BILL WITHERS: 'BOUT LOVE (1979)
1) All Because Of You; 2)
Dedicated To You My Love; 3) Don't It Make It Better; 4) You Got The Stuff; 5)
Look To Each Other For Love; 6) Love; 7) Love Is; 8) Memories Are That Way.
This relatively uninspiring sequel to Menagerie was produced by Paul Smith, a
legendary jazz pianist mostly known for accompanying Ella Fitzgerald; he also
co-wrote several of the songs and played on all the recordings. If there ever
was a waste of talent, though, that must be it, because 'Bout Love has nothing to do with classic jazz and everything with
generic, «tepid» R&B: no disco as such, just another bunch of friendly,
danceable, and almost completely interchangeable grooves that leave no lasting
impression whatsoever.
Unfortunately, this time around there is no
ʽLovely Dayʼ to redeem the album with at least a single unbeatable hook, and
not even a ʽShe Wants To (Get On Down)ʼ to add frenzied energy: indeed, I would
rather welcome a fast, tight, determined disco-rocker than have to listen to
these happy, toothless, family-friendly grooves one after another. ʽYou Got The
Stuffʼ, with a funky rhythm pattern, probably comes the closest to satisfying
the desire for a bit of grit, but it more or less makes its point over the first
thirty seconds, and then just goes on grooving without any development — if it
were a live funk jam, that'd be one thing, but in this context the musicians
just stick to the groove and refuse to let go of the pre-arranged patterns. And
where the heck is Paul Smith and his
piano chops? He is, indeed, co-credited, but it is not highly likely that this
is the kind of arrangement he would have offered to Ella.
Are the songs catchy? Perhaps. As on his
previous two or three albums, the choruses are so repetitive that all these
"high as the birds that fly above the clouds..." (ʽAll Because Of
Youʼ) and "love is caring, love is needing..." (ʽLove Isʼ) will end
up sticking to your brains after a few listens. But it is a boring kind of
catchiness: try as the man might, he just isn't able to come up with any outstanding take on the virtues of love.
As supercool as he was when exposing the underbelly of the human soul, Bill
Withers as a Preacher of Goodness continues to be just another smiling face in
the crowd. It is a pleasant, likeable, friendly face alright — you know that guy on the front sleeve will
be a gas to hang out with, since that smile don't lie — but it doesn't come
equipped with any wonderful musical ideas.
As usual, there is at least one song per album to offer a brief
reminder of the old Bill Withers: this time, it is the album closer, ʽMemories
Are That Wayʼ, a slow, moody ballad with inarguably the best vocal performance
from the man — infused with melancholia and sadness, peppered with drawn-out,
painfully soaring notes, and actually featuring some discernible piano playing
from Paul Smith for a change. It is completely incompatible with the rest of
the album — an «afterparty» song, to be savored for last once the basic club
audiences have all gone home and the entertainment is over — and, interestingly
enough, it is the only song here credited solely to Bill, as if he surreptitiously
wanted to lay at least a part of the blame on the shoulders of his co-writers,
but decided to save up the best song completely for himself.
All in all, ʽMemories Are That Wayʼ is
definitely worth salvaging, and perhaps one or two of the tighter grooves here,
such as ʽYou Got The Stuffʼ, might be worth including on compilations for
historical purposes, but on the whole, 'Bout
Love drops one notch below Menagerie
in quality. No thumbs down, what with everything being so innocent and
harmless, but only really recommendable for fans of standardized 1970s dance
music, and maybe also for that elusive subcategory of «shiny happy people» who
might want to mind-meld with Bill on that one.
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