What He Is To Me: Bill Withers' Just As I Am/Still Bill

Bill Withers, Just As I Am/
Still Bill, Raven [Australia]

***** ***** ***** *****

Ain't No Sunshine

Ain't no sunshine when she's gone.
It's not warm when she's away.
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
And she's always gone too long anytime she goes away.

Wonder this time where she's gone,
Wonder if she's gone to stay
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
And this house just ain't no home anytime she goes away.

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, I know, I know, I know,
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know.

Hey, I ought to leave the young thing alone,
But ain't no sunshine when she's gone, only darkness everyday.
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone,
And this house just ain't no home anytime she goes away.

Anytime she goes away.
Anytime she goes away.
Anytime she goes away.
Anytime she goes away.

***** ***** ***** *****

I grew up with Bill Withers. Not literally, but he was part of the
soundtrack to my childhood. Withers and Stevie Wonder were two
of the towering titans in my world, circa the 1970s. The thing is,
my parents, who divorced when I was three, didn't actually own
any albums by Withers, but they both owned copies of Wonder's
Talking Book (1972). Dad's copy was on eight-track. (Hipster
that he was, he also had Curtis Mayfield's Superfly on vinyl.)

So, it isn't as if I grew up with
the uncut stuff, like Funkadel-
ic or the Ohio Players. My
parents weren't that cool. I
discovered those Westbound
wonders on my own a few
years later, but I still think of
Withers as cool in a relative
sense. You know, cool for Top
40. The AM station I listened
to--I can no longer remember
the call letters--played the hell
out of "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Lean on Me." That was
it, really. Just two songs. But they made a big impression.

Withers had this deceptively casual style. On the one hand, it was
conversational, like Mose Allison, Taj Mahal, or Gil Scott-Heron.
As Terry Reilly states in the liner notes, it was "anything but slick,"
yet "carried the dual stamp of unhurried soulfulness and sophisti-
cation." On the other hand, there was this gospel thing going on,
similar to that of the Chambers Brothers, the Staple Singers, and
the Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose (the Staples covered Just
As I Am 's "Grandma's Hands," while the Cornelius crew cover-
ed "Ain't No Sunshine"). I use the word "deceptive" because
Withers could jettison the casual as needed. Just listen to
the "I know" section of "Sunshine." The breath control!
Next time you hear it, try to sing along. You'll run
out of steam long before Bill. Deceptive indeed.

As the 1970s progressed, and I moved from elementary to high
school, Withers remained part of my life as new acts took on his
catalog. Initial interpreters included Isaac Hayes and Scott Walk-
er ("Ain't No Sunshine") and Ike and Tina Turner ("Use Me").



In the decades to come, they gave way to Grace Jones ("Use Me"),
Me'Shell NdegéOcello ("Who Is He And What Is He to You"), and
Club Nouveau ("Lean on Me"). Chances are you've forgotten all
about the latter, and I couldn't blame you. Well, their biggest hit
just happened to be a Bill Withers cover. But that isn't the only
reason I remember them. It's because I grew up in Alaska and
the band had roots in Anchorage. Not many do, so that made an
impact. (I even reviewed one of their concerts for The Anchor-
age Times.) Interestingly, it was Club Nouveau's now-forgotten
rendition that led to a songwriting Grammy for Withers in 1987.

More Withers covers came along in the 1990s and 2000s. Artists
of note include Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Mark Eitzel ("Ain't
No Sunshine") and Aaron Neville and Holly Golightly ("Use Me").
He may not have the name recognition of Stevie Wonder, but
Withers will never be forgotten. And I realize they don't sound
much alike, but I'll always associate the two because of "Ain't No
Sunshine" and Talking Book's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life."

This 2003 remaster features his two best long-players on one disc,
Just As I Am (1971) and Still Bill (1972). (The All Music Guide
claims that Withers was born in 1938, while the liners claim '41.)
According to the sticker on the front: "Session backing by Booker
T. Jones and the MGs, Stephen Stills, and the Watts 103rd St.
Rhythm Band [the architects behind NWA favorite "Express Your-
self"]." That's a partial explanation for his success right there.
(Booker T. also co-produced Just As I Am.) I mean, it isn't just a-
bout the relaxed voice and the plainspoken words, but the music--
and the music is good. Folk, funk, jazz, and blues: It's all in there.

Aside from the hits and other
self-penned songs, the set features
two covers and two bonus tracks.
"Everybody's Talkin'" and "Let It Be"
appear on Just As I Am, and
they're not bad, but I prefer the
originals. Then again, Harry Nils-
son was another childhood favo-
rite. He may not have written Mid-
night Cowboy's "Everybody's Talk-
in'"--Fred Neil did the honors--but
his rendition will always be definitive. The added cuts are "Better Days" from the Man and Boy soundtrack (1971) and "It's All Over Now" (1975), a crazed duet on the Dylan classic with Bobby Wo-
mack. (Man and Boy, incidentally, was a Bill Cosby Western.)

If you don't own any Bill Withers recordings, bypass the great-
est hits collections and start here. All of his best material is on
these two albums. A darker, more distinctive proposition, Still Bill
may be superior, but both are great. (The way "Lean on Me" fol-
lows "Use Me," which follows "Who Is He and What Is He To You"
makes it one of the great trilogies in modern music.) Like a lot of
my favorite artists from the early-1970s--Stevie Wonder and
Harry Nilsson, to name but two--Bill makes the kind of music
that always sounds just right, no matter the time or place.

***** ***** ***** *****

Lean on Me

Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow.

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on.

Please swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you don't let show.

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on.

If there is a load you have to bear
That you can't carry
I'm right up the road
I'll share your load
If you just call me.

So just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'd understand
We all need somebody to lean on.

Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on.

Lean on me...



Endnote: Images from the AMG, lyrics from Lyrics007. Fun
fact from his bio: "Withers was briefly married to actress Denise
Nicholas (ABC-TV's Room 222 and the 1972 horror film Blacula)
in the early '70s." (The paranoid numbers on Still Bill were, sup-
posedly, inspired by their relationship.) Other notable singles in-
clude "Lovely Day" (1977) and "Just the Two of Us" (1981). Other
soundtrack appearances include 1997's Jackie Brown ("Who Is He
And What Is He to You?"), 1999's Notting Hill ("Aint No Sunshine"),
and 1999's American Beauty. Also, the Morgan Freeman film Lean
on Me (1989) takes its title from the song of the same name.