Contrary to popular belief, Singer/songwriter Bill Withers is not dead. So take heart, fans who never stopped bumping his laidback 70s soul classics “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Lean On Me”—the man is still alive and writing music. “Jesse Jackson recently called me to find out if I was still alive,” Withers told a reporter in 2006. “He said his wife was walking around the house upset because she heard that I had died. We get a lot of those calls from foreign countries and everything. I’m used to it by now.”

For the rest, go to: http://www.soulsummer.com...hers-lives

Wow! I'm really looking forward to the documentary coming out. I've been getting into Bill's music over the past couple of years - mainly his first three albums and the live album - and I think he's easily on a par with the recognised geniuses of soul music (Marvin, Stevie, Curtis, etc), and I find it a shame that he's not always considered alongside those people.

I think what I really love about his songs is that quality that's mentioned in the trailer of being straight down the middle, but being profound at the same time. His music has a rawness that comes from gospel and the blues, but also a sophistication in the way it's arranged and produced, without sounding 'overdone', like some of, say, Curtis Mayfield's music can be (for my own tastes). His lyrics have that plainspoken quality, but are also very sensitive and thoughtful, and when he writes about relationships it's believable. For me, overall, he sort represents in that early/mid-70s peak, he represents a coming-together of the best bits of the soul/gospel/blues tradition and whole singer-songwriter tradition, and I find that I come back to him all the time.

Great to see him in the Soul Power documentary this year. This should be very cool, too!

http://www.nodepression.c...ation-gets


The documentary is out and amazing... go check it out now! and read the review above.