Bill Withers

1,822,637 plays (240,941 listeners)

soul, funk, rnb, 70s, rhythm and blues… see all

Bill Withers (born July 4, 1938 in Slab Fork, West Virginia) is an American singer-songwriter who performed and recorded from the late 1960s until the mid 1980s.

Bill’s father died when he was thirteen. He joined the US Navy at seventeen, and stayed there for nine years, before he moved to Los Angeles in 1967. While in Los Angeles, he worked full-time in a Lockheed assembly plant in the day, making toilets for Boeing 747 airliners, then recorded demo tapes and performed in juke joints during the night. When he debuted on the music scene with “Aint No Sunshine,” he refused to give up his job at Lockheed because of his belief that the music business was a fickle industry and that he was still a novice compared to other working acts like The Temptations or Sammy Davis, Jr.

His first success was with the company Sussex Records in 1971 with his debut hit single

Ain’t No Sunshine on the album Just as I Am. He assembled a touring band made up of: drummer James Gadson, guitarist Bernoce Blackmon, keyboardist Ray Jackson, and bassist Melvin Dunlap.

His second album Still Bill also did well on the charts. It was recorded during a break in the “Just As I Am” tour and included the well-known single “Lean on Me,” which went to #1 on the charts on July 8, 1972. His live album, “Bill Withers, Live at Carnegie Hall,” released in 1973, was one of the best live albums to be released during the 1970s. Other popular songs he sings are “Use Me” and “Lovely Day,” as well as “Just the Two of Us,” which he performed with jazz saxophonist Grover Washington Jr.

Lean On Me: The Best of Bill Withers
Bill Withers
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Still Bill
Bill Withers
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Live at Carnegie Hall
Bill Withers
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Menagerie
Bill Withers
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Top Tracks

1	Ain't No Sunshine full track	3,724
2	Lean On Me full track	1,438
3	Use Me full track	1,373
4	Lovely Day full track	1,303
5	Grandma's Hands full track	576
6	Just the Two of Us	522
7	Harlem full track	329
8	Who Is He (And What Is He to You)? full track	277
9	Kissing My Love full track	258
10	I Want To Spend The Night full track	217
11	Hello Like Before full track	185
12	Lonely Town, Lonely Street	178
13	The Same Love That Made Me Laugh full track	141
14	Better Off Dead	138
15	Let Me Be the One You Need full track	130

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trueiopian wrote:
yesterday morning

The BEST!

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BlackSouljah wrote:
Monday afternoon

@Jelboo - I agree. When I first listened to a lot of his music I was amazed at how familiar I was with so many of the songs before I even knew who was the brilliant man behind them.

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Ivy_Emancipated wrote:
last week

Love the guy, LOVE him! It's a shame tho, that he's not performing anymore, I'd travel thou of miles to go n see him...

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Jelboo wrote:
last month

So little plays for such a brilliant artist. So many of his tunes are instantly recognized by even the least interested people. He should deserve more recognition for his contribution to music.

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SanPdro wrote:
last month

Bill Withers is the shit.

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CRSMOOTH wrote:
last month

"USE ME" IS TIMELESS. I DID FORGET ABOUT IT UNTIL I HEARD IT IN A MOVIE A FEW YEARS AGO CALLED "ANY GIVEN SUNDAY" AND IT WAS A GROOVE ALL OVER AGAIN.

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runargj wrote:
last month

Bill is fantastic. If your stress level is high, just kick back and turn on "Grandma's Hands" and you'll instantly feel your pulse calm. This is proper soul!

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Don_Diego wrote:
last month

More than just a 4-hit wonder...

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Kardoffel wrote:
last month

quite the best !

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musrum wrote:
July 2008

"Use Me Up", has gotta be one of the best songs ever.

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billy_666 wrote:
July 2008

mad ups!!!

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theapril-sea wrote:
July 2008

his vocal remind the voice of Paul Rogers

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theapril-sea wrote:
July 2008

brilliant artist.he created his own real sound and style.just a genius man

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[deleted-user] wrote:
June 2008

"I can't write lef-handed", fave track, definitely!
bathat wrote:
June 2008

Anti-War, Pro-Kittens

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Tim010987 wrote:
May 2008

Lean On Me is one of those songs that never gets old

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Cowp wrote:
May 2008

I'm her Daddy Un des grands esprits de la Soul qui n'a pas l'aura q'il merite ,il me semble

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balzadelia wrote:
May 2008

discovered makeing planes , what a find . the live cut of this song on old grey whistle test is the best

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Sole_Inspired24 wrote:
March 2008

Timeless.

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[deleted-user] wrote:
March 2008

Pretty damn awesome.

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Recent Activity

Kefaspeter, midwestmainer, allucanbeat and 7 other people added Bill Withers to their libraries. 2 hours ago
breakRider tagged Bill Withers with ‘rnb’, ‘soul’ and ‘funk’. 11 hours ago
kasperatom, nnd97, josbetter and 7 other people added Bill Withers to their libraries. yesterday afternoon
tiit19 tagged Bill Withers with ‘soul’. Friday evening
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Songfacts connected Bill Withers to the group Songfacts. Friday afternoon
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Cowabanga tagged Bill Withers with ‘soul’. Friday morning
breakRider, thedirtyho, blueirbs and 9 other people added Bill Withers to their libraries. Friday morning
BS1der created the wiki page for Use Me. August 2008