Bill Withers

[dlloyd]

Has there ever been a cooler drummer than this?

 

[Bluewine]

Very cool, couldn't be more in the pocket, very 70s very old school.

My drummer in my high school band had the same style.

Love it.

Blue

[medpb]

Utterly amazing 

[lowdown]

That’s James Gadson. He was the guy back then, he certainly did a lot of sessions in the 70’s and 80’s.

I think he was still gigging locally in the LA area up until a couple of years ago.

 

A nice little read about his career here.

http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/James_Gadson.html

[xgsjx]

If you're getting to play one of the greatest songs ever, you can't do anything other than look cool.  Even the bassist looks cool on his chaise longue!  😎

One of my old bands used to play this song & I've been trying to get my current band to, but maybe they've just not got the coolness to play it.

Edited June 16, 2018 by xgsjx

[casapete]

1 hour ago, lowdown said:

That’s James Gadson. He was the guy back then, he certainly did a lot of sessions in the 70’s and 80’s.

I think he was still gigging locally in the LA area up until a couple of years ago.

 

A nice little read about his career here.

http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/James_Gadson.html

Great link - didn’t realise James played on so many famous albums, including ‘Let’s get it on’ . Thanks for posting.

[chris_b]

Express Yourself?  Now that really is cool!

[Happy Jack]

Love Bill Withers, love that track (Use Me), but am I alone in being amused by the contrast between Bill's agricultural guitar strumming and the funkiness of the uber-cool band surrounding him?

It's not like he couldn't play guitar:

 

[AndyTravis]

How do you turn a Duck into a soul singer...

[xgsjx]

Stick it in the microwave.

[AndyTravis]

Harsh that, was gonna say buy it a decent suit and get it some singing lessons...

 

 

[Bluewine]

16 hours ago, xgsjx said:

If you're getting to play one of the greatest songs ever, you can't do anything other than look cool.  Even the bassist looks cool on his chaise longue!  😎

One of my old bands used to play this song & I've been trying to get my current band to, but maybe they've just not got the coolness to play it.

It would be a cool song for my band. We certainly have the drummer for it but the vocals would be a reach. The bass really isn't a huge element is it?

This live version seems a bit slower than the original recording.

 

Blue

[xgsjx]

8 hours ago, Bluewine said:

It would be a cool song for my band. We certainly have the drummer for it but the vocals would be a reach. The bass really isn't a huge element is it?

This live version seems a bit slower than the original recording.

 

Blue

The first few times we played this song, only the singer knew it.  He played it on guitar & as it's just Em7 & A7, the rest of us just jammed it.
Then I bought a Bill Withers CD with it on & learned the actual bassline.  The harmonics in the first bar of the A7 are a nice wee touch.

The later versions that we did, I played an interpretation of the clav line during the Em7 & back to the bass line for the A7 during the non vocal parts.  A bit more tricky, but sounded good.

[Old Man Riva]

That clip is from the Old Grey Whistle Test. Great stuff.

There was also an excellent documentary on BBC4 a while back that charted his rise and then decision to stop performing, which was equally great. He came across as a wonderful human being. He fought a lifelong stammer and did/does a lot to help younger people with the same condition, which featured heavily in the programme.

On a musical note his 1973 Live at Carnegie Hall album features pretty much the same band as the clip, I think, and is well worth a listen.

[RandomBass]

On 16/06/2018 at 07:31, lowdown said:

That’s James Gadson. He was the guy back then, he certainly did a lot of sessions in the 70’s and 80’s.

I think he was still gigging locally in the LA area up until a couple of years ago.

 

A nice little read about his career here.

http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/James_Gadson.html

Great link and an interesting read, thanks for that. 

[fleabag]

A great track indeed - even Grace Jones did a cover version

 

[chris_b]

We cover this in an occasion band I work with. Aaron Neville with his version of Use Me. . .