It didn’t hurt that Bill Withers had musicians playing on his album that read like a who’s who throughout his career:
Booker T. Jones (Booker T. & The MG’s); Stephen Stills (Crosby, Stills, & Nash); James Gadson, Ray Jackson, Melvin Dunlap, and Benorce Blackmon (The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band); Dorothy Ashby; Keni Burke; Ralph MacDonald; Ray Parker; Paulinho da Costa; Paul Jackson, Jr.; David Foster; and Greg Phillinganes. Take all of that away, however, and you’re still left with a collection of tunes crafted by a songsmith whose insight into the life of the everyman is as honest as it is reflective.
