Bill Withers – Naked & Warm (1976/2009)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 41:06 minutes | 749 MB | Genre: R&B, Soul
Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | @ Columbia / Legacy Recordings
Recorded: 1976 at Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA
Menagerie (1977) takes a step backwards, although it does contain his sunny “Lovely Day”, famous for Withers holding a note for 18 seconds. Despite titles such as “She Wants to (Get on Down)” (which also found its way in the movie Looking for Mr. Goodbar), the bulk of material is soft and gentle, as indicated by other titles such as “Tender Things” and “Lovely Night for Dancing”. These songs border on the sopoforic more than seductive.
“Warm wonderful soul from Bill – recorded with a bit less of the acoustic folksy sound that graced his Sussex recordings, but still with loads of excellent song writing, and a whole bunch of great piano work in place of the missing guitar.” -Dusty Groove
Bill’s second album for Columbia was a somewhat funkier affair than his debut. “Here Withers returns to the simple ways of his past, working five or six musicians for the kind of hard groove that doesn’t have many parallels in black music these days.” -Robert Christgau
Tracklist:
1. Close to Me 03:54
2. Naked & Warm 05:46
3. Where Are You? 03:56
4. Dreams 05:32
5. If I Didn’t Mean You Well 03:03
6. I’ll Be with You 03:10
7. City of the Angels 10:46
8. My Imagination 04:53
Personnel:
Bill Withers – Lead Vocals and Backing Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Geoffrey Leib – Guitar, Piano, Electric Piano
Benorce Blackmon – Guitar, Electric Guitar
Don Freeman – Piano, Electric Piano, Synthesizer
Jerry Knight – Bass, Backing Vocals
Larry Nash, Youseff Rahman – Electric Piano
Larry Tolbert – Drums
Clifford Coulter – Moog Synthesizer
Melvin Dunlap – Bass
Kwasi “Rocki” Dzidzomu – Conga
Dorothy Ashby – Harp
Earl “Crusher” Bennett – Conga, Cowbell, Slapstick, Tambourine, Vibraslap
Marsha Johnson, Helen Gonder, Lenny Booker, Lois Booker – Backing Vocals
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