School me on Bill Withers

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  • Maybe Bill Withers is an american thing.

  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts


    Al Jarreau's Bill Withers album is garbage BTW.


    Disagree. His version of 'Use Me' is great.

  • Really? When I got it I was so excited to finally cop it (German thrift store find) and I was like "Dude, this is exactly like Bill Withers".

    I think I traded it to Johnny actually.

    Was it really that different or better?

  • I have to admit, Al Jarreau's version of Use Me is very good slightly better than Bill's version.

  • CraigCraig 269 Posts
    I'm a big fan of Bill Withers, and I think the previous posts cover most of what I would recommend.



    I can't believe no ones recommended "Making Music" yet which has on it possible my favourite track by him "don't you want to stay".


  • i really like the track kissing my love- that opening break is

  • i really like the track kissing my love- that opening break is

    Agreed!!

  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    Close to Me is my ish...

  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    Probably the strangest Bill Withers cover ever....

    Loco Gringos from the LP "Free Your Mind....And Your Ass Will Follow"

    "Ain't No Corn Dogs"

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Really? When I got it I was so excited to finally cop it (German thrift store find) and I was like "Dude, this is exactly like Bill Withers".

    I think I traded it to Johnny actually.

    Was it really that different or better?

    Is there an original for this?

    Every copy I have had has been on a different suspect budget lp.

    Think I actually had it on a picture disc once.

    I clearly remember it had a break, so...

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    I can't believe no ones recommended "Making Music"

    Those albums he did for Columbia are a little too middle-of-the-road for me.

  • The Weathermen's (????!?!??!!) version of "Ain't No Sunshine" is good and Betty Wright's version is great as well.

    I'm sure there's some killer reggae versions of this as well

    edit

    Ken Boothe and Horace Andy have versions of this. I like Boothe's versions a lot more.

  • sticky_dojahsticky_dojah New York City. 2,136 Posts
    Really? When I got it I was so excited to finally cop it (German thrift store find) and I was like "Dude, this is exactly like Bill Withers".

    I think I traded it to Johnny actually.

    Was it really that different or better?

    Is there an original for this?

    Every copy I have had has been on a different suspect budget lp.

    Think I actually had it on a picture disc once.

    I clearly remember it had a break, so...

    Yeah, I think the Og is a German pressing, but I am not sure. Saw this also on at least two different labels. I like the album. Thanks for the upping the track of Withers' last album on Sussex, that one is indeed fire. Need to cop the album asap.

  • dayday 9,611 Posts
    Really? When I got it I was so excited to finally cop it (German thrift store find) and I was like "Dude, this is exactly like Bill Withers".

    I think I traded it to Johnny actually.

    Was it really that different or better?

    Is there an original for this?

    Every copy I have had has been on a different suspect budget lp.

    Think I actually had it on a picture disc once.

    I clearly remember it had a break, so...

    Yeah, I think the Og is a German pressing, but I am not sure.

    Hmm...really? Both copies I've found were on Koala with zero words making me ever suspect it was related to Germany. I need to go pull it out (pause for King Most's salivary glands).

  • hendravishendravis 689 Posts
    I have to admit, Moody has aversion of Use Me that is very good


  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    Hmm...really? Both copies I've found were on Koala with zero words making me ever suspect it was related to Germany. I need to go pull it out (pause for King Most's salivary glands).

    I've never seen that issue before but always assumed it was the original - that label was only around in the mid-70s, I think.

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    Hmm...really? Both copies I've found were on Koala with zero words making me ever suspect it was related to Germany. I need to go pull it out (pause for King Most's salivary glands).

    I've never seen that issue before but always assumed it was the original - that label was only around in the mid-70s, I think.

    ...by which time Jarreau was already becoming famous on Warners. Koala was a classic example of a cheezeball budget label, with some of their covers bearing the legend (paraphrased): "The illustration on this cover is a commercial concept and is not supposed to represent the artist as he or she currently appears..."

    So if those Jarreau sides didn't originate with Koala, that would make sense.

  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    Well I didn't say the stuff came out when it was recorded... I just think that was probably the first issue. Not only do I not think it came out immediately after it was recorded, I don't even understand why he recorded a full LP of Withers tunes before he had any notoriety of his own.

