Bill Withers Just As I Am

Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Rated 304/500!
Just As I Am served as the launching pad for one of the most prolific songwriting careers of our time.
Just As I Am catapulted Bill Withers into super-stardom in 1971. Featuring the worldwide mega-hit and Grammy Award-winning "Ain't No Sunshine", Just As I Am, Withers' debut album, established him as one of the premier singer/songwriters of the era and brought the world a fresh look at Rhythm & Blues. Equipped with an acoustic guitar and backed by three-quarters of Booker T. & the MGs and Stephen Stills on guitar, Bill Withers recorded one of the biggest albums of the '70s, producing the timeless hit "Ain't No Sunshine" along with the other Withers essentials "Harlem", "Grandma's Hands", and "I'm Her Daddy". As a testament to his talents, Bill Withers was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005.
"When the 31-year-old Withers recorded 'Sunshine,' he was still working at a factory making toilet seats for 747s. He intended to write more lyrics for the part where he repeats the phrase 'I know' 26 times, but the other musicians told him to leave it." - Rolling Stone
"Just As I Am" – if you start your career late, you may already have developed an expressive personality profile, even if, as with Bill Withers, it was not initially shaped by music. Withers served many years in the U.S. Navy, working as a milkman and installing toilets in jets at an American aircraft manufacturer, while his self-made and diligently sent demo tapes ended up in the drain at the record companies. In 1971, the steep rise followed when the successful producer Booker T. Jones took him in tow and put top musicians such as guitarist Stephen Stills, drummer Al Jackson and Donald 'Duck' Dunn in the studio as bass man.
In his debut album, Withers shows his universal and mature abilities as a singer, composer and performer, which he hardly surpassed in later recordings. "Harlem", an unembellished milieu funk about the New York slums, "Grandma's Hands", the obligatory look back at childhood and the soul-heavy ballad "Ain't No Sunshine" with its prayer wheel-like »I know, I know ...« are exposed musical annual rings of an experienced mid-thirties who finally has his say. There is no alternative to this record of the great songwriter with the small repertoire.

Features:

• 180g High Quality Vinyl
• Pure Analogue
• Made from the original, analogue mastertapes
• Pressed at Pallas/Germany
• Faithful reproductions of original artwork and labels

Musicians:

• Al Jackson, drums
• Jim Keitner, drums
• Booker T. Jones, guitar, keyboards
• Stephen Stills, guitar
• Bill Withers, guitar
• Bobbie Hall Porter, percussion
• Donald "Duck" Dunn, bass
• Chris Ethridge, bass

Selections:

Side A
1. Harlem
2. Ain't No Sunshine
3. Grandma's Hands
4. Sweet Wanomi
5. Everybody's Talkin'
6. Do it good
Side B
1. Hope She'll Be Happier
2. Let it be
3. I'm Her Daddy
4. In My Heart
5. Moanin' And Groanin'
6. Better Off Dead

Recording: 1971 at Sunset Sound Recorders by Bill Lazerus and at the Wally Heider Recording Studio by Bill Halverson, both Hollywood, Ca.Production: Booker T. Jones