(An appreciation by Steve T)
For
many of us, the early seventies were the golden age of soul music, and perhaps
particularly the male soul singer. Bill had the most singularly distinctive
voice of them all, with a warm and soulful tone that set him apart from the
rest.
This
meant he always remained distinct from the mainstream of soul music; as much a
singer/songwriter, and with a folk sensibility, which ensured his story-telling
had an accessibility and familiarity which marked his music out as
timeless.
Following
his debut single in 1967 - which did nothing - he emerged in 1971 aged 32 with
his debut album Just as I Am and its
first single Ain't No Sunshine.
The
follow-up album Still Bill from the
following year was even better and spawned another single which has been
entirely absorbed into British and American consciousness - Lean on Me.
Had he
never recorded another song, these two alone would mark him out as a songwriter
of almost unparalleled depth and universality. That these two albums also
included most of his greatest hits, including Harlem, Grandma's Hands, Better off Dead, Lonely Town Lonely Street,
Let me in Your Life, Who is he? and What is he to You? and Use Me illustrate just how significant a
new voice he was at this time.
A
highly regarded live album* followed with a powerful new anti-Vietnam song I Can't Write Left-handed.
He
kept making quality albums through the mid-seventies but dropped off the radar
of all but his fans and the soul fraternity until he had one more smash in 1977
with Lovely Day from the album Menagerie.
Another
album followed two years later and his final album came six years after that in
1985, but his greatest success during these years came from featuring on
various cuts by established jazz-funk acts: Just
the Two of Us with Grover Washington Jr., In the Name of Love with (percussionist) Ralph MacDonald and Soul Shadows with the Crusaders.
I got
to see him live at Newcastle City Hall sometime in the mid-eighties and the
small audience, at his request, moved to the front where he held court like a
favourite uncle who sang a bit. He came in through the front door where a
friend of mine with a spare ticket tried to sell it to him!
In his
book, Spinning Around: a History of the
Soul LP (Vol 2), soul fan extraordinaire John Lias wrote: “Still Bill, a
lovely 2009 documentary about Withers, proved what I had always suspected after
living with his music for nearly four decades; he is one of the nicest men ever
to grace the music industry, a business he liked to keep at arm’s length”.
He was
one of the unsung giants, not just of soul music, but of all American
Music.
He
died on Monday (March 30) aged 81.
Steve T
*John
Lias placed it no 7 in his top 100 soul albums from the latter half of the
alphabet (K-Z).
5 comments :
A marvellous tribute, Steve. As you say, two great tunes, if he was to write nothing else his place in history was assured.
A wonderful tribute Steve and a lovely anecdote about the ticket . I think a lot of egotistical musicians could learn a lot from his life, a very down to earth man with no fanciful airs and graces and such a wonderful musician . A very sad loss
Oh yes - a heartfelt tribute from you, Steve - to this beautiful voice ...... just what we need to be listening to in times like this.
If they do it again at 8 on thurs we should all crank Lean on Me out of our doors and windows.
I was there at the City Hall Gig but can’t remember the exact date and can’t find any information on Google about it? I remember he asked everyone to move downstairs from up and everyone down forward because the place was empty but the man put on a show that was unbelievable and it was like you had him playing in your Front Room
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