William Harrison Withers Jr., born July 4, 1938 and died March 30, 2020. He was an American singer-songwriter/musician who recorded and performed from 1970 to 1985. His hits include “Lean On Me”, “Ain’t No Sunshine”, “Use Me”, “Just the Two of Us”, “Lovely Day”, “Grandma’s Hands”, and “Lean On Me”. Withers was nominated for three Grammy Awards, and won three more. The documentary Still Bill, which was made in 2009 about his life, featured his story. In 2015, he was inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Withers was the youngest of six siblings and was born in Slab Fork, West Virginia, a small coal-mining community. Withers was born with a speech disorder and said that he struggled to fit in. He was only 13 when his father passed away. At the age of 18, Withers enlisted in the United States Navy. He served for nine year and was able to overcome his stutter. In 1965, he left the Navy. He used the $250 he earned from selling his furniture at IBM to move to Los Angeles in 1967 and begin a musical career. Withers was an assembler at several companies, including Douglas Aircraft Corporation. He also recorded demo tapes, sold them around, and performed in clubs at night. He refused to quit his job when he made his debut with “Ain’t No Sunshine” because he believed that the music industry was fickle. Clarence Avant, the owner of Sussex Records, auditioned Withers’s demo tape in early 1970. Avant signed Withers to an album deal and gave Booker T. Jones, a former Stax Records star, the task of producing Withers’s first album. The album was originally planned to be recorded in four three-hour sessions. However, funding meant that the album could only be made in three sessions and there would be a six-month break between each session. Just as I Am was first released in 1971, with singles “Ain’t No Sunshine”, and “Grandma’s Hands”. Stephen Stills plays lead guitar on the album. The album’s cover shows Withers at work at Weber Aircraft, Burbank, California, with his lunchbox. Withers was a big success and he began touring with a band made up of members from the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, including drummer James Gadson and guitarist Benorce Blackmon as well as keyboardist Ray Jackson and bassist Melvin Dunlap. Withers was awarded a Grammy Award as Best R at the 14th Annual Grammy Awards on Tuesday, March 14, 1972.
