Bill Withers has died


I really shouldn’t listen to the first song in this set when Mary is gone and we’re not sure when she’ll be able to get home again.

That guy put so much feeling into his voice.

Comments

  1. KG says

    Another Bill who’s just died: Dr. William (“Bill”) Frankland, pioneering immunologist, shortly after his 108th birthday. His last academic paper was apparently published in 2017, when he was 105. I wonder if anyone has ever published at a greater age. The topologist Leopold Vietoris lived to 110, but the slacker apparently published his last paper at 103.

  2. redwood says

    “Ain’t No Sunshine” is in my top 5 of favorite songs. So simple, so moving.

  3. unclefrogy says

    Grandma’s hands is a very poignant song and shows his depth in simple words.
    I also remember the stories around his first marriage break up concerning domestic violence might have something to do with his retirement from the music industry.
    A real human being with flaws and all who did his best.
    uncle frogy

  4. Sunday Afternoon says

    An old joke:

    Q: How do you turn a pelican into a soul singer?
    A: Bake it in the oven until its bill withers…

  5. dorght says

    Ain’t no Sunshine always bothered me. Superficially sounds like an intense emotional love song, but then there is that one damn line ‘I should leave young thing alone.’ Well crap, now its a song about infidelity or worse.

  6. doubtthat says

    Man, this guy is the man. What a cool, fantastic musician. Please also enjoy what is probably the best drummer aesthetic I’ve ever seen:

    And I would also like to give a remembererce to Ellis Marsalis, who died from coronavirus complications last week. I got to see him play live in New Orleans a couple of decades ago (Snug Harbor – if you’re ever in NOLA, that’s the place to go).
    It’s been a very tough run for piano players of late. Titans – Lyle Mays, McCoy Tyner, then Ellis…