The soul man Bill Withers’ 1972 chart topping single

On this day in 1972, this song written and recorded by Bill Withers took the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the soul singles chart.

It was the first single from his second album, Still Bill and has since been named number 205 on the Rolling Stone’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”. Interestingly it is one of the few songs ever to have two different artists record versions that reached number one.

He recorded other major hits including “Ain’t No Sunshine”, “Use Me” and “Just the Two of Us”. But this song in particular had special meaning to Bill. He got the inspiration for the song from his childhood in the coal mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia. When he moved to Los Angeles, he missed the strong community feel of his hometown and so, the famous title and phrase of the song originated. As well, the words “Call Me” are repeated a total of 14 times at the end of the song!

Can you guess the track?

Listen to Bill Withers class song, “Lean On Me” below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wpof8s5ZTg

Is this one of your favourite songs? Do you remember listening to Bill Withers back in the 1970s?