Friday, April 3, 2020

Bill Withers -- Lovely Day


Sorry to give out some more bad news but soul singer-songwriter Bill Withers passed away today at the age of 81 earlier this week on March 30th. According to his Wikipedia article, he died from heart complications. I first got the news from Twitter since his name was trending this morning.


The first time I heard Withers was through his timeless duet with saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. "Just The Two of Us". But for many years, I'd thought that it was Washington Jr. playing and singing the groovy ballad when it was actually Withers behind the mike.


But then while I was living in Japan, I took notice of this commercial for Gap, and like probably millions of other viewers, I was absolutely transfixed by the dancing and the song. I didn't know who the singer was at the time, so I had that need to somehow track it down. In an aside, finding the ad again on YouTube this morning, I ended up watching three times to get my fix after having not seen it in almost 20 years.


Eventually, I did find out it was Bill Withers (which is also how I found out that he was the vocalist on "Just The Two of Us"). "Lovely Day" was his December 1977 single, and it's so cool and soulful that I think singers such as Misia, bird and Jamiroquai probably would have doffed their hats or caps to it in tribute, especially to that sustained note Withers pulls off. I would love to know who handled the horns, but I did discover that Ray Parker Jr. was on guitar for the recording. Skip Scarborough co-wrote the song with Withers.

You know, whenever I hear the song, I feel that the day can indeed be lovely. I hope that a lot of folks use this one or whatever their favourite song as their daily tonic, especially during these times.

So, at the time that "Lovely Day" was released, what was the big kayo in Japan? Well, some days following its release, the 19th Japan Record Awards were being held in Tokyo.

1. Grand Prize: Kenji Sawada - Katte ni Shiyagare


2. Best Vocal Performance: Aki Yashiro -- Ai no Shuuchaku Eki


3. Newcomer Award (one of four): Mizue Takada -- Garasuzaka


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