Bill WIthers dies at 81

[jfkbengals]

Ain't no sunshine now he's gone

RIP

[SunsetBengal]

Hope he's having a lovely day, in a better place.

[*jason*]

Being used doesn't feel as good anymore...

[samhain]

I got into his music recently, like 2017 or so. I heard Lovely Day at the end of a show I was watching on FX called Snowfall. The show was okay, but from the first time I heard that song, to the time I looked it up on Amazon music, to yesterday when his death prompted me to listen to it again, I feel like it's one of the most perfect songs I've ever heard.

I typically listen to the same music I've listened to since I was 15 or so with a few exceptions. This assortment is comprised mostly of punk, thrash metal, and lately (but steadily) a good dose of classic rock. Withers was one of the exceptions.

I can't really say why. It always just amazed me that something from a genre that I rarely ever listened to could just grab me like that and open my eyes. I've had a few other songs do that and I recall exactly where I was when I heard them. Black Hole Sun was one. Raining Blood another. The entire Crowd-Mags album Age of Quarrel was a big one. Not to Touch the Earth by the Doors. Somehow, though, Lovely Day gets in there with all of those songs for me. It was one that I knew I'd listen to consistently for as long as I'm alive.

I liked Withers even more when I read about his life and him walking away in what was probably the prime of his career. He just sounded like a hard-working dude with a real gift and ease about his craft.

RIP.

[*bengalfan74*]

Rest easy Bill

[*jason*]

(04-04-2020, 05:29 PM)samhain Wrote: I got into his music recently, like 2107 or so. I heard Lovely Day at the end of a show I was watching on FX called Snowfall. The show was okay, but from the first time I heard that song, to the time I looked it up on Amazon music, to yesterday when his death prompted me to listen to it again, I feel like it's one of the most perfect songs I've ever heard.

I typically listen to the same music I've listened to since I was 15 or so with a few exceptions. This assortment is comprised mostly of punk, thrash metal, and lately (but steadily) a good dose of classic rock. Withers was one of the exceptions.

I can't really say why. It always just amazed me that something from a genre that I rarely ever listened to could just grab me like that and open my eyes. I've had a few other songs do that and I recall exactly where I was when I heard them. Black Hole Sun was one. Raining Blood another. The entire Crowd-Mags album Age of Quarrel was a big one. Not to Touch the Earth by the Doors. Somehow, though, Lovely Day gets in there with all of those songs for me. It was one that I knew I'd listen to consistently for as long as I'm alive.

I liked Withers even more when I read about his life and him walking away in what was probably the prime of his career. He just sounded like a hard-working dude with a real gift and ease about his craft.

RIP.

You and I share a lot of similar musical tastes... I'm a 45 year old father now, but at my core I'm still a punk rock loner type. Having said that; I think there are many rythem and blues/ soul artists that you'd really like. I was exposed to it early from my dad, but generally shied away from it til I was 23 or 24... Now it's right up there with my all time favorites.

I'd suggest Mavis Staples, Sam Cooke (for my money the greatest vocalist ever recorded), Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Charles Bradley (check out his cover of Changes by Black Sabbath), Stevie Wonder, Booker T and the MGs...

[samhain]

(04-04-2020, 10:35 PM)jason Wrote: You and I share a lot of similar musical tastes... I'm a 45 year old father now, but at my core I'm still a punk rock loner type. Having said that; I think there are many rythem and blues/ soul artists that you'd really like. I was exposed to it early from my dad, but generally shied away from it til I was 23 or 24... Now it's right up there with my all time favorites.

I'd suggest Mavis Staples, Sam Cooke (for my money the greatest vocalist ever recorded), Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Charles Bradley (check out his cover of Changes by Black Sabbath), Stevie Wonder, Booker T and the MGs...

Same here.  I'm 42 and have a 7 year old son.  My view of punk is a bit different from being a loner.  When I was "punk" (lol), I had more friends than I could count.  It was the most gregarious that I've ever been.  Went to shitloads of shows and had a great time.  I met people from seemingly everywhere.  There was a place to stay in any city you went to.  It was as much fun as I could imagine a young person having, with tons of great music everywhere.  

I did, however get into more "song craft" based music as I got older.  Withers is one example, but around the age of 30, I appreciated music that wasn't fast, loud and offensive a lot more.  I understood The Who and Pink Floyd and why everyone liked them.  Stevie Wonder was another.  I could see why just being a proficient player wasn't enough.  There were right places to put sounds. It's like the beginning of "Can You Hear Me Knockin'?"  There were musicians that could swing and that couldn't.  Withers again, bears this out.  He wasn't about the dumb, overly busy vocal gymnastics you see on American Idol or heard on the radio.  He understood the sound that was right for his music.

It seems like the 60's and 70's were an era of music that might have been a high point for artists putting out mega-high quality work for long periods of time.  Those people, like Withers, made album after album of stuff that just reeked of chops and work and a feel for what sounds right. That's probably a huge factor in his leaving the business due to the industry screwing with his music. He knew the sound that was right because he had a gift.  Any of 30 or so bands of that era would be a giant placed in the modern context.  It's quite a thing to think about.