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Soul Strut 100: # 46 - Bill Withers - Still Bill

RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,782 Posts
edited November 2012 in The Soul Strut 100
I will slowly be unveiling the Top 100 Soul Strut Related Records as Voted by the Strutters Themselves.

# 46 - Bill Withers - Still Bill



The list so far:

# 100 - Jr. and His Soulettes - Psychodelic Sounds
# 99 - Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul
# 98 - Donny Hathaway - S/T (1971)
# 97 - Bernard Wright - ???Nard
# 96 - Tom Scott - Honeysuckle Breeze
# 95 - People Under the Stairs - Question in the Form of an Answer
# 94 - Harlem River Drive
# 93 - Black Moon - Enta Da Stage
# 92 - Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear
# 91 - Muddy Waters - Electric Mud
# 90 - Les McCann - Layers
# 89 - Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
# 88 - Leroy Hutson - Hutson (1975)
# 87 - ESG - S/T (1981)
# 86 - Can - Tago Mago
# 85 - Bohannon - Stop & Go
# 84 - WILLIAM DEVAUGHN - Be Thankful For What You Got
# 83 - Power of Zeus - The Gospel According to Zeus
# 82 - Gang Starr - Hard To Earn
# 81 - The J.B.???s - Doing It to Death
# 80 - Parliament - Osmium
# 79 - McNeal & Niles - Thrust
# 78 - The Lafayette Afro Rock Band - Malik
# 77 - Earth, Wind, and Fire (1971)
# 76 - Dr. Dre - The Chronic
# 75 - Black Sabbath (1970)
# 74 - Trap Door / An International Psychedelic Mystery Mix (2006)
# 73 - Bob James - One
# 72 - Matthew Larkin Cassell - Pieces
# 71 - The Beginning Of The End - Funky Nassau
# 70 - Big Bear - Doin??? Thangs
# 69 - Steely Dan - Aja
# 68 - Quasimoto - The Unseen
# 67 - Curtis Mayfield - Curtis/Live! (1971)
# 66 - Al Green - Im still in love with you
# 65 - The Beatnuts - Street Level
# 64 - Archie Whitewater - Archie Whitewater (1970)
# 63 - Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Mecca & the Soul Brother
# 62 - Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die
# 61 - The J.B.???s - Food For Thought
# 60 - Don Blackman (1982)
# 59 - Niagara - (Tiddies)
# 58 - Can - Ege Bamyasi
# 57 - Whatnauts - On the Rocks
# 56 - The Mohawks - Champ
# 55 - McDonald and Giles (1971)
# 54 - Darondo - Let My People Go
# 53 - Dorothy Ashby - Afro Harping
# 52 - Beastie Boys - Paul???s Boutique
# 51 - Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu of Ethiopia
# 50 - Lyman Woodard Organization - Saturday Night Special
# 49 - Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul
# 48 - Lyn Collins - Think (About It)
# 47 - James Brown - In The Jungle Groove

Please discuss your reactions to this record. The thread will be archived later here.

About


Still Bill is the second studio album by American soul musician Bill Withers, released in 1972 by Sussex Records. It includes two hit singles: "Lean on Me", which is number 205 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time[7] and went to number 1 on the Billboard pop and R&B charts in summer of 1972; and "Use Me", which went to number two on the same charts in fall of 1972.[8] It was certified Gold by the RIAA.[9][14]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_Bill

Related Threads

Underrated artists

School me on Bill Withers

Still Bill: Bill Withers Doc


Media



  Comments

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    A favorite.
  • jaymackjaymack 5,199 Posts
    LaserWolf said:
    A favorite.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    His second album in general, but his first with the rhythm section from the Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band.
  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    and so many of these tunes became soul/jazz/pop standards. hard to beleive he had onl;y been playing and writing songs for a couple of years by that point. he probably could have retired off of the royalties from "lean on me" but i am glad he didn't.

    my guess s that his live album is going to rate higher.

    once again, the soulstrut 100 hleps me be thankful for what i got.
  • FlomotionFlomotion 2,391 Posts
    A quietly brilliant record which pretty much sums up for me everything that's great about Bill Withers. When I bought this years ago it was random flea market punt and all I really knew about him was that he was the guy who sang Lovely Day. Which didn't fill me with hope. But the LP looked cool and I recognised a couple of good songs on there (which I assumed were covers) so took a risk expecting the usual needle dropping 'meh' moments . Couldn't have been more wrong. Beautiful original songs with a real edge that grew on me and led me to more great music on Sussex and beyond. ...although that centre opening on the sleeve really is a pain in the arse. ;-)
  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,473 Posts
    Flomotion said:
    A quietly brilliant record which pretty much sums up for me everything that's great about Bill Withers.

    That's a great way to put it. I've got a lot of love for this record.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    All four of his Sussex albums (not counting the best-of) were genius. I'd probably rate his live album over the other three, but you really can't go wrong with any of them.
  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    pickwick33 said:
    All four of his Sussex albums (not counting the best-of) were genius. I'd probably rate his live album over the other three, but you really can't go wrong with any of them.

    +Justments i find is really underrated/underaapreciated.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Bill Withers created outside of the music industry.
    He never fit into an industry category.
    I consider him a to be in the singer songwriter vein.
    My friends who really like those old singer songwriters think of him only as Lean On Me, which they remember as an annoying top 40 hit.

