Overview
Still Bill is the second studio album by American soul singer-songwriter and producer Bill Withers, released in 1972 by Sussex Records. The album was recorded and produced by Withers with musicians from the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. The rhythmic music produced for the record features soul, funk, and blues sounds, backing lyrics that explore themes of human nature, emotion, and sex from a middle-class male perspective. It also features some of Withers' most popular songs, including the hit singles "Lean on Me" and "Use Me". A commercial and critical success at the time of its release, Still Bill has since been regarded by music journalists as a highlight of the singer's recording career and a classic of 1970s R&B.
Reception
Still Bill was met with positive reviews. Writing for Rolling Stone in 1972, Vince Aletti regarded it as an improvement over Withers' debut album Just as I Am, particularly because of the singer's production, which sustains even the less exceptional songs here. "On the whole", Aletti claimed, "it's a tougher, more relaxed, more assured album ... Nothing is thrown away, everything works with an unexpected clarity and strength." Billboard hailed Still Bill as justification for the critical hype surrounding his debut and live performances, while observing "plenty of sunshine" in the music, highlighting "Lean on Me", "Who is He (And What Is He to You)", "Kissing My Love", and "Lonely Town, Lonely Street". Reviewing in Creem, Robert Christgau gave the record a B-plus and said, "Withers has created the most credible persona of any of the new middle-class male soul singers, avoiding Marvin Gaye's occasional vapidity, Donny Hathaway's overkill, and Curtis Mayfield's blackness-mongering. He sounds straight, strong, compassionate. This album moves out rhythmically, too". However, the critic concluded with reservations about its "missing some essential excitement".
Commercially, Still Bill produced two hit singles: "Lean on Me" (number one on both the Billboard pop and R&B charts in mid 1972) and "Use Me" (number two on the same charts later that year). On September 7, 1972, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), having recorded at least 500,000 copies sold.
Reappraisal and legacy
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