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Bill Withers | Tunes + Guitar Lessons

Withers created some of the most enduring soul classics, covered by countless artists worldwide. His timeless tunes continue to inspire and resonate across generations!

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A Short Career, An Incredible Catalogue

Bill Withers was an American singer-songwriter whose recording career stretched from the early 1970s into the mid-1980s. What makes his story particularly interesting is just how much music he created in a relatively short period.

He didn’t need dozens of albums to leave a huge mark. Instead, he wrote tunes that other musicians couldn’t stop playing.

His debut album, Just As I Am, arrived in 1971 and introduced the world to his soulful voice and remarkably direct songwriting.

It contained Ain’t No Sunshine, Grandma’s Hands and Harlem. It also included covers of Let It Be by The Beatles and Everybody’s Talkin’ by Fred Neil. The latter is one of my all-time favourites.

But it was Ain’t No Sunshine that would become the first major Bill Withers standard.

Ain’t No Sunshine: The B-Side That Became a Hit

Here’s a great example of why you shouldn’t automatically assume the A-side is the best song on a record. When Ain’t No Sunshine was first released in 1971, it was actually the B-side to Harlem.

DJs began flipping the record over and playing Ain’t No Sunshine instead. The audience agreed. The song became a hit and, the following year, won a Grammy for Best Rhythm and Blues Song.

It has since become one of those songs that every working musician seems to know.

Booker T. Jones and a Very Quick Recording

Bill Withers was fortunate to work with producer Booker T. Jones, who brought enormous experience from his work with Booker T. & the M.G.’s.

For the Just As I Am sessions, Jones brought together a fantastic group of musicians, with Stephen Stills played guitar on Ain’t No Sunshine rather than Steve Cropper.

The entire debut album was recorded in just four three-hour sessions. That’s an astonishingly short amount of time to create an album that would go on to become so influential.

It also tells you something about the musicians involved. They didn’t need to spend weeks figuring out how to make the songs work.

The arrangements were strong. The players were experienced. And Bill Withers had the tunes.

The Working Guitarist’s Standard

For guitarists, Ain’t No Sunshine is almost impossible to avoid. That’s a good thing. It’s a perfect example of how a relatively simple musical idea can become incredibly powerful when everything is played with the right feel.

The song has been covered by a huge range of artists, including Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Eva Cassidy and John Mayer. And countless working musicians have played it live.

That’s the important part for me. It’s not simply a famous recording. It’s repertoire. Learn it properly and you’ll probably find yourself using it.

Still Bill: One Album, Four Classics

The following year, Withers released Still Bill. And if the debut had already established him as a major songwriter, this album confirmed it. It contained four enduring originals:

Who Is He (And What Is He to You?)
Use Me
Lean on Me
Kissing My Love.

That’s an extraordinary collection. Most songwriters would be happy to have one of those songs. Withers had four on the same album.

Lean on Me: A Gospel Standard

Lean on Me was released in 1972 as the lead single from Still Bill. It quickly became a timeless standard.

The tune reached number one in both the United States and the United Kingdom and has since been recorded by countless artists.

One of the most interesting things about Lean on Me is how naturally it fits into gospel music. It has become a standard for gospel choirs around the world, regularly appearing in services and performances. That connection makes perfect sense when you listen to the song.

The melody is simple. The message is direct. And the structure invites people to sing together.

This is something worth remembering when you’re learning guitar. You don’t always need complicated chords. You don’t need clever lyrics. You don’t need a guitar solo.

Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is write a song that people can immediately understand and sing. Lean on Me is a brilliant example.

And because it has been interpreted by so many different artists, you can learn a lot by listening to several versions rather than only the original.

Michael Bolton, Seal, Beverley Knight and the Glee Cast have all offered their own interpretations, while Club Nouveau’s 1987 version also reached number one.

