yesterday that naked & warm is a really good record
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Friday, 16 November 2012 19:56 (eleven years ago) link
when "city of the angels" gets all mercurial... man. nothing else like it in his catalog as far as i know?
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Friday, 16 November 2012 19:57 (eleven years ago) link
"I don't care whether you own a furniture store. The best sign you can put up is, 'Sold out.'"
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 17 March 2013 23:28 (eleven years ago) link
fantastic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtT_8pEjHgo
― raggett neds of your summer dress (The Reverend), Wednesday, 29 January 2014 05:03 (ten years ago) link
16:05-19:57 after the guitar drops out and it's just the bass, rhodes and his voice is just too perfect. So gentle.
― Spottie, Wednesday, 29 January 2014 06:40 (ten years ago) link
Heard "Use Me" at a coffee shop today, the speakers were screwed up or something and there was no trace at all of the clavinet part! I guess it could have been an alternate version or something, but there were other songs that didn't sound quite right. Anyway, it was kind of amazing, since that funky hook is so key to the song - but without it, it was still an indelible song and actually a lovely arrangement. When it first started with just this guitar strumming I thought it was, like, "Tin Man" by America or something. Totally convincing laid-back folk-pop.
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 05:20 (ten years ago) link
I'm guessing they had one channel of a stereo output hooked up, especially since of lot of records of that era were mixed with instruments panned completely to one side or the other.
― raggett neds of your summer dress (The Reverend), Tuesday, 4 February 2014 05:25 (ten years ago) link
Actually, now I'm sure that's the case cause I was able to replicate that by unplugging the left stereo channel.
― raggett neds of your summer dress (The Reverend), Tuesday, 4 February 2014 05:27 (ten years ago) link
Yeah, I figured it was basically that but didn't want to say it and be wrong. How's it sound?
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 05:42 (ten years ago) link
like you described
― raggett neds of your summer dress (The Reverend), Tuesday, 4 February 2014 05:50 (ten years ago) link
this track is so nasty:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMKBINhQZO0
I like this YouTube comment: "Watch out! This is grown folks music."
anyone catch his acceptance speech to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame? typically idiosyncratic, funny, wise. I could listen to this man talk for hours.
― he quipped with heat (amateurist), Wednesday, 6 May 2015 17:26 (eight years ago) link
this is only a fraction of it but it's also the only one i've found with intelligible audio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2bV6X-i8qU
― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Wednesday, 6 May 2015 19:16 (eight years ago) link
Yes I've been looking for a decent recording of this to no avail.
― Acting Crazy (Instrumental) (jed_), Wednesday, 6 May 2015 21:49 (eight years ago) link
Oh an interview with him about Live at Carnegie Hall? SHUCKS.
http://www.villagevoice.com/music/reprint-the-legend-revisiting-bill-witherss-carnegie-hall-classic-7714480?utm_content=buffer60145&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 29 September 2015 21:46 (eight years ago) link
(Plus plenty of comments from his backing band.)
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 29 September 2015 21:54 (eight years ago) link
yesyesyesyes
that album is the balls
― please don't shampoo your eyes (stevie), Wednesday, 30 September 2015 08:52 (eight years ago) link
thanks for that link!
― wizzz! (amateurist), Friday, 2 October 2015 04:01 (eight years ago) link
Seconded!
― Acting Crazy (Instrumental) (jed_), Sunday, 4 October 2015 16:28 (eight years ago) link
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/arts/music/bill-withers-still-himself-but-hell-allow-the-attention.html
Ben Sisario talks to him
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 7 October 2015 15:08 (eight years ago) link
how do you turn a duck into a soul singer?
― michael wells (michael w.), Friday, April 18, 2003 9:51 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― del a robbo, Saturday, May 17, 2003 11:39 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― pplains, Wednesday, 7 October 2015 18:56 (eight years ago) link
hey, it's a good joke.
― wizzz! (amateurist), Wednesday, 7 October 2015 20:39 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59-Dven7bnY
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 20 February 2017 18:54 (seven years ago) link
Heads up
Bill Withers has a new song released this Friday. And it's a cover of a Little Jimmy Dickens recitation. https://t.co/Pq9vG4zaRR— Charles Hughes (@CharlesLHughes2) August 31, 2017
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 31 August 2017 01:08 (six years ago) link
Whew! Thought he'd died for a sec...
