50 Years of Soul Power

Posted February 20, 2013 by J Matthew Cobb in Features

Bill Withers
Just As I Am
(Sussex; 1971)

At the time of the recording, Bill Withers was 33 years of age – already past the age of most acts trying to break into the music game. With Booker T. Jones handling the album’s production, the singer-songwriter delivers a debut album that sounds like it could’ve been culled out of the Stax factory. Withers’ approach to soul comes with folk storytelling, which is best shown on the praying wisdom of “Grandma’s Hands,” the thick field song chants of “Moanin’ and Groanin’” and the pre-Maury Povich paternity test of “I’m Her Daddy.” It is “Ain’t No Sunshine,” the bluesy ballad famous for its suspending strings and his “I know/I know” rap, that ultimately completes the album.