Still Bill boasts the classic Bill Withers sound: warm and easily accessible, with a depth and complexity that reveals itself over numerous plays. This high level of songwriting is sustained throughout the record, making this probably his best record ever.
A1: Lonely Town, Lonely Street
A2: Let Me In Your Life
A3: Who Is He (And What Is He To You)?
A4: Use Me
A5: Lean On Me
B1: Kissing My Love
B2: I Don't Know
B3: Another Day To Run
B4: I Don't Want You On My Mind
B5: Take It All In And Check It All Out
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing of this 1972 album from the Soul singer/songwriter. Features the worldwide hit 'Lean on Me'. Music on Vinyl.
Bill Withers' first two albums, Just As I Am and Still Bill, make a potent one-two punch. Both are loaded with some of the most ubiquitous standards of '70s pop, let alone R&B. On his debut, Withers was backed by an all-star cast of players, but Still Bill features his hard-grooving road band, one of the funkiest ensembles of the era, and they infuse the album with feeling. For instance, the supple syncopation of James Gadson's drums and the serpentine slink of Raymond Jackson's clavinet on "Use Me" help make it simultaneously sensual and super-funky. And the understated insinuation of the groove on "Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?" perfectly underscores the narrator's slowly growing paranoia.
But funky propulsion is far from the whole story here. The enduring, much-covered "Lean on Me" moves like a hymn before bursting into a clap-along gospel chorus that punctuates its openhearted message of compassion. And within a framework of gently jazzy guitar and billowing strings, Withers works the tender side of his sound on "Let Me in Your Life," directed at a wounded heart wary of opening up again. Withers would keep making killer records throughout the '70s, but Still Bill (and its predecessor) set a standard soul singers would follow for generations to come, with Withers’ warm, oaky voice and deep-but-unpretentious examinations of heart and soul pushed along by a sensitive but slamming band.
Arranged By [Strings & Horns] – Ray Jackson
Art Direction – Maurer Productions, Michael Mendel
Artwork [Packaging] – Milton Sincoff
Bass – Melvin Dunlap
Co-producer – Benorce Blackman, James Gadson, Melvin Dunlap, Ray Jackson
Drums, Percussion – James Gadson
Engineer – Bob Hughes, Phil Sheer
Engineer [Re-Mix Engineer] – Phil Shier
Guitar – Benorce Blackman
Photography By – Hal Wilson
Piano, Clarinet, Electric Piano – Ray Jackson
Producer – Bill Withers
Label: Music On Vinyl – MOVLP379
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Remastered, Reissue, 180 gram, Gatefold
Country: Europe
Released: 2012
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Soul, Funk
| Model Number | K88673 |
|---|---|
| RRP | 59.00 |
