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Born: 1938 07 04
iSound Site: www.isound.com/bill_withers
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| Bill Withers is quite possibly the most underrated genius of our times. His hits have spawned countless covers and are constantly repeated and sung. Bill Withers was born on July 4, 1938 in Slab Fork, West Virginia. He grew up the youngest of sic children. When he was young, |
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Bill Withers is quite possibly the most underrated genius of our times. His hits have spawned countless covers and are constantly repeated and sung. Bill Withers was born on July 4, 1938 in Slab Fork, West Virginia. He grew up the youngest of sic children. When he was young, his father passed away; thus he was raised by his mother and grandmother. After serving in the United States Navy for nine years, Withers re-located to Los Angeles, California. He had dreams of a music career growing up, and he wanted to pursue that. In 1967, after moving to L.A., Withers took a day job for the airplane carrier Boeing; where he made toilet seats. During the night, however, he recorded demo songs. Withers got lucky when he met keyboardist/producer Booker T. Jones from Stax Records. Jones saw Withers potential and huge talent and he worked to get the singer a recording deal. Hard work paid off when Withers was signed to Sussex Records. In 1971, Withers had a brief marriage to Denise Nicholas (starred in horror film Blacula and ABC-Tv’s show, Room 222).
Withers’s debut album, Just As I Am, was co-produced by Jones and Al Jackson Jr. The album contained the song, “Ain’t No Sunshine.” The single went gold , number six on R&B, and number three on pop during the summer of 1971. “Ain’t No Sunshine” also received a Grammy for Best R&B Song. The next single off the album was “Grandma Hands.” The song reached number 18 on the R&B charts in the fall of 1971. “Grandma Hands,” was later covered by the band The Staple Singers. The single got enormous airplay in the summer of 1973, when The Staple Sisters released their LP entitled Be What you Are. Another hit single from Just As I Am was the album’s title single. “Just As I Am,” featured guitarists Stephen Still. The single reached number five on the R&B charts during the summer of 1971. Also during 1971, Withers wrote and recorded “Better Days.” The single was used on Bill Cosby’s western film entitled Man and Boy.
Withers’s next album was entitled Still Bill. The album contained the hit; “Lean on Me.” The song was written by Withers after his experiences growing up in a small coal mining town in rural West Virginia. He found the tune to “Lean on Me” one day when he was playing with his new Wurlitzer electric piano. The tune to the song reminded Withers of church hymns he used to sing while growing up. “Lean on Me” was number one on R&B charts and number one on pop charts. The song went gold and became a usual for covers by various artists. Most notably, the British punk-rock band Mud and the band Club Nouveau. “Lean on Me” was also the feature song for the 1989 film starring Morgan Freeman. The film, Lean on Me, was also named after Withers’s song.
As time passed, Sussez Records also released many albums of Withers. This includes: Bill Withers Live at Carnegie Hall and The Best of bill Withers. In the summer of 1975, Withers did a duet with Bobby Womack entitled “It’s All over Now.” Soon after, Withers got involved in a legal battle with Sussex causing him to drop the record label. Soon after, however, he signed to Columbia records.
Withers released Making Music on Columbia Records. The album contained the ingle, ‘Make Love to Your Mind.” The single was number ten on R&B charts. In 1977, Withers released Naked and Warm; Menagerie. The album contained the single, “Lovely Day.” The single went to number six on R&B charts. In 1977, the album went gold. In the spring of 1979, Withers released ‘Bout Love. In 1981, he wrote the soon-to-be highly covered song, “Just the Two of Us.” In the spring of 1985, Withers released Watching You, Watching Me. Later in the 1980s, Columbia released Lean On Me: The Best of Bill Withers. In 1998, AL Jareau recorded an entire cd of Bill Withers songs entitled Tribute to Bill Withers.
Bio written by: bandhunt |
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