[Words] Bill Withers

I've had Bill Wither's music stuck in my head for days now. Upon starting my new job and thus, my new commute, I made myself promise to, uh, myself that every morning and evening, I'd scour my iPod for stuff that I haven't given its due. Over the years, as a music appreciator, I have acquired loads of music that I've intended to listen to and simply haven't had the time for. I love Girl Talk, The Knocks, Memory Tapes and the xx as much as anyone, but it's time to give some of this stuff its due.

But where to start? Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield were too familiar and I wasn't quite ready to dive head first into jazz with Mingus and Ellington. After a bit of hemming and hawing, my dad pointed out that Benny Blanco's Michael Jackson remix was indeed a remix of a cover of Wither's most popular song, and I figured he was as good a starting point as any.

So on a recent Tuesday afternoon on my commute home, I put on Withers' Still Bill. The music didn't fit the scenery (a Latin American suburb with stray dogs throughout the street), but it didn't matter. Withers' vocals are one of the great under-celebrated musical talents; the arrangements are magnificient in their subtitleties. I can't recommend Withers enough.

From the sound of his music, it seems to me that the only thing that held Bill Withers back from similar levels of popularity to his contemporaries was his versatility or, to put it into a negative light, his inability to fit within a specific genre of the time. There are elements of jazz, soul, funk, pop and R&B in his sound, but he doesn't fit nicely into any of these genres. Instead, Withers produced a sound unique to his era. "Use Me" isn't quite funky enough, in spite of its bassline, nor poppy enough to be pop in the 60s and 70s pop sensibility. "Ain't No Sunshine" isn't quite a traditional blues track.

And yet, the blend of these different elements are what makes Withers' music hold up still today. We all love MoTown, but what we love about is its inherent nostalgia. My parents love that MoTown is the music of their youth. I love that the musics reminds me of growing up in my parents' house. It is music that transports us to a specific time and space. Withers' music is different; I can't think of a more apt descriptor than timeless. Certainly, there are elements of the music that make it easy to date, but it's still a fresh sound, unlike anything released at that time or any other.

Withers' music remained in popular culture through the 80s with endless covers of his well-known singles. Over the past two decades, sampling in rap music breathed new music into the soul and R&B of the 60s and 70s, Withers included. From Will Smith's adoption of "Just the Two of Us" as an ode to his son to Fatboy Slim's sampling "Demons" to DMX's interpretation of Withers with "No Sunshine," his music has remained in the public subconscience for longer than many realize.

Ultimately, that Withers never achieved the sales numbers or popularity of his contemporaries doesn't really matter (unless of course, Bill is struggling in old age to make ends meet; in which case, it matters a great deal). As I scratch this (the first draft, not the one on the internets) out in my notebook in the back of a bus in Chile, the cliche mentioning "a billion people in China" is in my thoughts. Yet, as much joy as I take from it, there's something almost saddening about listening to Bill Withers' music, knowing that he is not revered in the same way as some of his peers.

................................................


If you're still reading, thanks. Allow me one further, slightly Withers-related digression; in 2002, I was a senior at a small New England boarding school. All students, even those of another faith or no religious affiliation, were forced to attend two Chapel services per week. These services weren't painful to endure, but they were rarely riveting. One Thursday night service in the fall, I showed up late, on the heels of a larger group of tardy, reluctant church-goers. As we walked through the rear entrance, the opening piano strokes and hums of Wither's rendition of "Lean on Me" warmly greeted us. Rather than taking our customary seats in the back, two friends of mine from the larger group turned rapidly up the center aisle and comenced in belting out the opening refrain "Some-times in our lives, we all have pain, we all have sorrow..." We all followed suit, arm in arm, and after a few moments, the entire church of indifferent students had joined in for an enthusiastic, uptempo, if slightly off-key, rendition of the wonderful song.

This memory has stuck with me over all the others for many reasons; primarily, I remember this instance vividly because the two friends, the ringleaders –Wes and Mike – passed away a few months later. The strength of this memory is due in some small part to its illustration of the power that music and friendship can have. Every time I hear "Lean on Me," and Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young" for that matter, I'm reminded of the good times with Wes and Mike. I think that's a part why we write about music, for those memories and the attachments they provide to our pasts.

Music is truly a wonderful thing. RIP, fellers.


Bill Withers - Use Me
Bill Withers - Lean On Me
Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine
Bill Withers - Grandma's Hands

Derivative Works (Let's hope this is the only excuse I ever have to post DMX in this space)
DMX - No Sunshine
Blackstreet - No Diggity