― to fly across the city and find Aerosmith's car (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 31 August 2017 01:10 (six years ago) link
Yeah! I like Wilie Nelson and Mavis Staples' version of "Grandma's Hands":https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3K0u6Kxgog
― dow, Thursday, 31 August 2017 02:05 (six years ago) link
RIP? Some lovely songs but I feel I’ve never explored his discography
― mmmm, Friday, 3 April 2020 14:28 (three years ago) link
First three albums full of greatness, others will need to vouch for what's best from what followed. RIP.
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:30 (three years ago) link
God damn this week is brutal. RIP.
― Matt DC, Friday, 3 April 2020 14:30 (three years ago) link
Oh shit. Yeah.
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:30 (three years ago) link
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.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:31 (three years ago) link
welp I know what I'll be cranking all morning
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:33 (three years ago) link
The between-song banter is as essential as the songs
― Number None, Friday, 3 April 2020 14:33 (three years ago) link
the GOAT
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:34 (three years ago) link
I’d advise anybody who hasn’t seen it to check out the documentary ‘Still Bill’ which was released a few years ago...what a wonderful,humane and humble person he seemed...RIP Mr Withers
― X-Prince Protégé (sonnyboy), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:34 (three years ago) link
RIP, the documentary about him was great, seemed like a mensch as well as a wonderful artist and writer.
― Bridge Over Thorley Waters (Tom D.), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:35 (three years ago) link
...and made some of the most majestic music ever recorded
― X-Prince Protégé (sonnyboy), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:35 (three years ago) link
and he gave it all up! Marvelous.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:35 (three years ago) link
motherfucker packed more greatness into the first 7.5 minutes of his first album than almost anyone else's entire careers
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:37 (three years ago) link
iconic cover shot too
https://img.discogs.com/Qs6U1D1Zq-cr6lidSh97WdRSOb8=/fit-in/600x600/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-4746799-1550014522-8988.jpeg.jpg
― Number None, Friday, 3 April 2020 14:40 (three years ago) link
Damn
― Vegemite Is My Grrl (Eric H.), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:42 (three years ago) link
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, April 3, 2020 9:34 AM (nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
― crüt, Friday, 3 April 2020 14:44 (three years ago) link
damn.
RIP. one of the all time giants.
― let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:45 (three years ago) link
honestly I can't be TOO sad about this cause as Alfred said he pretty much nailed the whole career thing, had hits and got the respect he deserved while he was around to enjoy it, and 81 is a good run.
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:47 (three years ago) link
one of the all-time greatest, rip to the man
― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:50 (three years ago) link
No doubt like many legacy artists he saw his revenue streams dry up in the last fifteen years, but he sold millions at the peak of the record industry's reach and his songs kept getting covered. By all accounts he seemed to have invested and saved wisely.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:52 (three years ago) link
Hard to think of many artists whose most famous songs are likely to resonate more strongly at this precise historical moment.
― Matt DC, Friday, 3 April 2020 14:53 (three years ago) link
RIP. One of my absolute heroes and Alfred otm. Live at Carnegie Hall is essential.
― current (jed_), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:58 (three years ago) link
Just As I Am is one of 20 or so favourite albums ever, and that's when he was just getting started. A legend. RIP.
― Maria Edgelord (cryptosicko), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:59 (three years ago) link
he sold millions at the peak of the record industry's reach and his songs kept getting covered
I'm glad he kept getting $$ in but I will never understand why people record studio covers of Bill Withers songs. What are you gonna do, improve on them? (Not even gonna let it slide for Mark Eitzel.)
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Friday, 3 April 2020 14:59 (three years ago) link
Yeah, I feel the same way about the Jose James album, with one of the more incredible bands you could dream up. They're killing it, but the originals are perfect.
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:01 (three years ago) link
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).
― Maria Edgelord (cryptosicko), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:01 (three years ago) link
Conversely, his is the only version of "Let It Be" I ever need to hear.
― Maria Edgelord (cryptosicko), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:03 (three years ago) link
'm glad he kept getting $$ in but I will never understand why people record studio covers of Bill Withers songs. What are you gonna do, improve on them?
hehe, yeah that's kind of otm. playing live, sure. and experimental covers (what if "I Know, I know..." on a loop for 15 minutes + foghorn?). but a faithful studio recreation of a bill withers song just makes me want to listen to the real thing, which is untouchable.
