And this lady said, you ain't no Bill Withers. So I was going to have some fun with them and I said, I'm Bill Withers. WITHERS: And these ladies looked like they had just come from church or something, and they were talking about this Bill Withers song. He literally became unrecognizable in public as he told Morning Edition's David Greene about an encounter at a Los Angeles restaurant. Four years later, his recording deal with Columbia ended, and Withers walked away from stardom. He appeared on "Just The Two Of Us" with saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. TSIOULCAS: In 1981, Withers had his last big hit. WITHERS: (Singing) Just the two of us building them castles in the sky, just the two of us, you and I. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "JUST THE TWO OF US") Not one of his five Columbia albums reached the top 40. Withers chafed at Columbia's suggestions, like recording covers of Elvis Presley songs. It went bankrupt, and he signed with the powerhouse Columbia Records in 1975. TSIOULCAS: His first few albums were released on a small label called Sussex. WITHERS: (Singing) I want to spread the news that if it feels this good getting used, won't you just keep on using me until you use me up? His next album, "Still Bill," featured two more hits, "Lean On Me" and "Use Me." TSIOULCAS: That first indelible hit was from his debut album, which was called "Just As I Am." The album cover showed a photo of him in front of the factory where he still worked, holding his lunch pail. Ain't no sunshine when she's gone and she's always gone too long anytime she goes away. WITHERS: (Singing) Ain't no sunshine when she's gone. He put out his first record when he was 32 years old.
But between shifts at the factory, he picked up the guitar and started writing songs. TSIOULCAS: He was already singing at small clubs around Los Angeles at night. You figure I was in my 30s when I started doing this. It wasn't the only way I knew how to live. WITHERS: I wasn't socialized as a musician. He didn't become a star until he was in his 30s, and he walked away from fame just 14 years later as he told NPR's Morning Edition in 2015. He joined the Navy right out of high school to get away and eventually wound up in Los Angeles working in a factory. He was the first man in his family not to go into the mines. TSIOULCAS: Withers was born in a coal mining town in West Virginia on the Fourth of July in 1938.
But if we are wise, we know that there's always tomorrow. NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas has an appreciation.ĪNASTASIA TSIOULCAS, BYLINE: Bill Withers wrote and sang a string of emotionally plainspoken songs that became iconic.īILL WITHERS: (Singing) Sometimes in our lives, we all have pain. According to a family statement given to the Associated Press, he died Monday in Los Angeles due to what the family called heart complications. Bill Withers, the sweet-voiced baritone behind such classic songs as "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Lean On Me," has died.
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