On July 4, 1938, Withers, the youngest of six children, was born in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia. He was the son of a maid, Mattie (née Galloway), and a miner, William Withers.
He was born with a stutter and later stated that he struggled to fit in. When he was three, his parents divorced, and he was raised by his mother’s family in nearby Beckley, West Virginia. When his father died, he was 13 years old. At the age of 17, Withers enlisted in the United States Navy and served for nine years, during which time he developed an interest in singing and songwriting.
Clarence Avant, the owner of Sussex Records, auditioned Withers’ demonstration tape favorably in early 1970. Avant signed Withers to a record deal and enlisted former Stax Records veteran Booker T. Jones to produce her debut album. The album was supposed to be recorded in four three-hour sessions, but funding constraints forced the album to be recorded in three sessions, with a six-month break between the second and final sessions.
Just as I Am was released in 1971, with the singles “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Grandma’s Hands”. Stephen Stills performs lead guitar on the album. Withers is pictured on the album cover, holding his lunch box, at his job at Weber Aircraft in Burbank, California.
How many hits did Bill Withers have?
Withers had 23 charting hits during his career, and this time “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Lean on Me” are at Nos.
