Happy Birthday Bill Withers, William Harrison Bill Withers, Jr. (born July 4, 1938). He recorded a number of hits such as Lean on Me, Aint No Sunshine, Use Me, Just the Two of Us, Lovely Day, and Grandmas Hands. His life was the subject of the 2009 documentary film Still Bill. Withers was born the youngest of six children in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia. Raised in nearby Beckley, West Virginia, Withers was twelve years old when his father died. He enlisted with the United States Navy at age eighteen and served for nine years, during which time he became interested in singing and writing songs. Discharged from the Navy in 1965, he relocated to Los Angeles in 1967 for a musical career. Withers assigned Booker T. Jones to produce his first album. Four three-hour studio sessions were planned to record the album, but funding caused the album to be recorded in three sessions with a six-month break between the second and final sessions. Just as I Am was released in 1971 with the tracks Aint No Sunshine and Grandmas Hands as singles. The album features Stephen Stills playing lead guitar. Bill Withers won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for Aint No Sunshine. During a hiatus from touring, Withers recorded his second album, Still Bill. The single from it ,Lean on Me went to #1 in America. He wrote songs for, Gladys Knight & The Pips, recorded & released a live album from his Live at Carnegie Hall concert , between 1977 and 1985, including the successful Just the Two of Us, with jazz saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr., which was released during June 1980. It won a Grammy.s, He recorded Soul Shadows with The Crusaders, and In the Name of Love with Ralph MacDonald, the latter being nominated for a Grammy for vocal performance. In 1985 came Watching You Watching Me, which featured the Top 40 rated Rhythm&Blues single Oh Yeah & this track . Withers ended his business association with Columbia Records after this release, which as of 2013 is his last studio album. Withers contributed two songs to Jimmy Buffetts 2004 release License to Chill. GARY
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 07:08:19 +0000
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