The Man Behind the Tunes

After Just As I Am and Still Bill, Withers continued releasing music through the 1970s. Albums such as +’Justments (1974), Making Music (1975) and Naked & Warm (1976) didn’t produce the same level of major hits.

Then, in 1977, Menagerie delivered another classic: Lovely Day. Once again, Withers had managed to write a song that sounded effortless. And once again, it would prove to have a life far beyond its original release.

Lovely Day

Lovely Day has become one of those songs that seems to exist outside of any particular era. The groove is relaxed. The melody is memorable. And the vocal performance has an almost conversational quality.

That’s one of Withers’ great strengths. He doesn’t seem to be trying too hard. There’s no need for unnecessary decoration. The tunes communicate directly. That quality is incredibly useful to study as a guitarist.

If you’re accompanying a singer, your job isn’t always to add more. Sometimes your job is to make the simple thing feel great.

Just the Two of Us: Bill Withers Meets Grover Washington Jr.

Bill Withers’ final major hit came through a collaboration with saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. Just the Two of Us was released in 1980 on Washington’s Winelight album.

The track began life as an instrumental. Producer Ralph MacDonald suggested adding a vocal to broaden its appeal, and Bill Withers was brought in to write and sing the lyrics. It turned into something very special.

The result combines jazz harmony, an R&B groove and pop accessibility without sounding forced. The song reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy Award in 1982.

For Grover Washington Jr., it became one of his defining recordings. For Bill Withers, it added another classic to his catalogue.

What I particularly like about Just the Two of Us is how restrained it feels. Nobody is trying to overpower anybody else.

The saxophone has space. The vocal has space. The groove has space.

That’s a valuable lesson for any guitarist. You don’t have to fill every gap.

In fact, learning when not to play is one of the most important skills you can develop. The collaboration worked because the musicians left room for one another. That’s what great playing is all about.

Bill Withers: One of the Most Covered Songwriters

After Just the Two of Us, Withers’ chart-topping period was effectively coming to an end. But the songs didn’t disappear.

Quite the opposite. His catalogue continued to spread through covers, samples, radio, DJ sets and live performances.

His songs have been recorded by artists as varied as:

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.

That’s a remarkable list. And it demonstrates something important. Withers wasn’t simply writing songs for his own records. He was writing tunes that other singers could inhabit.

This is where Bill Withers becomes particularly interesting for a guitarist. You could build a very useful soul and acoustic repertoire from his catalogue alone.

Start with Ain’t No Sunshine. Then learn Lean on Me. Add Lovely Day. Then try Just the Two of Us. You’ll quickly discover that these songs work in very different settings.

Ain’t No Sunshine can work beautifully with a singer and acoustic guitar. Lean on Me can become a full-band or gospel-style number. Lovely Day is all about the groove. Just the Two of Us gives you an opportunity to explore jazzier harmony and understated accompaniment.

And that’s exactly what you want from a repertoire. Not just a collection of songs you can play. A collection of songs you can use.

The Bill Withers Lesson

There is something almost refreshing about Bill Withers’ catalogue.

He didn’t need to release hundreds of songs. He didn’t need to constantly reinvent himself. He wrote a relatively small number of exceptionally durable songs. But those songs have been given new lives by generations of musicians. That’s a pretty good definition of songwriting success.

For guitarists, there’s another lesson. Listen to how little is sometimes required. A great groove. A strong melody. A few chords. A memorable lyric with enough space for the singer to tell the story.

Bill Withers understood that better than most. You don’t need to play more. You need to make what you play count.

And if you’re building your repertoire, that’s a lesson worth remembering. Learn the tune. Feel the groove. Leave some space. Put Bill Withers into your repertoire.

Bill Withers Tunes | Related Pages

Ain’t No Sunshine | Chords + TAB

You can learn how to play Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers using chords, lyrics, a chord chart, chord analysis, TAB, video guitar lessons, and backing tracks.

| Am7 Em G5 | Am7 | Am7 Em G5 |
Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone, it’s not warm when she’s away…