    Columbia, Famously, wanted him to be "blacker". He referred to his producers there as something like blackperts. White people who were "experts" on what Black people like.

    He got lucky when he was paired with Sussex and Booker T Jones who let him be himself and arranged the band around Bill's playing and singing. The opposite of Columbia's approach.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    crabmongerfunk said:
    pickwick33 said:
    All four of his Sussex albums (not counting the best-of) were genius. I'd probably rate his live album over the other three, but you really can't go wrong with any of them.

    +Justments i find is really underrated/underaapreciated.

    And the lyrics are slightly more bitter than the other albums, as well. Especially on the first song, "You" (a hit), where he calls out a ladyfriend for hanging with the wrong crowd.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    LaserWolf said:
    Bill Withers created outside of the music industry.
    He never fit into an industry category.
    I consider him a to be in the singer songwriter vein.
    My friends who really like those old singer songwriters think of him only as Lean On Me, which they remember as an annoying top 40 hit.

    Once, on some other message board that I never post to anymore, somebody started a thread on 1970s singer-songwriters. He was really starting to get into the genre and was asking for suggestions. I mentioned Bill Withers, and he responded something like: "Bill Withers isn't a singer-songwriter, he is a soul singer." As if it weren't possible to be both?

    I'm no fan of that movement myself, but seems to me that if you're into Paul Simon, James Taylor, Jim Croce, etc., then somebody like Withers (or Terry Callier or Roberta Flack) shouldn't be far behind.

    Columbia, Famously, wanted him to be "blacker". He referred to his producers there as something like blackperts. White people who were "experts" on what Black people like.

    He got lucky when he was paired with Sussex and Booker T Jones who let him be himself and arranged the band around Bill's playing and singing. The opposite of Columbia's approach.

    It helped that when Bill's first LP came out, there was a window of opportunity there where R&B was at its' most eclectic, with Donny Hathaway, Funkadelic, Gil Scott-Heron, Betty Davis and other progressives, bringing in tons of influences from jazz, folk and rock. Withers came in just as the industry was starting to swing that way, and he benefitted from that. Most magazine articles of the time noted that Withers didn't fit the mold of the usual "soul star" - no fancy suits, no dance steps, no Vegas attitudes, he just got up on stage in his Levis with an acoustic guitar and sang.

    But by the time he hooked up with Columbia in 1975, that pathway was getting narrower. Disco was coming in, and once again black artists were expected to fit an extremely conservative mold. Unfortunately, his newer records reflected this.
  • DustedDonDustedDon 830 Posts
    The drum intro on Kissing My Love is a hall of fame break-beat IMO.
  • Controller_7Controller_7 4,052 Posts
    Really interesting guy. Great album.

    In regards to Lovely Day...Obviously this stuff is better, but I dig Lovely Day too. I dont remember any of the other songs on menagerie, but that song is cool with me.
  • mattBmattB (FTB) Anywhere 673 Posts
    pickwick33 said:
    All four of his Sussex albums (not counting the best-of) were genius. I'd probably rate his live album over the other three, but you really can't go wrong with any of them.
    Yeah the live albums is great. In fact, as good as Still Bill is, I suspect it's not the last Bill Withers on the SS100
  • strataspherestratasphere Blastin' the Nasty 1,035 Posts
    Classic material.
  • minimini 880 Posts
    Great, great record.
  • double-o-souldouble-o-soul 13 Posts
    crabmongerfunk said:
    my guess s that his live album is going to rate higher.

    The live album is one of the greatest live records ever cut......can't think of a better one really.
  • OptimusLimeOptimusLime 227 Posts
    double-o-soul said:
    crabmongerfunk said:
    my guess s that his live album is going to rate higher.

    The live album is one of the greatest live records ever cut......can't think of a better one really.

    It IS the greatest live album ever cut.

    Bill Withers has such a nice warm sound, and such a simple style of writing and arranging songs, it just works. Just makes me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. HUGE fan. I would hope the Carnegie album will be higher in this list.

    One night I was sitting at home, watching tv and as I happenend upon the BBC "black music night" I saw a clip of this guy with a guitar and an orange jumper. He sang a song called use me.

    This was the song to get me interested in soul music and vinyl. Thanks Bill.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    crabmongerfunk said:
    pickwick33 said:
    All four of his Sussex albums (not counting the best-of) were genius. I'd probably rate his live album over the other three, but you really can't go wrong with any of them.

    +Justments i find is really underrated/underaapreciated.

    Been listening to this a lot lately. Right up there with Still Bill.
  • Big_StacksBig_Stacks "I don't worry about hittin' power, cause I don't give 'em nuttin' to hit." 4,670 Posts
    Hey,

    "Still Bill" is one of those LPs that should be on every (true) record collector's shelf. The album is just plain wizardry of writing, vocals, and clever arrangments. My joints are "Use Me", "Kissing My Love", and "Let Me in Your Life" (which I posted below). I'm glad to see this LP recognized, rightfully so, by the Soul Strut 100. It's a masterpiece of soul music.



    Peace,

    Big Stacks from Kakalak
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