Withers, the youngest of six children, was born in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, on July 4, 1938. He was the son of Mattie (Galloway), a maid, and William Withers, a miner. He was born with a stutter and later said he had a hard time fitting in. His parents divorced when he was three, and he was raised by his mother's family in nearby Beckley, West Virginia. He was 13 years old when his father died. Withers enlisted in the United States Navy at the age of 17, and served for nine years, during which time he became interested in singing and writing songs.
He left the Navy in 1965, relocating to Los Angeles in 1967 to start a music career. His debut release was "Three Nights and a Morning" in 1967. Arranged by Mort Garson, the song went unnoticed at the time but was later reworked by Withers as the track "Harlem".
Withers worked as an assembler for several different companies, including Douglas Aircraft Corporation, IBM and Ford, while recording demo tapes with his own money, shopping them around and performing in clubs at night. When he returned with the song "Ain't No Sunshine" in 1971, he refused to resign from his job because he believed the music business was a fickle industry. In early 1970, Withers's demonstration tape was auditioned favorably by Clarence Avant, owner of Sussex Records. Avant signed Withers to a record deal and assigned former Stax Records stalwart Booker T. Jones to produce Withers' first album. Four three-hour recording sessions were planned for the album, but funding caused 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 tracks, "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Grandma's Hands" as singles. The album features Stephen Stills playing lead guitar. On the cover of the album, Withers is pictured at his job at Weber Aircraft in Burbank, California, holding his lunch box.
Withers was known for his "smooth" baritone vocals and "sumptuous" soul arrangements. He wrote some of the most covered songs of the 1970s, including "Lean on Me" and "Ain't No Sunshine". The former entered the Hot 100 chart through multiple versions, including Club Nouveau's 1987 cover, which made the composition one of nine songs to have led the chart via different acts. With "Lovely Day", he set the record for the longest sustained note on a chart hit on American charts, holding a high E for 18 seconds. Editors from The Guardian considered that Withers' songs are "some of the most beloved in the American songbook," citing, "'Ain't No Sunshine' is regarded as one of the all-time great breakup tracks, while 'Lean on Me', an ode to the supportive power of friendship ..." For the same newspaper, Alex Petridis noticed "[he] laid pain and paranoia under his deceptively gentle songs, and retired early having conquered gospel, funk, blues, disco and more." In Rolling Stone, writer Andy Greene noted that several of his songs "are embedded in the culture and have been covered countless times."
Writing for The New York Times, Giovanni Russonello considered Withers "[a] soulful singer with a gift for writing understated classics", adding, "the ultimate homespun hitmaker, he had an innate sense of what might make a song memorable, and little interest in excess attitude or accoutrements. Ultimately Withers reminded us that it’s the everyday that is the most meaningful: work, family, love, loss." A Billboard article considered that Withers "stands as one of R&B/soul music's most revered singer-songwriters." In the same magazine, writer Gail Mitchell acknowledged "Withers' legacy has flourished in the decades since, thanks to a cross-section of artists who have covered/sampled his songs or cited him as a major influence." Musician and music journalist Questlove referred to Withers' post-breakup 1974 album +'Justments as "a diary [...] [it] was a pre-reality-show look at his life. Keep in mind this was years before Marvin Gaye did it with Here, My Dear." The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson deemed him "a songwriter's songwriter". Musicians Sade, D'Angelo, Justin Timberlake, John Legend and Ed Sheeran have credited Withers as a music inspiration.
Withers died from heart complications in Los Angeles on March 30, 2020, at age 81; his family announced his death four days later. He is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).
It Ain't Because of Me Baby
Bill Withers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That you're bein' alone
Nobody's fault but your own
If you've been lonely
Because if only, reach out for me
You'll reach out for me, baby
I'm as close as your phone
I've been home
And home ain't home
These lyrics by Bill Withers speak to the idea that the singer is not responsible for the loneliness that their love interest is experiencing. The singer seems to be implying that their love interest is responsible for their own loneliness, and that it is not fair for them to put the blame on the singer. The singer is also indicating that the solution to the love interest's loneliness is as easy as reaching out for the singer. By doing so, they will be able to end their loneliness and find comfort in the singer's companionship.
The repeated phrase "if only" suggests that the singer is trying to persuade the love interest that they are the solution to their problems. By saying that they need to reach out, the singer is subtly saying that the love interest is avoiding their own happiness. The qualifier "if only" implies that the love interest already knows what will make them happy but is holding themselves back. The singer is stating that they are not responsible for the love interest's reluctance to reach out and that ultimately the singer is there for them.
Line by Line Meaning
It ain't because of me, baby
I am not the reason why you are alone, my dear
That you're bein' alone
Your loneliness is not caused by me
Nobody's fault but your own
It's your own fault that you are lonely
If you've been lonely
Assuming that you have been alone
Because if only, reach out for me
If only you would reach out to me
You'll reach out for me, baby
You will contact me, my dear
I'm as close as your phone
I am just a phone call away
Ever since you've been gone
Since you left
I've been home
I have been staying at home
And home ain't home
But it doesn't feel like home without you
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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