Lean on Me: The Best of Bill Withers

Lean on Me: The Best of Bill Withers Artist: Bill Withers
Label: Sony
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Media: Audio Cassette


UPC: 074645292441
EAN: 0074645292441
ASIN: B0000062CW


Release Date: 1998-04-14

Lean on Me: The Best of Bill Withers


Related Categories:

General General
Categories | R&B | Styles | Music
General General
Categories | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music

Tracks:

  1. Lovely Day
  2. I Want to Spend the Night
  3. Let Me Be the One You Need
  4. Hello Like Before
  5. Tender Things
  6. I Wish You Well
  7. Ain't No Sunshine
  8. Grandma's Hands
  9. Same Love That Made Me Laugh
  10. Lean on Me
  11. Harlem
  12. Use Me
  13. Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?
  14. You Just Can't Smile It Away
  15. Just the Two of Us - Grover Washington, Jr., Bill Withers
  16. Steppin' Right Along
  17. You Try to Find a Love
  18. My Imagination

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Composer of two bona fide classics ("Ain't No Sunshine" and "Lean on Me") as well as tunes covered by everyone from Joe Cocker to Kiss, Withers sings with smooth, subtle phrasing that moves along over sinuous, sexy grooves. At times it all sounds so effortless that it's often easy to overlook how substantial his work really is. Never flashy, Withers's best songs burn with a kind of heat that lingers long after the last note has been played. This 18-song collection brings together a healthy collection of songs from this soulful singer-songwriter's remarkable early-'70s Sussex albums, including such hits and near hits as "Grandma's Hands," "Who Is He? (And What Is He to You?)," and the seriously funky "Use Me," as well as some gems from the later '70s (including "Lovely Day"). If you're weighing Lean on Me against the 10-song Greatest Hits, opt for this, the more generous option. --Percy Keegan

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Decent pick.......2007-03-15

I got the CD for one song, but there are several nice songs on the CD.

5 out of 5 stars Good product...timely delivery.......2007-01-10

This item is available at few places. Needed to gift someone! Our friend loved it!

5 out of 5 stars Review of Lean on Me-Best of Bill Withers.......2007-01-04

Wanted the classic track "Ain't no sunshine" and hoped naively for more of the same on this album but got only dated soul as honestly expected. 5 Stars are deserved just for that one track.

5 out of 5 stars This is real music... .......2006-11-08

All I have to say is Let Me Be The One You Need is one of the most beautiful songs that ive ever heard...

5 out of 5 stars The Gentle Minstrel.......2006-05-04

The one word that best describes Bill Withers, besides talented, is gentle. Everything about his style is warm, unassuming, and tender. In fact, he's such a skilled craftsman that it's easy to forget that he's done something almost unheard of in show business. Withers wrote and performed a string of huge hits, stayed true to himself throughout, and left show business with a boatload of money. Today his songs are frequently covered by other artists and show up with clockwork regularity in TV commercials. There's a word for that, guaranteed to put a smile on the face of any creative artist, that word is "royalties." When Bill Withers released his second album he called it "Still Bill" because he wanted his fellow construction workers to know he hadn't changed, in fact, on the cover he wore a hard hat.

The breakout success of "Menagerie" introduced the entire country to his amazing gifts as a songwriter, penning tunes that were always deceptively simple and featured amazing hooks, they stayed in your head and were easy to like. The Two Of Us, which he recorded with Grover Washington, Jr., became a music industry legend, remaining on the charts not for months but years. Withers is not a great singer, but his voice is soft and pleasant, matching his style perfectly. His lyrics are always excellent, and there's a wry subtlety that seems to suggest a sly wink. Songs like Use Me offer blatant humor, Who Is He? offers a more sinister view of irony. Tender Things is one of the most perfectly beautiful songs every written by anybody, Lovely Day is joyous, Ain't No Sunshine is universally resonant, and Lean On Me is an anthem that never fails. Perhaps easiest to overlook is Grandma's Hands, a rich and powerful tribute one can imagine being performed by the Isley Brothers or The Spinners.

Nobody does sincere emotion like Withers, and yet, from him it doesn't cause a blush, it makes you melt. Listening to Bill Withers soothes your soul and it makes you smile, where else can you get that for $8? There are several Best Of Bill Withers anthology CDs available; this is the one you deserve.

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