the four or five Bill Withers songs everybody knows

It's so funky!

Despite "Lean On Me" being #1 the week I was born, I went with "Use Me." The drumming on that is scary, and I just can't say no to a clavinet.

― shake it, shake it, sugary pee (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, May 25, 2011 4:07 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

the reissue liner notes to still bill devote a LOT of time to the use me drums

oh wait yes I do know "Use Me", I just never knew its name

In a wider poll, probably would have voted "I Can't Write Left-Handed."

classic tune. I probably would have gone for "Grandma's Hands" myself

yeah "Use Me" is the one that gets used mostly for its instrumental intro constantly in TV shows/movies and samples, as opposed to the rest of these where the chorus has been used in a million different things

lovely day lovely day lovely day lovely day

it's trying to(o) hard to be uplifting or something

And yet, it entirely succeed with me

i don't really like lovely day

i feel like it's played too much

Really, where? I'm not sure I ever heard it (apart from the S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. song) until recently.

by me. it is played too much by me.

yeah "Use Me" is the one that gets used mostly for its instrumental intro constantly in TV shows/movies and samples, as opposed to the rest of these where the chorus has been used in a million different things

lol, I clicked on the Youtube video for "Use Me" and, unbidden, the AT&T slogan popped into my head

the reissue liner notes to still bill devote a LOT of time to the use me drums

do tell? who was the drummer on that anyway?

i was doing a recording session for someone yesterday and trying to straight up channel/rip off those drums.

lol HS x-post

I feel like i hear it on the radio a lot? Esp this time of year. I swear that it gets played a lot when the weather starts being nice. I might be making this up.

I also think it was used a lot in commercials in the UK when I lived there.

do tell? who was the drummer on that anyway?

James Gadson

i like the idea that people think "Lovely Day" is overplayed purely because horseshoe is just walking throughout the entire world blasting it on a boombox

You could be right, ENBB. I've never really listened to oldies stations.

whenever lovely day is being played, i am responsible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbwcU2YbBRI

I saw Soul Power and Funny People in the same week, in the same movie theater; kind of blew my mind that Gadson was in both.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiNgz6KDD2k

whenever lovely day is being played, i am responsible

ty horseshoe!

any time!

You could be right, ENBB. I've never really listened to oldies stations.

― jaymc, Wednesday, May 25, 2011 4:18 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

Oh man I totally do.

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:(

Man this is hard.

"Just the Two of Us" was actually the first thing I ever consciously heard by him.

which i should really investigate at some point

you really should!! its not even that large or daunting, and its fantastic

whenever lovely day is being played, i am responsible

I am hearing this in Henry Fonda/Tom Joad voice

hey everyone should watch the still bill doc if u havent already

be warned tho it could easily make u cry

the reissue liner notes to still bill devote a LOT of time to the use me drums

do tell? who was the drummer on that anyway?

i was doing a recording session for someone yesterday and trying to straight up channel/rip off those drums.

― adult music person (Jordan), Wednesday, May 25, 2011 4:16 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark

iirc it was all about how he was the only dude who could play those 16th notes on the hi-hats with one hand, and when they came across the beat they just riffed on it for many, many hours and it kinda sorta turned into a song even though it's basically that one riff.

if i can find the record i will dig it out and check that.

Still Bill is essential viewing. The clip of him doing "Just The Two Of Us" on American Bandstand is pretty revealing; the look on his face says "GET ME OUT OF HERE. NOW."

I have nailed "Lovely Day" at karaoke and you cannot touch my skillz

Anyway, the real answer is "Grandma's Hands"

the two i crank the loudest are lovely day and use me. but this dude is A+ all the way around.

Here's where I give a thumbs up to the recent documentary.

Use me is so amazing, and not quite as overplayed as the rest. I have the groove stuck in my head just from thinking about it.

Am I the first one on this thread to mention "Who Is He And What Is He To You?" <3<3<3

The 5 in the poll are all great, but my love for "Use Me" has never dimmed (and I do find it kinda overplayed, but still...)

Love the structure of Lean on Me - ultra-simple and memorial backing hook, the melody and backing track start in parallel to drive in the hook, then a bit of complexity is added so the ear doesn't tire (the lines move across each other: "it won't be long", "when you're not strong", "somebody to lean on"), then the amazing spare breakdown. Much more minimalist than I remember, and the four minutes fly by.

memorial=memorable

For me he's one the greatest American Songwriters...he has a very similar lyric writing talent to Todd Rundgren in that he can write something really green and make it sound completely heartfelt...in somebody elses hands (grandma's??) it could sound mawkish and sentimental but he writes and sings it straight from the heart and that's something you can't fake...he completely nails it...I utterly adore him and wish there were more writers about like him today...he kills me...