    I don't think I've ever even seen a Koala record IRL, so those other details would've been lost on me. I've had two different LPs of these recordings, and they're both super-shittily packaged w/photos of him after he became famous on obviously cheapo/crap labels that probably came out in the 80s. So it probably looks more 'authentic' than any other copy I've seen regardless.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Al Jarreau - Aint No Sunshine - Astan - Germany 1984
    Al Jarreau - Singer - Masters - Holland (late 70s or early 80s)
    Al Jarreau - La Grande Storia Del Rock - GSR - Italy (late 70s or early 80s)
    I've had these^
    All cheesy import budget labels.

    So I will change my question from; is there an original? To; what is the story behind this recording?

    It appears to be something that he did before signing to WB about 1976. A full "concept" record, so it would appear that it was meant for commercial release. Yet, a record that does speak to his range as a singer.

    I have also had a live 1965 Al Jarreau record on Bainbridge.

  • MurdockMurdock 542 Posts
    Really? When I got it I was so excited to finally cop it (German thrift store find) and I was like "Dude, this is exactly like Bill Withers".

    I think I traded it to Johnny actually.

    Was it really that different or better?

    Is there an original for this?

    Every copy I have had has been on a different suspect budget lp.

    Think I actually had it on a picture disc once.

    I clearly remember it had a break, so...

    Yeah, I think the Og is a German pressing, but I am not sure.

    Hmm...really? Both copies I've found were on Koala with zero words making me ever suspect it was related to Germany. I need to go pull it out (pause for King Most's salivary glands).
    My copy is on Allegiance from 84'. But, it is far from the original. I've held on to & played this record for years. Corny Classic for sure.


  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts

    Seen that one too.
    Budget label from 1979.

    I did a quick google search to try to find the story behind this recording.
    Too many cd reissues of this material clogging the google so I went to the wiki.

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

    Both Wiki and Allmusic list 1965 on Bainbridge as a legit release.
    It is not.
    It is a live recording released around the same time as all the Withers records.

    Here are a few paragraphs of interest from wiki:
    He went on to earn a master's degree in Vocational Rehabilitation from the University of Iowa and worked as a rehabilitation counselor in San Francisco while also performing evenings with a jazz trio headed by George Duke.

    In 1967, he joined forces with acoustic guitarist Julio Martinez. The duo became the star attraction at a small Sausalito night club called Gatsby's. This success contributed to Jarreau's decision to make professional singing his life and fulltime career.

    In 1968, Jarreau made jazz his primary occupation. In 1969, Jarreau and Martinez headed south, where Jarreau appeared in such Los Angeles hot spots as Dino's, the Troubadour and Bitter End West. Television exposure came from Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin and David Frost, while he expanded his nightclub appearances to include performing at The Improv between the acts of such rising-star comics as Bette Midler, Jimmie Walker, and John Belushi, among others. During this period, he underwent an emotional trauma which prompted him to rethink matters of life and death. He became involved with the United Church of Religious Science and the Church of Scientology. Also, roughly at the same time, he began writing his own lyrics, finding that his spiritual tendencies began to impact and even shape his work.[1]

    In 1975, Jarreau was working with pianist Tom Canning when he was spotted by Warner Bros. Records and soon thereafter released his critically acclaimed debut album, We Got By, which catapulted him to international fame and garnered him a German Grammy Award. A second German Grammy would follow with the release of his second album, Glow.

  • MurdockMurdock 542 Posts
    I just listened to it again. I loved the U>2 min/U> version of Grandma's Hands.

  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    "better off dead" is heavy yo

  • Options
    I have to admit, Liza Minelli[/b] has a version of Use Me that is very good


  • I have to admit, Liza Minelli[/b] has a version of Use Me that is very good






    Who knew Lucille Austero could get it in like that




    And yes I just co-signed Liza and Asher Roth in the same day. GOML!

  • And yo, if you say you collect records but not even up on ESSENTIAL artists like Bill Withers.......*SMH*
    Some people have to start somewhere, right? Not everyone is scouring ebay looking for raers all day. I love browsing around the strut, but damn.

  • SoulificSoulific 103 Posts
    I have the 'You Got the Stuff' 12 with the long breakdown

    everything else is unnnecccescsarry

    I agree, the long breakdown is ill. Actually it's the only bit of Withers I played within the last few years.


  • BeatnicholasBeatnicholas 1,005 Posts
    really love "can we pretend" off +justments LP. deep tune.

  • kicks79kicks79 1,338 Posts
    Damn you got the stuff is ill. I've always wondered where that break down came from. Pricey record though judging from discogs.
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