Bill Withers

So many musical acts from New Orleans visit our area during the late winter, it's almost like Mardi Gras lasts an extra month in New England. The latest ambassadors from the Crescent City are the Joe Krown Trio, featuring Walter "Wolfman" Washington, and they also have a local hook. Milton's Ed Burke, whose eponymous club on Huntington Avenue in Boston hosted numerous national acts like Washington until its closing in 1993, tipped us off that the trio's leader should be familiar to Beantown music fans.  

So many musical acts from New Orleans visit our area during the late winter, it's almost like Mardi Gras lasts an extra month in New England. The latest ambassadors from the Crescent City are the Joe Krown Trio, featuring Walter "Wolfman" Washington, and they also have a local hook. Milton's Ed Burke, whose eponymous club on Huntington Avenue in Boston hosted numerous national acts like Washington until its closing in 1993, tipped us off that the trio's leader should be familiar to Beantown music fans.  

A painting titled "Grandma's Hands" will be unveiled March 19 during a celebration of singer/songwriter Bill Withers' life and career at Tamarack in Beckley. Withers commissioned the painting by artist Ernie Barnes. The painting will be displayed at the artisan center.  

Bill Withers was working as an airline mechanic, installing toilets on 747s, when his song "Ain't No Sunshine" was released. It was the first in a string of simple, soulful hits, which also included "Lean on Me," "Lovely Day" and "Just the Two of Us." Though his music is still heard everywhere, Withers himself retreated to a private life more than two decades ago.

You just have to listen to his music to know why Bill Withers   -Alex Vlack

 

We really like Didi Benami and want her to do well in American Idol but last night's performances really wasn't one of her strongest. On the top 10 girls live show Didi sang "Lean On Me" by Bill Withers for the judges but it started off very weak and pitchy. She picked it up in the middle and finished well, but it just wasn't strong enough for the judges.  

Last night it was the judges, tonight it's Crystal. How is she going to hold up after her now-legendary trip to the hospital? It's strange how much drama that has nothing to do with singing seems to keep affecting this season.  

"Ain't No Sunshine" gave Withers his first gold record, earned him a Grammy, and, with later hits such as "Lean on Me" and "Use Me," forms the cornerstone of a small but indispensable section of the American songbook. A new documentary about Withers, "Still Bill," is an unshowy, confident attempt to render the personality of a man who wrote so well and then walked away, in 1985, adding only a handful of songs to his legacy since then. The sixth of six children, William Harrison Withers, Jr., was born on  

My overly long sabbatical from my column (due primarily to a health concern and my attention being diverted to special projects like the Philadelphia International Flower Show, Feb. 27 through March 7) has come to and end and I return with glad tidings and good spirits. I also return with a tip on what to do this Saturday before you head into town to take in the many wonders of the aforementioned Flower Show. Regular readers of this column are well aware of my fondness for the Bryn Mawr Film Institute an  

Bill Withers is an American original. His voice is as clear as the wind and just as carefree. Withers has that gift from the gods so overlooked in popular songwriters: a well-tuned ear.

I got tired of being somewhere else, so I went home   -Bill Withers