Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine

Sunday, time for a classic.

"Ain't No Sunshine" is a song by Bill Withers from his 1971 album "Just As I Am", produced by Booker T. Jones. The record featured musicians Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass guitar, Al Jackson Jr. on drums and Stephen Stills on guitar. String arrangements were done by Booker T. Jones, and recorded in Memphis by engineer Terry Manning.

The song was released as a single in 1971, becoming a breakthrough hit for Withers, reaching number six on the U.S. R&B Chart and number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 23 song for 1971. The song also appears on the original soundtrack album for the films When "We Were Kings" (1997) and "Notting Hill" (1999). It was also featured in "FX's" first season (2016) of the anthology limited series "American Crime Story", which focuses on the 1994 murder trial of O. J. Simpson.

The song reached the Top 40 again in 2009, sung by Kris Allen in the 8th season of American Idol.

Withers was inspired to write this song after watching the 1962 movie Days of Wine and Roses. He explained, in reference to the characters played by Lee Remick and Jack Lemmon, "They were both alcoholics who were alternately weak and strong. It's like going back for seconds on rat poison. Sometimes you miss things that weren't particularly good for you. It's just something that crossed my mind from watching that movie, and probably something else that happened in my life that I'm not aware of."

For the song's third verse, Withers had intended to write more lyrics instead of repeating the phrase "I know" 26 times, but then followed the advice of the other musicians to leave it that way: "I was this factory worker puttering around," Withers said. "So when they said to leave it like that, I left it."

Withers, then thirty-one years old, was working at a factory making bathrooms for 747s at the time he wrote the song. When the song went gold, the record company presented Withers with a golden toilet seat, marking the start of his new career."Ain't No Sunshine" was the first of Withers' three gold records in the U.S.

Originally released as the B-side to another song called "Harlem", "Ain't No Sunshine" was preferred by disc jockeys, and it became a huge hit, Withers' first "Harlem" was subsequently covered by THE 5TH DIMENSION, which was featured on their "Soul And Inspiration" album and released as a single.

Withers performed "Ain't No Sunshine" on The Old Grey Whistle Test. It won the Grammy for Best R&B Song in 1972 and is ranked 285th on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Bill Withers (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. He recorded several major hits, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), "Use Me" (1972), "Lean on Me" (1972), "Lovely Day" (1977), and "Just the Two of Us" (1980). His life was the subject of the 2009 documentary film Still Bill. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. Withers worked as a professional musician for just 15 years, from 1970 to 1985, after which he moved on to other occupations.

Withers died in Los Angeles on March 30, 2020, from heart complications. His family announced his death on April 3, 2020, saying they were "devastated by the loss of our beloved, devoted husband and father"

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY made a cover of the tune on the live acoustic album "Unblackened" that was recorded live on March 6, 2013 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, and released on September 24, 2013. Read about it here: https://tuneoftheday.blogspot.com/2013/10/black-label-society-aint-no-sunshine.html

Enjoy today's tune, this one is for you Bill!



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