What's up, soul brothas and soul sistas!
This week on the R&B History Moment, I talk about one of only nine songs in the history of popular music to score a number one hit for two different recording artists. The song is "Lean On Me;" the artist is Bill Withers. (The other artist was Club Nouveau, who took the song to number one in 1987).
The three-time Grammy winner is universally respected in R&B/soul circles. Withers is a maverick, to be sure, and no one before or after him has ever quite sounded the same. His sound is influenced in large part by his rural upbringing in West Virginia – and that upbringing was also part of the inspiration that gave birth to "Lean On Me." In many ways, it's a song that could only come from a country boy, used to the kind of community that exists in rural settings, a world away from the lights of Los Angeles, where Withers was when he wrote it.
What led up to that moment of inspiration? You're only gonna know by clicking the play button, and letting the soul sauce slip so smoothly from your speakers.
Related links:
Bill Withers
"Lean on Me" on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
More in this series:
R&B history moment: Steve Wonder’s ‘Superstition’
R&B history moment: Marvin Gaye’s ‘What's Going On’
R&B history Moment: "I Got a Woman," Ray Charles
R&B history moment: "I Heard it Through the Grapevine"
R&B history moment: "I Got You (I Feel Good)"