Music 'Was Fun . . . but It's Not My Main Focus'

Anchored by Home Life, Bill Withers Is Still an Alluring Soul

In 1985, the great R&B singer Bill Withers made his last record, leaving fans hungry for more of the sinuous grooves, poignant lyrics and Courvoisier-smooth voice that made his songs so instantly recognizable. For the past 30 years, Withers has lived a life of contented domesticity with his wife, Marcia and children Todd and Kori. But despite his best efforts to leave fame behind, suddenly he's everywhere, with his sultry ballad "Use Me" promoting the HBO series "Hung" and two films coming out: "Still Bill," a documentary about Withers's life and career, and "Soul Power," about the concert that preceded the Muhammad Ali-George Foreman boxing match in Zaire in 1974. (The films will be shown at the Silverdocs Film Festival on Thursday at 9 p.m. and Friday at 9:45 p.m., respectively.)

- Ann Hornaday

Bill Withers, you're having a moment. It seems like wherever you go, one of your songs is playing.

I don't know. Marcia deals with all that stuff in the office, so she's probably more aware of that than I am. So I'll take your word for it.

So you have no interest in a comeback?

There's a time for everything. And at certain times in your life, when you're young enough for that kind of vanity, you draw attention to yourself. And some people can do that into their eighties. It depends on your personality and how you've been socialized. I wasn't socialized in the entertainment business. I was in the Navy for nine years, I had a life outside of this well into my thirties [Withers worked in the aeronautics industry even after "Ain't No Sunshine" became a hit]. You know, this whole music thing was something that came into my life after I was formed socially. So it was fun, it served its purpose, I still like it, but it's not my main focus. In fact, it hasn't been for a long time. There are other requirements. You're somebody's father, you're somebody's husband, you're somebody's friend. And for me, it was important that I not neglect those other requirements just to satisfy some personal need that I might have for approval or attention from people that I don't even know.

That seems incredibly wise.

I don't know how wise it is. I think we protect ourselves, if we're lucky, [from taking] on more than we're naturally equipped to handle. And I don't know if I'm built to be the center of attention all the time. I've been fortunate enough that the music that I've done seems to have its own life without me having to show up everywhere and wave. Then again, we all live according to the options that are provided to us. Maybe if I had to, I'd be grinding it out every night in some joint somewhere.

In "Still Bill," you're clearly ambivalent about fame, and uncomfortable in the spotlight. Have you watched the movie yet?

Some of it. When we got down to the end and they were editing and re-cutting and stuff, I got tired of it. I turned it over to my wife. I was like, "This is wringing me out. I'm done." I said, "I wanna go to Home Depot. If there's anything embarrassing, make them take it out. I'll be over in the aisle with the new flush valves." You know, I'm accustomed to working in the 3-to-4 minute format. Songs don't last that long, so it doesn't take me that long to say what I need to say. Films are a lot more involved.

You have one of the most pure, unforced voices in music --

-- It's funny you should say that, because over the years I don't think I've been looked at as this voice. In fact most of the criticism I'd get was that I wasn't this great voice, that basically I was just this songwriter. So I'll have to accept your compliment and leave at that.

Can you talk a little about the Rumble in the Jungle?

I remember the trip. The trip was a trip. I didn't stay for the fight, because it was postponed, and I got tired of being someplace else so I came home. But I was there for about a month. How many trips are you ever gonna go on in your life where you've got Budd Schulberg, George Plimpton and Norman Mailer in the same hotel hanging out with B. B. King and the Fania All-Stars and the Crusaders and the Pointer Sisters? There were all these personalities that normally wouldn't run into each other. So your options were, when you got up in the morning, who do I want to talk to today? When you're a little boy growing up in Slab Fork, West Virginia, the last thing on your mind is that you're going to be over in Africa hanging out with the heavyweight champion of the world.

I can't let you go without asking you something for my personal benefit. When "Ain't No Sunshine" was a huge hit, my father and I had a competition going about who could count the number of times you sing, "I know" during the bridge. Once and for all, how many was it?

We'll have to take the word of someone who counted it. And the most consistent number that has come up is 26. You know, I wasn't going to write anything there, but [the record's producer] Booker T. said, "Just do that, just do 'I know.' " Those are things you do when you're not thinking about it. You're just singing the song.