https://www.yahoo.com/news/lean-lovely-day-singer-bill-140145453.html Bill Withers singer and writer of Ain't no Sunshine and Lean on me has passed away at 81 due to heart complications. RIP.
Loved Bill Withers. Use Me was one of those really cool songs that had an edge. As an aside, I remember hearing George Benson's version of This Masquerade for the first time. I was immediately hooked on jazz/soul. Then, Winelight by Grover Washington Jr. hit the airwaves. Ohhh, man. To this day, I wish I knew how to play the saxophone, mainly because of that song. I'll have to be content with playing the piano, I suppose. Tooling around on the guitar some.
Ain't No Sunshine is one of the few songs I can actually play and sing with in full. He is probably one of the most sampled artists over the years too. Lived a long life. Rest in Peace.
His songs were starkly different. Unlike most songs around 1970, the music didn't hide his loud voice. You'd listen to Top 40 radio...love songs, protest songs. Then suddenly, "Use Me," a conservative song. Then you'd hear hours of fast songs, then be surprised by his super-repetitive shit "Ain't No Sunshine" or the religious "Lean On Me." Every time his song would start, everyone would change the channel. I still do. He should have done a Chubby Checker takeoff by titling a song, "Twist That Dial." Saturday Night Live later parodied his boring repeating phrase "I know" in "Ain't No Sunshine."
