Album 7, Bill Withers: Still Bill
So this one is embarrassing.
A few weeks ago on Twitter, Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) posted about perfect albums by decade. It caught my eye as his 1980s pick was Avalon. I agree that Roxy Music's Avalon is a perfect album. Note for note, it is sublime. His 90's choice was by A Tribe Called Quest which I couldn't fault. 2000s was a Beck album. I have mixed feelings about Beck. He is certainly talented but just seems to me a bit too cheekily derivative of other styles. I'm probably wrong about this. Anyway, the point of this whole story was to get to the 70s and his pick which was "Still Bill". This was not an album I was aware of. And I said so on the twitters, as one does. And then I pulled it up in the music store and realized what a complete idiot I was.
Not the first time.
Bill Whithers
Still Bill
1972
So, um, yes this is an amazing album. And it contains one of the most iconic songs of all time, Lean On Me. And I had no idea this was a song by Bill Withers. It is also a song fairly unrepresentative of the rest of this excellent album. More on Lean on Me in a minute. But let's start at the beginning of Still Bill.
From the opening funk guitar riff of Lonely Town, Lonely Street, you know you are in for a treat. The hook is right up front, bold, and infectious. You can't help but start bobbing along immediately. Bill's slight rasp only makes his voice that much more melodious and compelling. This is a man with a story to tell and a song to sing. You will definitely want to Let Him in Your Life. (One does love the way he slows it down on track two.)
There is so much great 70s funk and soul on this album that it is criminal to single out individual tracks. They are all good. This is 37 minutes of, yes, perfection. Use Me, Take It All In and Check It All Out, Kissing My Love (I mean, DAMN!). Experience it as Bill laid it down. The album is a cohesive piece, tracks arranged intentionally and methodically, of the type only the 70s gave birth to.
I will conclude with a personal anecdote about Lean on Me. In college, I had to take some form of art for that Bachelor of Arts degree I was pursuing. I choose Music Theory as I love to sing but am woefully bad at reading music or understanding the theory behind it. I remember almost nothing from the class (I was a Business Major, after all) but I do remember one day the young professor discussing chord progressions and how they should be optimally arranged. Fifths and thirds, my foggy memories seem to recall were most tonally pleasing. But, according to my prof, the worst thing you could do, was step your chords, one step at a time. As a demonstration of this travesty of musical composition, he played a sample on his piano: the opening chords to Lean On Me. I hope Bill made a ton of money for this musical "travesty". Other than this one professor, I have never met anyone that didn't like it. May we all break the rules and find success or at least joy.
So, um, yes this is an amazing album. And it contains one of the most iconic songs of all time, Lean On Me. And I had no idea this was a song by Bill Withers. It is also a song fairly unrepresentative of the rest of this excellent album. More on Lean on Me in a minute. But let's start at the beginning of Still Bill.
From the opening funk guitar riff of Lonely Town, Lonely Street, you know you are in for a treat. The hook is right up front, bold, and infectious. You can't help but start bobbing along immediately. Bill's slight rasp only makes his voice that much more melodious and compelling. This is a man with a story to tell and a song to sing. You will definitely want to Let Him in Your Life. (One does love the way he slows it down on track two.)
There is so much great 70s funk and soul on this album that it is criminal to single out individual tracks. They are all good. This is 37 minutes of, yes, perfection. Use Me, Take It All In and Check It All Out, Kissing My Love (I mean, DAMN!). Experience it as Bill laid it down. The album is a cohesive piece, tracks arranged intentionally and methodically, of the type only the 70s gave birth to.
I will conclude with a personal anecdote about Lean on Me. In college, I had to take some form of art for that Bachelor of Arts degree I was pursuing. I choose Music Theory as I love to sing but am woefully bad at reading music or understanding the theory behind it. I remember almost nothing from the class (I was a Business Major, after all) but I do remember one day the young professor discussing chord progressions and how they should be optimally arranged. Fifths and thirds, my foggy memories seem to recall were most tonally pleasing. But, according to my prof, the worst thing you could do, was step your chords, one step at a time. As a demonstration of this travesty of musical composition, he played a sample on his piano: the opening chords to Lean On Me. I hope Bill made a ton of money for this musical "travesty". Other than this one professor, I have never met anyone that didn't like it. May we all break the rules and find success or at least joy.
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