BILL WITHERS PROFESSIONAL

6 R&B and rejuvenated Withers’ pop career, reaching No. In the days before auto-tune, that was some very impressive stuff, and is still believed to be the longest held note on a top-40 single ever. The music never builds to a crescendo, but it’s Bill who takes it over the top with an octave-changing refrain of the title line and a record-setting sustained note of 18 seconds as he sings “Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay” towards the end. The song is personified by its simplicity and beauty, understated both in its instrumentation and its vocals - at least until Withers unleashes during the third and final chorus. His first two albums there promptly flopped, but his third - ‘Menagerie’ - yielded what became an unlikely signature tune, “Lovely Day.” 2 on the chart - right above Withers’ single.īy 1977, Withers’ career had hit a roadblock.Īfter the success of his first albums with Sussex Records in the early ‘70s, the label folded and Withers signed with the more stable Columbia Records. 1 was another tune about the NYC neighborhood: “Spanish Harlem” by the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, which was perched at No. Ironically, one of the songs that kept “Sunshine” from No. “Harlem” is the track that opened the album, and Sussex Records - the label to which Withers was signed - released it as the first single, but its B-side got more attention from radio programmers and it was that song, “Ain’t No Sunshine,” which became the hit, peaking at No. By the time Withers settles into the final key, the tune is a full-blown jubilee befitting the area whose name it bears. Musically, the song is characterized by its modulation through five key changes in just over two minutes, using a technique employed in other pop songs like The Supremes’ “I Hear A Symphony” six years earlier. So take a scroll through all ten (each linked to a video/audio YouTube clip) and enjoy!įrom Withers’ first album, ‘Just As I Am,’ came this strummy ode to the historic New York neighborhood that was a far cry from the small West Virginia town where Bill grew up. There will never be another like Bill Withers, and more than anything, these ten songs explain why.

In tribute to the late legend, DJROBBLOG has put together what it considers Withers’ ten most compelling songs, along with the stories of what made them so.

In all, Withers charted 24 songs on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart, with thirteen of those also reaching the pop chart - the Billboard Hot 100.

BILL WITHERS PROFESSIONAL

Navy before he pursued a professional career in recording, didn’t get his first chart hit until his 33rd birthday on July 4, 1971. As a late bloomer in the music biz, Withers, who’d already spent nine years in the U.S. In his lifetime, the laid back, smooth-voiced tenor had several huge hits and won three Grammys - all for Best R&B Song - in the 1970s and ‘80s. on July 4, 1938, died on Monday, March 30, in Los Angeles, CA. Bill Withers, born William Harrison Withers, Jr.

Bill withers