Just As I Am/Still Bill

Performer: Bill Withers
Artist: Stephen Stills; Bobby Womack; Booker T. Jones; The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
Producer: Booker T. Jones
Distributor: E1 Distribution (USA)

Notes: 2 LPs on 1 CD: JUST AS I AM (1971)/STILL BILL (1972). Personnel includes: Bill Withers, Bobby Womack (vocals); Stephen Stills (guitar); Booker T. Jones (keyboards); Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass); Al Jackson Jr. (drums). Bill Withers' first two albums were arguably his best works, his most personal and unaffected music with a distinctive sound by virtue of their lean production, especially his debut, Just As I Am. At the turn of the 1960s into the 1970s, he was a unique presence, as we're reminded by this Raven Records two-LP-on-one-CD package. Withers' first album is otherwise unavailable on CD, and the mastering here brings the audio quality up dramatically, making the listening experience close and intimate, almost like a private studio performance. Withers' songs are so personal that they only gain intensity from this treatment -- not just the original songs, such as "Ain't No Sunshine" or "Grandma's Hands," but even his cover of "Let It Be." The only real decision that fans will have to make concerns his second album, Still Bill, which is available in the United States with two live bonus tracks; for anyone owning this disc, buying Sony's domestic release of that album may prove superfluous. As an added enticement, Raven has also included bonus tracks of "Better Days," from the soundtrack to the movie Man and Boy, and a version of "It's All Over Now," by Withers and Bobby Womack. ~ Bruce Eder

Uncut (2/04, p.87) - 5 stars out of 5 - "The production is taut and simple, Withers' gorgeous, woody voice deceptively casual in delivery."

In the early 1970s, Bill Withers created a completely fresh mixture of southern R&B, folk, singer/songwriter pop, and soul music, which he employed to great effect on several classic hit singles. Several of Withers' songs have become pop standards, covered by scores of singers and sampled by countless hip-hoppers. Unfortunately, as Withers often shies away from the limelight, his later output has been extremely sporadic.

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