the four or five Bill Withers songs everybody knows

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!

ultra-long note, I mean

"Ain't No Sunshine" for me--it's got that desolate eeriness that you find on so many of the greatest songs from that moment ("Smiling Faces," "The World Is a Ghetto," etc.) I've been compiling early-'70s soul tapes and CDs for friends since the mid-'80s, and that's always my Bill Withers go-to song. But I like all the others to one degree or another.

haha i have never heard "lean on me"

I suppose I should stop being surprised at you, but really now.

Unless the song just really has no profile at all in the UK?

Let me be the first:

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

'Just the Two of Us' ruined by both Mike Myers and Will Smith.

Still wish there had been a proper release of the Gap commercial mashup of "Lovely Day" and "I Hear Music in the Streets."

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

aint no sunshine

Use Me

Lean On Me > Ain't No Sunshine > Use Me > Lovely Day > Just The Two of Us

...though the first three are so close that it feels ridiculous to rank them. His first two records contained much stronger material than either of those latter two songs, though. There isn't a song on Just As I Am that isn't brilliant, really.

Liked the documentary as well, though I wish there was a bit more to it. Reviewed it <a href=http://echoandsway.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/beside-the-music/";>here</a>.

Ugh, make that here: http://echoandsway.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/beside-the-music/

Also would have said Grandma's Hands. But voted Ain't No Sunshine.

I feel like on a particular day, I could vote for any one of these (and also "Grandma's Hands"), but "Ain't No Sunshine" is some be-all/end-all shit in my world.

I just want to vote for USE ME as this live clip is one of my favorite things I found on youtube. The band is so laid back in the pocket and groovy.

The drummer is just the coolest. He's like "this is a pretty killer groove ain't it."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3hBYTkI-sE

I've always been partial to "Kissing My Love," he just sounds so overwhelmingly joyous. Out of this list, "Ain't No Sunshine" has always sounded alien in how fantastic it is, even if "Use Me" is kinda more interesting to me.

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