Live Bill Withers

Few singers have possessed a baritone as rich and comforting as that of Bill Withers. Even smaller in number are the songwriters who have shared the West Virginian's natural ability to articulate a comprehensive range of emotions and perspectives – jubilation and gratitude, jealousy, and spite – with maximal levels of conviction and concision. Late to arrive, the everyman R&B paragon had just turned 33 when "Ain't No Sunshine," the unfading ballad off Just as I Am (1971), made him a sudden and unlikely success story, within one year an aircraft mechanic-turned-million-selling, Grammy-winning artist. Through the next ten years, Withers continued to meld soul, gospel, folk, and funk with rare finesse. He collected more gold singles with "Lean on Me" and "Use Me," both off the similarly successful Still Bill (1972), reached the same height with Menagerie (1977), led by "Lovely Day," and was handed a second Grammy for "Just the Two of Us" (1981), his collaboration with Grover Washington, Jr. Early to leave, Withers made his last statement with Watching You Watching Me (1985), closing a songbook that has served as a bountiful resource for artists from a multitude of stylistic persuasions. Given his flowers before his death at the age of 81, Withers was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Bill Withers performs a heartfelt song expressing his love for his partner and his dreams for their future together. He also shares his thoughts on the struggles and hardships of being a black man in America. Withers delivers a powerful spoken word performance, reflecting on the pain and frustration felt by the black community and encouraging the audience to remember the struggles and stand up against oppression. The episode also features a conversation between Bill Withers and poet May Jackson about love, urban life, and black consciousness. Additionally, Bill Withers shares memories of his grandmother and her influential role in his life.

More generous than the 20-track The Very Best Of, Essential Bill Withers is a 34-track anthology that features all of Withers' notable singles, along with other highlights from the singer's albums for the Sussex and Columbia labels, from 1971's Just as I Am through 1985's Watching You Watching Me. This is a fine and extensive introduction to Withers' catalog, featuring "Ain't No Sunshine," "Lean on Me," "Use Me," "Lovely Day," and "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh." He also recorded scads of excellent deep album cuts that could not fit. In 2013, the lovingly packaged The Complete Sussex and Columbia Albums Collection – released the previous year – retailed for roughly three times the price of this set. Anyone with a serious interest in Withers' work should seriously consider that option, though it doesn't contain "Just the Two of Us," the big hit from Grover Washington, Jr.'s Winelight album.

Bill Withers performs a heartfelt song expressing his love for his partner and his dreams for their future together. He also shares his thoughts on the struggles and hardships of being a black man in America. Withers delivers a powerful spoken word performance, reflecting on the pain and frustration felt by the black community and encouraging the audience to remember the struggles and stand up against oppression. The episode also features a conversation between Bill Withers and poet May Jackson about love, urban life, and black consciousness. Additionally, Bill Withers shares memories of his grandmother and her influential role in his life.

Bill Withers: The Complete Sussex and Columbia Albums celebrates the timeless artistry of an American master. The set includes the nine albums that Bill released between 1971 through 1985…

A good compilation that illustrates Bill Withers recording career which ended with his disillusionment with the recording industry. He performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. On this CD, there is all the major songs, some of which are very inspired writings and many are in a class of there own. There is no doubt that Withers was a perfectionist and the musically, he was well ahead of his time. Take 'Grandma's Hands' and all of the early Sussex recordings that feature the acoustic guitar. with and without the lovely string backings (by Booker T. Jones). Disc 1 illustrates some of his great early material. Later on, we get the Columbia recordings which are good but musically, you get the impression that Withers was being pressured by the company to deliver what they wanted and not necessarily the material that he wanted to do. He is a unique artist and sincerely hope that one day, he will surprise the public by releasing some amazing new songs with the poetry and musicality of his 1970's material.

Bill Withers - Just as I Am/Still Bill (2003)
Soul | 1CD | APE+CUE+LOG+HQ Scans (300 dpi) | 442 mb
Label: Raven [Australia]

Bill Withers' first two albums were arguably his best works, his most personal and unaffected music with a distinctive sound by virtue of their lean production, especially his debut, Just As I Am. At the turn of the 1960s into the 1970s, he was a unique presence, as we're reminded by this Raven Records two-LP-on-one-CD package. Withers' first album is otherwise unavailable on CD, and the mastering here brings the audio quality up dramatically, making the listening experience close and intimate, almost like a private studio performance. Withers' songs are so personal that they only gain intensity from this treatment – not just the original songs, such as "Ain't No Sunshine" or "Grandma's Hands," but even his cover of "Let It Be." The only real decision that fans will have to make concerns his second album, Still Bill, which is available in the United States with two live bonus tracks; for anyone owning this disc, buying Sony's domestic release of that album may prove superfluous. As an added enticement, Raven has also included bonus tracks of "Better Days," from the soundtrack to the movie Man and Boy, and a version of "It's All Over Now," by Withers and Bobby Womack.