Bill Withers

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Biography

Slab Fork WV, United States (July 4, 1938 – present)

Bill Withers (born July 4, 1938 in Slab Fork, West Virginia) is an American 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 “Ain’t 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 saxophonist Grover Washington Jr.
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  • Fullmettall

    Lovely Day

    24 May 6:42pm Reply

  • switchfoot2012

    AIN'T NO SUNSHINE WHEN SHE'S GONE

    28 Apr 6:41am Reply

  • BoobyNoobie

    Lovely Day :D

    19 Apr 3:56pm Reply

  • satan_88_level

    ^_^

    3 Apr 12:43pm Reply

  • ElektriskeJohs

    Use Me is such a funky song. I can't get enough of it.

    21 Mar 2:09pm Reply

  • loudecibels

    Checked out "Still Bill" on Hulu. A sweet look at a sweet man...a real person with amazing talent.

    11 Mar 8:39pm Reply

  • DoggerDog1973

    "Still Bill" video streaming on Netflix. Great video. Such a nice guy: very humble and real

    8 Feb 2:07am Reply

  • glenbang

    What a voice! Smoooooth.....

    25 Jan 10:16am Reply

  • isuru_boy

    The production on these songs are way way way ahead of their time. [3]

    29 Nov 2012 Reply

  • violetlines

    The production on these songs are way way way ahead of their time. [2]

    21 Nov 2012 Reply

  • satanistrue2you

    I have received a couple of his records into my life and they are blowing my mind.

    14 Nov 2012 Reply

  • BJBooth

    Check out his Carnegie live performance, sure would have loved to have been there. immortal soul.

    8 Oct 2012 Reply

  • Coolbutlame

    The production on these songs are way way way ahead of their time.

    4 Sep 2012 Reply

  • Akayz7

    just watched "Still Bill"... that guy has a heart of gold.

    1 Aug 2012 Reply

  • DickBigems

    One of the most underrated artists. He had a very unique sound, a mixture of soul and blues accompanied by that powerful voice, all of which made him the great artist he is, rather than following trends of others. It's unbelievable that with his catelog of hits that he isn't more of a household name.

    13 Jun 2012 Reply

  • Eglantinetje

    Aah, but it got changed nevertheless! Way better! :-)

    3 Jun 2012 Reply

  • Cazweigun

    It does annoy me when artist names are suddenly changed to caps for no reason.

    3 Jun 2012 Reply

  • itwasatrickpie

    Eglantinetje - thanks, I tried that on your suggestion, but despite typing in 'Bill Withers' when I hit submit it told me I had voted for BILL WITHERS. I don't think that link supports suggesting case corrections. Goodness knows how the name got CAPPED in the first place!

    2 Jun 2012 Reply

  • Eglantinetje

    People: scroll down and click on the "is this artist name wrong or misspelt?" button (to the right) and suggest the caps lock to be removed! Thank you ;-)

    2 Jun 2012 Reply

  • Gitoor

    Why Caps lock?

    2 Jun 2012 Reply
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