Bill Withers is one of the most covered artists of all time
Bill Withers was an American singer-songwriter who performed and recorded from the late ’60s until the mid-’80s.
Since his debut album in 1971 (Just As I Am), Bill Withers has collected three Grammy Awards and one NAACP Award for Male Singer Of The Year.
The first successful single from the debut was actually one of his most famous tunes, Ain’t No Sunshine, but the album also contained Grandma’s Hands and Harlem, two tunes that have become Bill Withers classics with time (Grandma’s Hands was sampled to create No Diggity by Blackstreet).
Speaking of samples/covers, the debut also contained Let It Be (The Beatles) and one of my personal all-time favourites, Everybody’s Talkin’ by Fred Neil.
The follow-up, released the next year had four classic Bill Withers compositions in Who Is He (And What Is He To You), Use Me, Lean On Me, and When I’m Kissing My Love.
After two such remarkable albums, Bill released the less successful + ‘Justments (1974), Making Music (1975), and the strangely named Naked & Warm (1976). No significant tunes were found on any of these albums.
1977, Bill released Menagerie and is back with another classic tune in the unforgettable Lovely Day.
This would be Bill Withers’s last big hit under his name, only one more legendary tune would be released, a collaboration with Grover Washington in 1981, Just The Two Of Us. This marked the end of Bill Withers’ classic songwriting career.
Over ten years, Bill Withers released some of the most memorable tunes the world ever heard which keep being played on the radio, by DJs in parties/clubs, sampled by new artists, and of course, covered by working bands every single weekend.
His tunes have been covered by an enormous amount of artists, including Michael Jackson, Joe Cocker, Shirley Bassey, John Legend, Eva Cassidy, Al Jarreau, Sheryl Crow, Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, Jill Scott, Diana Ross, Mick Jagger, Lenny Kravitz, and many, many more!
Bill Withers Tunes | Related Pages
Ain’t No Sunshine
You can learn how to play Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers using chords, lyrics, TAB, chord analysis, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| Am7 Em G5 | Am7 | Am7 Em G5 |
Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone, it’s not warm when she’s away…
Everybody’s Talkin’
You can learn how to play Everybody’s Talkin’ by Harry Nilsson using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| Cmaj7 G6 | Cmaj7 G6 |
Everybody’s talkin’ at me…
Just The Two Of Us
Learn how to play Just The Two Of Us by Grover Washington and Bill Withers using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| Dbmaj7 C7 | Fm7 Ebm7 Ab7 |
I see the crystal raindrops fall and the beauty of it all…
Lean On Me
You can learn how to play Lean On Me by Bill Withers using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| C Dm Em F | F Em Dm C | C Dm Em | Em Dm |
Sometimes in our lives, we all have pain, we all have sorrow…
Lovely Day
You can learn how to play Lovely Day by Bill Withers using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| Emaj7 | C#m7 |
When I wake up in the morning, love…
Bill Withers on the web
Artists & Bands
Behind every single tune you learn, there’s an artist or band with an entire catalogue of music, waiting to be discovered.
Find out more about these great Artists & Bands, and let their tunes guide you to success.
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was an article about Bill Withers tunes, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
