Bill Withers

Born in Slab Fork, West Virginia, and raised in Beckley, Bill Withers developed a direct soul and R&B songwriting style, rooted in gospel, folk and a frequently spare sense of groove. After nine years in the U.S. Navy he moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s and began recording while still working in the aerospace industry. His debut album, Just as I Am (1971), produced by Booker T. Jones, immediately established Withers’ distinctiveness with spare, deeply felt songs such as Ain’t No Sunshine and Grandma’s Hands. He followed with Still Bill (1972), which includes Lean on Me and Use Me, and the live release Live at Carnegie Hall (1973), often cited in his stage career. The remainder of his discography, from +’Justments (1974) to Menagerie (1977), which features Lovely Day, shows a widening toward funkier and more pop-oriented textures without abandoning his warm voice and concise writing. After moving from Sussex to Columbia he released ’Bout Love (1978) and later Watching You, Watching Me (1985). His career also includes notable collaborations, particularly Just the Two of Us with Grover Washington Jr. in 1981. He then largely withdrew from recording and performing, leaving a compact body of work focused on a few albums and a frequently covered repertoire.