Bill Withers got the idea for classsic 'Ain't No Sunshine' while watching a Jack Lemmon movie about alcoholism
Bill Withers, who wrote and sang a timeless discography of hits in the 1970s including “Lean On Me,” “Lovely Day” and “Ain’t No Sunshine,” has died from heart complications, his family said in a statement to The Associated Press. He was 81.
The three-time Grammy Award winner, who withdrew from making music in the mid-1980s, died in Los Angeles on Monday, the statement said. His death comes as the public has drawn inspiration from his music during the coronavirus pandemic, with health care workers, choirs, artists and more posting their own renditions of “Lean on Me” to help them get through the difficult times.
Here we shed light on Withers' most popular number of all time, "Ain't no sunshine", which has a unique story of its own.
The legendary singer-songwriter revealed the artistic origins of the masterpiece in a 2004 interview with Songfacts, explaining how it really came about.
"I was watching a movie called Days Of Wine And Roses (1962) with Lee Remick and Jack Lemmon. They were both alcoholics who were alternately weak and strong," he recalled. "It's like going back for seconds on rat poison. Sometimes you miss things that weren't particularly good for you. It's just something that crossed my mind from watching that movie, and probably something else that happened in my life that I'm not aware of."
This became Wither's first hit after spending nine years in the US Navy and landing a job at a factory manufacturing parts for airplanes. Around this time, he was introduced to Booker T. Jones from Booker T. & the MG's.
Booker, who was already an elite musician with Stax Records, roped in some other top-notch musicians and produced the album 'Just As I Am' for Withers in 1971.
While the song was released as the B-side to the main track titled "Harlem," RJs and DJs took a liking to "Ain't no sunshine" and made it an instant hit. It is interesting to note that all the instruments on this track are acoustic in nature. And among the top brass musicians behind the magic are Booker T. Jones on keyboards, Stephen Stills on guitar, Jim Keltner on drums, Bobbye Hall on percussion, and finally Bill Withers on guitar and vocals.
A notable section of the song where Withers repeats "I know, I know," was reportedly not what he had in mind.
"I wasn't going to do that, then Booker T. said, 'No, leave it like that.' I was going to write something there, but there was a general consensus in the studio," Withers told Songfacts. "It was an interesting thing because I've got all these guys that were already established, and I was working in the factory at the time."
"Graham Nash was sitting right in front of me, just offering his support. Stephen Stills was playing and there was Booker T. and Al Jackson and Donald Dunn - all of the MGs except Steve Cropper," he continued. "They were all these people with all this experience and all these reputations, and I was this factory worker just sort of puttering around. So when their general feeling was, 'Leave it like that,' I left it like that.
"Ain't no sunshine" did not chart in the UK on its first release. However, Michael Jackson's cover made it to #8 there in 1972. The same year, Withers won the Grammy for Best R&B Song in 1972.
In fact, the original version of the song made its first entry into the UK singles chart only in May 2009 after it was performed by Britain's Got Talent contestant Shaun Smith.
It is also interesting to note that while "ain't no" is definitely not good grammar, it sounds a lot better than "there isn't any" in the context of a song. Furthermore, it adds a pedestrian touch that resonated with the everyday working-class of the time.
The track was instrumental in transforming Withers into a pop culture icon, and went on to be featured in several blockbuster movies such as Girls Town (1996), Notting Hill (1999), Old School (2003) and Munich (2005). A number of TV shows also used the song, including Monk (2005), CSI: NY (2009) and Scandal (2013).