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.