Bill Withers - Just As I Am
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Bill Withers - Vocals, Guitar [click here to see other vinyl featuring Bill Withers]
Chris Ethridge (bass), Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass), Al Jackson (drums), Jim Keltner (drums), Stephen Stills (Guitar), Bobbie Hall Porter (Percussion), Booker T. Jones (Keyboards, Guitar)
Written by Bill Withers except A5 written by Fred Neil and B2 written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon
1 LP, standard sleeve
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Pallas
Label : Speakers Corner
Original Label : Sussex
Recording: 1971 at Sunset Sound Recorders by Bill Lazerus and at Wally Heider Recording Studio by Bill Halverson, both Hollywood, Ca.
Production: Booker T. Jones
Originally released in 1971
Reissued in Oct 2007
Tracks :
Side A :
- Harlem
- Ain't No Sunshine
- Grandma's Hands
- Sweet Wanomi
- Everybody's Talkin'
- Do It Good
Side B :
- Hope She'll Be Happier
- Let It Be
- I'm Her Daddy
- In My Heart
- Moanin' And Groanin'
- Better Off Dead
Awards:
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Ranked 304
Reviews :
« Though low-key by the standards of early-'70s soul, Withers' debut record is by most measures an astonishing maiden outing. Perhaps being at a relatively advanced age for a singer/songwriter doing his first album (Withers was in his early thirties by the time it was released) helped give the songs a maturity and weight lacking in most initial efforts. Withers immediately carved a distinct niche for himself within soul music by integrating folkier, more introspective elements than what was being heard almost anywhere else within the style. While gentle orchestration and jazz-funk rhythms could often be heard, he didn't forsake some down-home blues and gospel influences, which really came to the forefront on songs like "Grandma's Hands." The lilting, melancholy "Ain't No Sunshine" was the deserved smash hit from the record, but there were a bunch of fine effervescently grooving songs on the rest of the album that remain unjustly familiar to the general audience, like "Harlem," "Sweet Wanomi," "Moanin' and Groanin'," and "Better Off Dead." All the material was original save covers of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'" and the Beatles' "Let It Be," both of which Withers made over into his own memorable acoustic-based soul style. » AllMusic Review by Richie Unterberger
"Just As I Am" – anyone who sets off on a late career can already have earned himself quite a reputation, although in the case of Bill Withers it had had nothing to do with music at this stage. Withers served for many years with the US Navy, had a job as a milkman, and installed toilets in jets for American aeroplane construction companies; all the while he bombarded record companies with self-produced demo tapes which landed in the dustbin. In 1971 came his breakthrough when the successful producer Booker T. Jones hauled him on board and sent him into the recording studio with guitarist Stephen Stills, drummer Al Jackson and bass player Donald 'Duck' Dunn.
In his debut album Withers demonstrates his universal, mature competence as a singer, composer and performer, which was hardly surpassed in his later recordings. "Harlem", an unadorned milieu-funk number about the New York slums, "Grandma’s Hands", with its obligatory retrospect of his childhood, and the sentimental ballad "Ain’t No Sunshine" with its prayer-wheel-like »I know, I know ...«, repeated over and over again on the offbeat, are the musical credo of a experienced artist in his mid-thirties who at last is given a hearing. There’s simply no alternative to this recording by the great songwriter with the small repertoire.
Ratings :
Allmusic : 4.5 / 5 , Discogs : Rate Your Music :