― let me be your friend on the other end! (Karl Malone), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:03 (three years ago) link
I recommended a bunch of concert films to my students and while I was checking them (to make sure the youtubes actually worked) I was totally mesmerized by Bill Withers' performanceit starts at 41:49
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jogVNf1x_Xw&feature=youtu.be
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:06 (three years ago) link
My favorite. Menacing, erotic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vlM1ekJ144
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:07 (three years ago) link
lemme try that again -- it's Zaire '74
https://youtu.be/jogVNf1x_Xw
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:07 (three years ago) link
Actually I take it back, I like the (young) Michael Jackson version of Ain't No Sunshine, it's haunting and has cool Motown production (although I'm using to listened to a screwed version I made years ago):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXQMrhu7eIU
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:17 (three years ago) link
Among all the stuff on my Facebook wall, something I never knew: he had a stutter.
http://www.stutteringhelp.org/famous-people/bill-withers
― clemenza, Friday, 3 April 2020 15:20 (three years ago) link
Also Willie Nelson and Mavis Staples, "Grandma's Hands." Willie even contributes another hook (guitar: "cha-chow" before choruses)
― dow, Friday, 3 April 2020 15:24 (three years ago) link
a giant, RIP
― Οὖτις, Friday, 3 April 2020 15:26 (three years ago) link
Damn. RIP.
― Hey, let me drunkenly animate yr boats in about 25 to 60 days! (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:27 (three years ago) link
Ike and Tina Turner, "Use Me Up," w added context of realness, re brushing off all those do-gooders trying to interfere with her marriage, "all that 'Use Me' stuff."
― dow, Friday, 3 April 2020 15:29 (three years ago) link
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:07 (twenty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
mine too, that and "use me" should not have been written by the guy who wrote lean on me or lovely day
― ole uncle tiktok (darraghmac), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:31 (three years ago) link
his banter, spoken word, etc. was truly great. i love it on 'do it good' when he says 'if you read the album cover by now, you know what my name is.'
― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:32 (three years ago) link
:-(
A hero, that is all.
― no one ever is to blave (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:34 (three years ago) link
RIP. That spoken intro to I Can’t Write Left-Handed shows his humanity and empathy: he writes a highly political anti war song not about politics, politicians, or movements, but about a personal aftermath. “I tried to put myself in his position” indeed.
― Why, I would make a fantastic Nero! (PBKR), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:35 (three years ago) link
Thanks, La Lechera!
― current (jed_), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:36 (three years ago) link
absolutely the worst. he was one of the best voices, best songwriters, best musicians i ever heard. this totally breaks my heart. RIP.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:39 (three years ago) link
― brimstead, Friday, 3 April 2020 15:39 (three years ago) link
a great profile/interview of Bill Withers from Rolling Stone in 2015. This anecdote by Booker T. alone. https://t.co/aws4zT5X0I pic.twitter.com/8pMO3V3x6p— Bowiesongs (@bowiesongs) April 3, 2020
― Portsmouth Bubblejet, Friday, 3 April 2020 15:39 (three years ago) link
Question: did "Lovely Day" get a boost in popularity from its use in "Secret Life of Pets"?
I always liked this song but had never heard it on radio or whatever before that.
― ain't no sunshine (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:44 (three years ago) link
Holy shit. At least he lived his life his own way and had nothing left to prove to anyone ever.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 3 April 2020 15:46 (three years ago) link
got nothing interesting to add other than repeating what a fucking class act he was :(
― calzino, Friday, 3 April 2020 15:46 (three years ago) link
(xpost) Forget what it was for, but it was a commercial that relaunched "Lovely Day."
― clemenza, Friday, 3 April 2020 15:50 (three years ago) link
God, what an absolute fucking giant of a man and artist. RIP big fella.
Horace Andy's version of Ain't No Sunshine is pretty great, fwiw.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:53 (three years ago) link
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.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:55 (three years ago) link
Got Carnegie on and Grandma's Hands just destroyed me.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:57 (three years ago) link
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
― clemenza, Friday, 3 April 2020 15:57 (three years ago) link
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
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:57 (three years ago) link
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.
― Doctor Casino, Friday, 3 April 2020 16:12 (three years ago) link
yes
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 3 April 2020 16:13 (three years ago) link
i think he's on a par with hank williams, today especially
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 3 April 2020 16:15 (three years ago) link
lovely moment from the Still Bill doc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYbSnoKexMs
― Number None, Friday, 3 April 2020 16:15 (three years ago) link
I'm gutted to hear this, RIP
― we have no stan but to choice (flamboyant goon tie included), Friday, 3 April 2020 16:17 (three years ago) link
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?
