BILL WITHERS: STILL BILL (1972)
1) Lonely Town, Lonely Street;
2) Let Me In Your Life; 3) Who Is He (And What Is He To You)?; 4) Use Me; 5)
Lean On Me; 6) Kissin' My Love; 7) I Don't Know; 8) Another Day To Run; 9) I
Don't Want You On My Mind; 10) Take It All In And Check It All Out.
More than anything, Bill's second album clearly
demonstrated that the man's success was not a fluke one — and I certainly do
not intend to prove that by adducing the example of ʽLean On Meʼ, which went on
to become Bill's greatest commercial hit and probably the song that is most commonly associated with the man due to
ferocious radio rotation, innumerable cover versions, and other what-not. The
funniest thing about it is that ʽLean On Meʼ, honestly good soul number as it
is, is completely atypical of the
album and of Bill's classic artistic personality as a whole. It is a well
thought out, understandably manipulative musical remedy, uplifting and not
uninteresting from a compositional point of view (especially in how it sews
together its personal-sentimental and clap-your-hands-together-anthemic
sections) — but there are no other songs like this on the album, and if there
were, well, frankly speaking, they would completely eliminate the very reason
for Bill Withers' existence. I mean, if you want uplifting gospel-rock, you
have just about everyone from the Spinners to Earth, Wind & Fire to
Aretha. Come on now.
What is really
fascinating about the record is that, even with the near-complete removal of
star power (this time, the album was recorded and produced by a bunch of relative
unknowns), it still sounds fabulous and is full to the brim of perfectly
written and convincingly played out little musical «character studies». Still Bill is a perfect title, since
Withers usually impersonates the same type of character here — an unbearably
sensitive, touchy, jealous, paranoid, sarcastic guy who would love to enjoy
life but feels like it's too much of a bitch to let him enjoy it. His
philosophy is perfectly summarized in the first lines of ʽAnother Day To Runʼ:
"If you don't look into your mind / And find out what you're running from
/ Tomorrow might just be another day to run". And he follows that
philosophy to a tee — most of the album involves prying into his own mind and
trying to find out what it is that he's running from.
Paranoia as the ruling force of the record is
immediately established in the very first notes — when the acoustic rhythm, the
electric lead, and the funky bass guitar all play the same «shaky» syncopated melody
to stress the idea of uncertainty and insecurity. The Bee Gees, too, would
later have a song about «Big City Stress» opening an album that praised the
glamorous rhythms of the big city, but the difference is that people could
enjoy the glam of Bee Gees' disco without smelling its dangerous underside,
whereas Withers, writing songs that you can dance to, puts that underside up
front — lyrically, musically, vocally ʽLonely Town, Lonely Streetʼ is a
blinking warning, a groove that pulsates with nervous tension of the ʽGimme
Shelterʼ variety.
Then there are some nifty tunes about jealousy
and separation. ʽWho Is He (And What Is He To You)?ʼ is a small masterpiece of
unresolved suspense, matching its threatening bass and lead lines to fit Bill's
reserved, but on-the-brink vocal delivery, and the lyrics may just be the very
best discrete psychological description of a jealous lover, peppered with
classy lines like "you're too much for one man, but not enough for
two". ʽUse Meʼ (which was the second single and was far more
representative of the album's sound than ʽLean On Meʼ) is driven by a Stevie
Wonder-worthy clavinet riff that «grumbles» its way through just like Bill himself
grumbles about how "all you do is use me" — before admitting,
grudgingly, that he doesn't mind.
Eventually, though, the lovers do separate, and then we have ʽI Don't
Want You On My Mindʼ, trotting along at a mind-numbing tempo and punctuated by
«ugly» wah-wah wails, illustrating brain pulsations: he doesn't want you on his
mind all the time, but, of course, this is exactly what he has on his mind all
the time. The song proper ends at around the three minute mark, but is then
followed with a coda that could illustrate the painful process of trying to clear
out the protagonist's mind — unfortunately, it fades out too quickly to let us
know how successful he was.
There is a bunch of more conventional songs
here as well (the rather syrupy ballad ʽLet Me In Your Lifeʼ; the somewhat-too-happy
funk-pop number ʽKissin' My Loveʼ), but they are not without their own hooks,
either, and, ultimately, as much as I hate these «whole world is silly» rants,
in this case I do feel like ʽLean On
Meʼ is the weakest song on the album, and if it happens to be the only thing
you know about Bill Withers, be sure not to jump to conclusions — that would be
a bit like judging the Beatles on the strength of ʽYesterdayʼ (certainly not a
«weak» song, but just imagine a "oh, so that's what those Beatles sound like" kind of reaction!).
Instead, just get the whole album and brace yourself for Mr. Withers'
fascinating world of wit, pain, and psychologism on the dangerous edge of
insanity. One more thumbs up like this and you'd really start to wonder
how many girlfriends this individual has buried in his backyard.
Check "Still Bill" (CD) on Amazon
Check "Still Bill" (MP3) on Amazon
it is a wonderful record. though you rarely hear it talked about in the way that records like "superfly" and "what's going on" are talked about. i think what you said in the previous review is absolutely right: critics don't really know what to DO with bill. you can't pigeonhole him-- he's not a polemicist like curtis, not a lover like al green... he's got pieces of these identities, sure, but he's still bill, first and foremost. i think that, song for song, this record stacks up with just about any contemporary record by a black musician... i think his worldview is much more nuanced and sophisticated than, say, marvin gaye's, even if the arrangements here aren't quite as relevatory as those on "what's goin on." and if "let me into your life" or "lean on me" must be considered weak spots, well... jeez, at least they're songs, and not terrible poetry, a la "save the children." great review, as always, george.
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