Tag: Bill Withers

Feature LP

Thursday 4/21/22 9pm ET: Feature LP: Grover Washington Jr. – Winelight (1980)

Winelight is a 1980 studio album by jazz musician Grover Washington Jr. Released October 24, 1980. The record received the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance in 1982. The album was released by Elektra Records. It includes the Grammy Award-winning hit “Just the Two of Us” sung by Bill Withers. The track “In the Name of Love” from the album was also released in rearranged form, without Washington’s saxophone track, under the name of Ralph MacDonald and Bill Withers (on vocals).

“Winelight” 7:32
“Let It Flow (For “Dr. J”)” 5:52
“In the Name of Love” 5:26
“Take Me There” 6:16
“Just the Two of Us” 7:23
“Make Me a Memory 6:32

Grover Washington Jr. – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
Richard Tee – Fender Rhodes (1, 3, 5, 6)
Ray Chew – clavinet (1)
Paul Griffin – clavinet (1), Fender Rhodes (2, 4)
Ed Walsh – Oberheim 8-Voice (1-4, 6)
Bill Eaton – Oberheim 8-Voice (5), arrangements and conductor
Eric Gale – guitars
Marcus Miller – bass
Steve Gadd – drums
Ralph MacDonald – congas, percussion, Syndrums
Robert Greenidge – steel drums
Hilda Harris, Yvonne Lewis, Ullanda McCullough – backing vocals
Bill Withers – lead vocals (5)

Feature LP

Thursday 4/21/22 8pm ET: Feature LP: Bill Withers – Menagerie (1977)

Menagerie is the sixth studio album by American R&B singer Bill Withers, released in December 1977 on the Columbia label.

  1. “Lovely Day” 4:15
  2. “I Want to Spend the Night” 3:41
  3. “Lovely Night for Dancing” 5:51
  4. “Then You Smile at Me” 4:54
  5. “She Wants To (Get On Down)” 3:15
  6. “It Ain’t Because of Me Baby” 3:31
  7. “Tender Things” 5:02
  8. “Wintertime” 3:17
  9. “Let Me Be the One You Need” 4:44

Bill Withers – lead vocals (1-9), backing vocals (1-4, 6-9), guitar (2), keyboards (3)
Ray Parker Jr. – guitar (1, 4-7)
Clarence McDonald – keyboards (1, 4, 6, 7, 9), string arrangements (1, 6, 8), horn arrangements (6, 8), arrangements (7)
Dean Gant – keyboards (2)
Clifford Coulter – keyboards (5, 8), synthesizer solo (8)
Mike Jones – synthesizers (6)
Jerry Knight – bass (1, 4, 6)
Keni Burke – bass (2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9)
Russ Kunkel – drums (1, 2, 7, 8, 9), shaker (1)
Alvin Taylor – drums (3-6)
Ralph MacDonald – percussion (1-4, 6-9)
Paul Riser – horn arrangements (2-4, 9) string arrangements (2-5, 9)
Charles Veal – concertmaster (1-4, 6-9)
Pat Hodges – backing vocals (5)
Denita James – backing vocals (5)
Jessica Smith – backing vocals (5)

In Memoriam

In Memoriam: Bill Withers (1938 – 2020)

William Harrison Withers Jr. (born July 4, 1938, died March 30, 2020) was an American former singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. He recorded several major hits, including “Lean on Me”, “Ain’t No Sunshine”, “Use Me”, “Just the Two of Us”, “Lovely Day”, and “Grandma’s Hands”. Withers won three Grammy Awards and was nominated for four more. His life was the subject of the 2009 documentary film Still Bill. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.

Withers, the youngest of six children, was born in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia. He was born with a stutter and has said he had a hard time fitting in. Raised in nearby Beckley, he was 13 years old when his father died. Withers enlisted with the United States Navy at the age of 18 and served for nine years, during which time he overcame his stutter and became interested in singing and writing songs.

He left the Navy in 1965. Using the $250 he received from selling his furniture to IBM co-worker Ron Sierra, he relocated to Los Angeles in 1967 to start a musical career. Withers worked as an assembler for several different companies, including Douglas Aircraft Corporation, while recording demo tapes with his own money, shopping them around and performing in clubs at night. When he debuted with the song “Ain’t No Sunshine”, he refused to resign from his job because he believed the music business was a fickle industry.

Withers married actress Denise Nicholas in 1973, during her stint on the sitcom Room 222. The couple divorced in 1974. In 1976, Withers married Marcia Johnson, and they had two children, Todd and Kori. Marcia eventually assumed the direct management of his Beverly Hills–based publishing companies, in which his children also became involved as they became adults.

Withers died from heart complications on March 30, 2020 his family said in a statement to The Associated Press. He was 81.

We will feature the music of Bill Withers today at 12pm ET

Sounds of The 70s

Wednesday 6pm ET: Sounds of The 70s

This week on the sounds of the seventies we feature music from:  Gordon Lightfoot, Abba, Jackson Browne, Elton John, Tin Tin, Bay City Rollers, Stampeders, Bill Withers, George Harrison, Doobie Brothers and more . . .

Sounds of The 70s

Wednesday 4pm: Sounds of The 70s

This week on the Sounds of The 70s we feature:  James Taylor, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Grass Roots, Elton John, Bill Withers, Steely Dan, Cliff Richard, Narvel Felts, Gary Glitter, David Bowie, Sylvia, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and more . . .