Bill Withers: Menagerie [MUSIC ON VINYL]

Why you'll love it

This Music On Vinyl reissue is pressed on 180g vinyl in the EU. Menagerie went gold, reached No. 16 on the R&B chart and became Withers' biggest-selling album in the UK.

This edition

• 180g vinyl
• Pressed in the EU

About the album

Menagerie is Bill Withers in a good mood. After a run of searching, deeply personal records, his sixth album lightens up, with breezy arrangements, Latin touches and a friendly nod toward the dance floor. He made it for Columbia with a crack Los Angeles crew: Ray Parker Jr. on guitar, Keni Burke and Jerry Knight on bass, Russ Kunkel and Alvin Taylor on drums, Ralph MacDonald on percussion and Clarence McDonald writing the strings and horns.

"Lovely Day" opens the album and sets the tone, all warm strings and that easy, rolling groove. "I Want to Spend the Night" and "Tender Things" sway with a Latin feel, "She Wants To (Get On Down)" goes properly disco, and "Then You Smile at Me" and "Wintertime" show his gift for small, tender details. "Let Me Be the One You Need" closes things with a gentle, soulful promise.

"Lovely Day" made the UK top 10 twice, the second time as a 1988 remix, and it still brightens any room it's played in. Withers holds one note in it for about 18 seconds, which is longer than most of us can manage before coffee.

Also at Kops: more Bill Withers on vinyl · browse 70s Soul On Up

Tracklist

Listen

On Columbia / Music On Vinyl (cat# MOVLP434), a reissue of the 1977 album.