Singer, songwriter Bill Withers (1938-2020). AB2c USN 1956-65.- year Navy veteran AB2c.

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We lost the Grammy winning songwriter and singer Bill Withers on March 30, 2020 who died at 81 in West Hollywood, CA of heart disease. His big hits, "Ain't no Sunshine" (1971), "Lean on Me" (1972), "Use Me" (1972), "Lovely Day", (1977) and "Just the Two of Us" (1980) sound as fresh and soulful as they did 40 or more years ago. I pretty much wore out his first two albums back in the day when they came out. Ironically, Bill Withers died during the Coronavirus, when a lot of people, have gone back to listen to the tunes he wrote and sang, particularly "Lovely Day" and "Lean on Me", which are particularly timely and offer melodic hope in these strange times when millions, while living relatively isolated lives for now, are all in the "same boat".

 

"Bill Withers was born on July 4, 1938, in Slab Fork, a small coal-mining town in a poor, rural area of West Virginia. His father, a coal miner, died when Withers was 13 years old, leaving his mother and grandmother to raise him and his five older siblings in nearby Beckley, West Virginia. As a teenager, Withers helped support the family by working odd jobs, before joining the Navy at age 17 in 1956. He served in the Navy for nine years rising to aviation boatswain's mate 2c, during which he traveled throughout the Far East. Withers was discharged from the Navy in 1965. He had always been a talented singer, and around this time he began to consider trying to find a way to make a living at it. Unable to find original songs that adequately conveyed his feelings, he started writing his own around that time. In 1967, Withers moved to Los Angeles, the capital of the music business, to try his luck at becoming a professional performer.

 

In Los Angeles, Withers began recording demo versions of his original songs in hopes of obtaining a recording contract with a major label. Meanwhile, he supported himself working full-time making toilets for the aircraft manufacturer Boeing. Withers was initially frustrated in his attempts to break into the music industry. He spent countless hours and substantial sums of money sending out his material to record companies, but in spite of his time-consuming and expensive efforts, his music failed to impress any of the personnel whose desks it landed on. His luck finally changed in 1970 when a demo of Withers' songs arrived in the office of Clarence Avant, president of Sussex Records. Avant signed Withers to a contract and quickly introduced him to Booker T. Jones, leader and keyboardist of the successful R&B group Booker T. and the MGs.

 

Withers' debut album, Just as I Am, was released in 1971. The album, produced by Booker T., was a hit with both critics and consumers. Three of the songs on the album became hit singles. One of them, "Ain't No Sunshine," went gold and received a Grammy Award for best R&B song." (from "Together We Served")

 

And the rest is history. A coal-miner's son, veteran and a self-made man. RIP Bill Withers, thanks for a lifetime of great songs to amplify the lovely days and soften the edges on the unlovely ones..

 

A conversation with Bill Withers-

 

"Ain't No Sunshine" (no ads)

 

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“Lovely Day” (no ads)

 

 

“Lean on Me” (live 1973)