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 3 April 2020 16:20 (three years ago) link
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."
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 3 April 2020 16:21 (three years ago) link
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.
― turn the jawhatthefuckever on (One Eye Open), Friday, 3 April 2020 16:31 (three years ago) link
we had a live performance of ‘lean on me’ at our wedding ceremony, just such an elegantly crafted expression of something universalreally broken up by this tbh, one of those incredibly rare performers whose songs have become an indelible part of popular culture
― bam! Free bees! (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 3 April 2020 16:39 (three years ago) link
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.
― Maria Edgelord (cryptosicko), Friday, 3 April 2020 16:48 (three years ago) link
there are so many different versions of 'ain't no sunshine' that at least one or two has to be good, right?
― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili), Friday, 3 April 2020 16:50 (three years ago) link
Mick Jagger has a decent cover:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E_lZPAhrbA
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 3 April 2020 16:51 (three years ago) link
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.
― COVID and the Gang (jim in vancouver), Friday, 3 April 2020 16:53 (three years ago) link
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
― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili), Friday, 3 April 2020 16:58 (three years ago) link
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
― Kate (rushomancy), Friday, 3 April 2020 17:02 (three years ago) link
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.
― Album Moods: Rambunctious; Snide (Dan Peterson), Friday, 3 April 2020 17:10 (three years ago) link
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
― Heez, Friday, 3 April 2020 17:23 (three years ago) link
the most pleasant voice of all time. RIP
so many great songs and a really easy discography to get through.
'stories' always hits mehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5RSogOduEA
― Spottie, Friday, 3 April 2020 17:31 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-2n7VLBHi0
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Friday, 3 April 2020 18:06 (three years ago) link
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.
― "...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 3 April 2020 18:11 (three years ago) link
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
― turn the jawhatthefuckever on (One Eye Open), Friday, 3 April 2020 18:39 (three years ago) link
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
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 3 April 2020 18:48 (three years ago) link
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.
― "...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 3 April 2020 18:57 (three years ago) link
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, 3 April 2020 19:05 (three years ago) link
i dug my grandmother too
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 3 April 2020 19:16 (three years ago) link
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.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Friday, 3 April 2020 19:27 (three years ago) link
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.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 3 April 2020 19:34 (three years ago) link
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.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Friday, 3 April 2020 19:43 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4j2e2d7U94
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 3 April 2020 19:56 (three years ago) link
^ blessed by the man himself at the start
― Pinche Cumbion Bien Loco (stevie), Friday, April 3, 2020 12:05 PM (thirty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 3 April 2020 20:00 (three years ago) link
on percussion, we got a lady
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Friday, 3 April 2020 21:30 (three years ago) link
very happy to learn Still Bill is on youtube
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Friday, 3 April 2020 23:06 (three years ago) link
Carmen McRae’s version of “Paint your pretty picture” is the only cover I know of that improves on Bill’s takehttps://youtu.be/RknfFt06Uzs
― Heez, Saturday, 4 April 2020 00:52 (three years ago) link
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
― dyl, Saturday, 4 April 2020 05:35 (three years ago) link
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!
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 4 April 2020 14:04 (three years ago) link
Even chilly darkness has the brightest POLL: Bill Withers' STILL BILL
― Maria Edgelord (cryptosicko), Sunday, 5 April 2020 21:50 (three years ago) link
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 am a horse girl (map), Monday, 6 April 2020 02:37 (three years ago) link
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.
― i am a horse girl (map), Monday, 6 April 2020 02:51 (three years ago) link
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
― change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, 5 May 2020 16:43 (three years ago) link
this is solid man, thanks!
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Tuesday, 5 May 2020 17:24 (three years ago) link
thanks u!
― change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, 5 May 2020 19:09 (three years ago) link
The second side of Justments is the best of chill withers
― Heez, Sunday, 5 November 2023 20:38 (four months ago) link
Such a fantastic record. Would like to play Railroad Man out somewhere people might dance to it.
― Yngwie Azalea (stevie), Sunday, 5 November 2023 21:01 (four months ago) link
i def would.
also 'justments is his best album.
― "another slice of death, please." (Austin), Sunday, 5 November 2023 21:25 (four months ago) link