Still Bill in its entirety should be in every thinking man's top ten.

Lean on Me is a totally great but DARE graduations spoiled it for me a little.

Gonna have to go with a massive favorite from my childhood here: Ain't No Sunshine.

http://www.blackclassicmovies.com/dvd_covers/lean_on_me.jpg
i've seen this movie, but i have only the vaguest recollections of it.

It had to be 'Lean On Me'...the way he delivers it is a thing of wonder...it totally transcends any crap interpretation...it should be sung in every school every day...

amazing little clutch of tunes, and so varied in terms of vibe! makes it really hard to choose a favorite. i guess the first i'd cut is lovely day, which is nice and funky, but feels a bit slight in comparison to the likes of "just the two of us" and "ain't no sunshine". i guess those are my top two. prefer the cryptic, nocturnal sheen of the darker/slower tracks to the more upbeat likes of "lean on me" and "use me".

"just the two of us" sort of rewrites paul simon's "50 ways to leave your lover", right? not a complaint, cuz i love both songs to death, but the similarities are striking. voting "ain't no sunshine" cuz the ache is so deep and delicate.

haha i have never heard "lean on me" and was sure that "who is he (and what is he to you)" would be in here

wow can't believe that didn't occur to me before about 50 Ways/Two of Us, you are totally right

"who is he" would have been my choice, as it is i can't look past "ain't no sunshine" because it's basically perfect

Going for "Lovely Day", which was actually a fantastic vocal performance. That ultra-long tune he is keeping without any problems!

what are you even talking about ward

lol tomofthenest

trying (and obv failing) for a bill withers-bill wyman 'joke', pl move along etc

Ok, I'll bite.

Duck joke?

That You Got The Stuff track! The loooooong vamp at the end is rocking my world. It sounds like My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts!

http://it.bing.com/search?q=duck+joke+bill+withers&src=IE-SearchBox&Form=IE8SRC

xpost

^^ made my day.

Please tell me there's a music joke thread around here somewhere that I just haven't found yet.

Another fave:

Q: Why did the farmer start a punk rock band?

A: Cause he was tired of haulin' oats.

Artist-specific music jokes

Knock yersel' out.

This is impossible.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

i once had a busker sing "who is he and what is he to you" to me on a subway platform.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

close!

A long time ago I was in a restaurant/bar in Kansas City and my waitress was named "Sunshine", actually she said she was named something else but just used that on her name tag, but anyway I thought she was really cute, so I braved my way to the karaoke stage and sang "Ain't No Sunshine" and dedicated it to her. And she really liked it!

All I can think about whenever I've heard the song ever since.

i'm just sad about how many of his tunes have been covered to the point where everyone knows the version that isn't his.

even some generic Christian r&b group called Out of Even remade Lovely Day as a song sung to God in the mid-90s, among hundreds of other artists.....

Just The Two Of Us 0

otm

Just The 0 Of Us

https://www.allmusic.com/album/lean-on-me-mw0003201997

^ andy kellman review

wish jose james had more clout in the review-industrial complex, i like every record of his i hear but i don't hear about them except by accident. this is his bill withers covers/tribute project.

Ooh thanks for the heads up. I love him and he's got the all-star band on this (Nate Smith and Pino), but yeah I recently realized he'd released multiple albums that I'd missed.

ikr

what's the point of being on blue note if you can't work that promo money

Am I the first one on this thread to mention "Who Is He And What Is He To You?" <3<3<3

The 5 in the poll are all great, but my love for "Use Me" has never dimmed (and I do find it kinda overplayed, but still...)

― The hoppiest hop hopper now with xtra hops (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 21:26 (seven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this

tho i did rock lean on me in panto once (huntsman assuring snow white i wasnt gonna kill her, full robin hood look including green tights why thank you ladiez)

Bill Salter who wrote/ co wrote Just the Two of Us for /with Bill plus “Where is the Love” for Roberta Flack & Donnie Hathaway is getting some attention via his granddaughter’s Tik Tok. She is now making a doc about her 84 year old grandfather

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/human-interest/2020/12/05/harlem-native-who-wrote-just-the-two-of-us-now-a-viral-sensation