Bill Withers

Accurately titled, Withers' debut album is as open and honest as the artist himself. The public immediately responded to "Ain't No Sunshine," which illustrates Withers' Southern soul-meets-folk rock style. "Grandma's Hands" is the kind of warm family history that everyone can connect with, while the stoic "Hope She'll Be Happier" is just devastating.

With faultness production from Booker T.--even the strings are taut--this is an unusually likable and listenable middlebrow soul LP. As befits a strummer of acoustic guitars, Withers is more folk than pop, and when he adds folk seriousness to a gospel fervor surprising in such an apparently even-tempered man, he makes titles like "I'm Her Daddy" and "Better Off Dead" take on overtones of radical protest where other singers would descend into bathos. I don't find that even standout cuts like "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Grandma's Hands" reach out and grab me, but except for a letdown toward the end of side two the flow sustains. (Grade - A-)