Deep Album Cuts Vol. 295: Bill Withers
When the news broke two years ago that Bill Withers had passed away, Stereogum asked me to put together a piece with 10 of his less famous songs, from album tracks to underperforming singles. But I still eventually wanted to dig into his catalog with a deep cuts playlist, so here's a few of the songs from the Stereogum piece plus many others.
Bill Withers deep album cuts (Spotify playlist):
1. Hope She'll Be Happier
Bill Withers deep album cuts (Spotify playlist):
1. Hope She'll Be Happier
2. Harlem
3. Better Off Dead
4. Let Me In Your Life
5. Who Is He (And What Is He To You)?
6. Lonely Town, Lonely Street
7. I Can't Write Left-Handed (live)
8. Ruby Lee
9. Can We Pretend
10. Make A Smile For Me
11. Family Table
12. Don't You Want To Stay?
13. Naked & Warm
14. Where Are You?
15. I Want To Spend The Night
16. Then You Smile At Me
17. Love
18. Dedicated To You My Love
19. We Could Be Sweet Lovers
20. You Can't Just Smile It Away
Tracks 1, 2 and 3 from Just As I Am (1971)
Tracks 4, 5 and 6 from Still Bill (1972)
As I mentioned in the Stereogum piece, "We Could Be Sweet Lovers" was made into a major hit in New Zealand by The Holidaymakers. "Who Is He (And What Is He To You)?" was featured in Jackie Brown, sampled on Cam'ron's "Horse And Carriage," and covered by Gladys Knight, Creative Source, and Meshell Ndegeocello. "Lonely Town, Lonely Street" was sampled on the Geto Boys' "It Ain't." "Don't You Want To Stay?" has been sampled on Kendrick Lamar's "I Do This," Joe Budden's "The Future," and others. "Love" was sampled on 9th Wonder's "Keep It Thoro." "Let Me In Your Life" was sampled on Brother Ali's "Good Lord." "Hope She'll Be Happier" was sampled on James Blake's "Radio Silence." "Can We Pretend," which features a great guitar performance from Jose Feliciano, was sampled on Scarface's "Intro (The World Is Yours)." Joe Cocker covered "Ruby Lee." I would love to include "Rosie," the song sampled on Kanye West's "Roses," but it's a Menagerie outtake only available on a reissue of the album that isn't on streaming services.
Track 7 from Live At Carnegie Hall (1973)
Tracks 8, 9 and 10 from +'Justments (1974)
Tracks 11 and 12 from Making Music (1975)
Tracks 13 and 14 from Naked & Warm (1976)
Tracks 15 and 16 from Menagerie (1977)
Tracks 17 and 18 from 'Bout Love (1978)
Tracks 19 and 20 from Watching You, Watching Me (1985)
Obviously, the first two Bill Withers albums have the highest concentration of his most famous songs, but I think the whole catalog has gems, only the one album released in the '80s sounds a bit dated. He had only released those first two big albums when he recorded a double live album, but Live At Carnegie Hall featured 5 new Withers originals that were never featured on any subsequent albums. The Vietnam protest song "I Can't Write Left-Handed," which was never released as a single, is one of his most streamed songs today, and my John Legend deep cuts playlist included his cover with The Roots.. So that and the Hot 100 hit "Friend Of Mine" and are probably among the more famous songs that were only recorded by the original artist as a live track. My bandmate Tim is a big fan of +'Justments, that's a really good album, I definitely put it up there with his more famous first two albums.
As I mentioned in the Stereogum piece, "We Could Be Sweet Lovers" was made into a major hit in New Zealand by The Holidaymakers. "Who Is He (And What Is He To You)?" was featured in Jackie Brown, sampled on Cam'ron's "Horse And Carriage," and covered by Gladys Knight, Creative Source, and Meshell Ndegeocello. "Lonely Town, Lonely Street" was sampled on the Geto Boys' "It Ain't." "Don't You Want To Stay?" has been sampled on Kendrick Lamar's "I Do This," Joe Budden's "The Future," and others. "Love" was sampled on 9th Wonder's "Keep It Thoro." "Let Me In Your Life" was sampled on Brother Ali's "Good Lord." "Hope She'll Be Happier" was sampled on James Blake's "Radio Silence." "Can We Pretend," which features a great guitar performance from Jose Feliciano, was sampled on Scarface's "Intro (The World Is Yours)." Joe Cocker covered "Ruby Lee." I would love to include "Rosie," the song sampled on Kanye West's "Roses," but it's a Menagerie outtake only available on a reissue of the album that isn't on streaming services.
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