Bill Withers: His Ultimate Collection [SONY UK]

Why you'll love it

This collection gathers his Sussex hits and his Columbia years on one LP. "Lean on Me" went to No. 1, "Ain't No Sunshine" won a Grammy, and both songs are in the Grammy Hall of Fame.

This edition

• 16-song collection
• Pressed in the EU

About the album

Bill Withers spent nine years in the Navy and several more building aircraft parts before anyone heard him sing, and when the hit came he was in no hurry to quit. In October 1971 two letters landed on the same day: one from Weber Aircraft offering his mechanic's job back, the other from The Tonight Show inviting him to sing "Ain't No Sunshine" on NBC.

Booker T. Jones produced that first album, Just as I Am, with Stephen Stills on lead guitar, and "Grandma's Hands" and "Harlem" come from the same sessions. "Use Me," "Kissing My Love" and "Lean on Me" followed on Still Bill, "Lovely Day" arrived on 1977's Menagerie for Columbia, and "Just the Two of Us," with saxophonist Grover Washington Jr., became one of the great slow-jam duets. "Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)" and "Hello Like Before" round out a set with barely a wasted groove.

He joined the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, and his plain, warm voice still fills a room like nobody else's. We keep a copy by the counter for days when our own day jobs need a lift.

Also at Kops: more Bill Withers on vinyl · browse Classic Soul

Listen

On Columbia, a reissue of the 2021 compilation.