Let's talk about Bill Withers.

yeah, clumsy joke. if anything i owe you for emphatically recommending the film. i'm probably going to re-watch it again today

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...

it was packed with moments like that. the part where he visits the school...

damn, the still bill doc is a tear jerker. feel good movie of the year. i want him to be my dad

Loved the documentary.

I still need to see that. But I finally got the live at Carnegie Hall cd

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...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmDiTNIm68E

Bought the "Still Bill" DVD online yesterday after reading the reviews here. Looking forward to viewing.

bill withers is the meaning of life.

he's also a depressive... what does that tell you?

Still Bill is on BBC4 tomorrow at 9pm for you UK people.

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.

Still Bill is an amazing documentary about where his head is at now.

Got it set to record, thanks for the tip. There's a half-hour Bill Withers In Concert on afterwards too.

get yr 'îron game up, folk-soul

That documentary is so good.

I still have not seen it yet. Must remedy that

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.

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.

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.

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.

http://api.ning.com/files/sDKfZJcDqj5huel7DUYLaQ*c-B7SV7I4kzFSHG1bRbh8F5PeYL-Rh6Q*u1PCNMDmIcz3eg5zjKvb65VvOIZ6N-b*4KMMnTpu/withers.jpg
one of the best live albums of all time

^ absolutely.

thirded

fourthed

What they all said.

sixthded.

I can't imagine anyone hearing that record and not loving it.

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.

even his chat between the songs is enough to make you fall in love with him.

just watched this documentary on the iPlayer and whoa, that part where he's talking to the children was proper inspiring. Brilliant.

Love Bill but find most live records disposable. How bad do I need to check this out?

I find live records utterly disposable too. This is pretty much the only one that I fuck with.

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...

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

otm. Loved that bit.

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.

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.

yes, so true.

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, March 10, 2012 5:14 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah, shit was profound. love this guy x1,000,000.

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.

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.

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 closing jam on harlem/shake 'em on down is so immense. could go on another hour and still be absolutely riveting.

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.

Bill's albums disposable?! Have they heard Just As I Am??

Still Bill is fucking amazing!

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, 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.

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.

documentary is totally incredible

i love this dude so much