6.
Bill Withers – Just As I Am
I started off liking gimmicky records and then got round to appreciating the singers. I’m obsessed with the great reggae singer/songwriters – Bim Sherman, my friend who died, Gregory Isaacs, Bob Andy, Bob Marley of course, I could go on and on. But the person who really got me into checking lyrics was Bill Withers. I was 13 in 1970 when this came out. This was one of the albums I played in tandem with all the reggae stuff. I do to. ‘Harlem’, that’s an absolutely wicked song – the production, the way it builds up, the intensity, the use of blues riffs. Early stuff, later stuff, Bill Withers was great all the way through.
Selected in other Baker’s Dozens: Lord Spikeheart, Tom Ravenscroft
