"Ain't No Sunshine" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Bill Withers | ||||
from the album Just As I Am | ||||
B-side | "Harlem" | |||
Released | July 1971 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:04 | |||
Label | Sussex | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bill Withers | |||
Producer(s) | Booker T. Jones | |||
Bill Withers singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Official audio | ||||
"Ain't No Sunshine" on YouTube |
"Ain't No Sunshine" is a song by Bill Withers, from his 1971 debut album Just As I Am, produced by Booker T. Jones. The record featured musicians Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass guitar, Al Jackson Jr. on drums and Stephen Stills on guitar. [2] String arrangements were done by Booker T. Jones. The song was recorded in Los Angeles, with overdubs in Memphis by engineer Terry Manning.
The song was released as a single in 1971, becoming a breakthrough hit for Withers, reaching number six on the U.S. R&B Chart and number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 23 song for 1971.
The song reached the Top 40 again in 2009, when it was sung by Kris Allen in the eighth season of American Idol .
In 2024, the single was added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, and/or aesthetically significant". [3]
Withers was inspired to write the song after watching the 1962 movie Days of Wine and Roses . He explained, in reference to the characters played by Lee Remick and Jack Lemmon, "They were both alcoholics who were alternately weak and strong. It's like going back for seconds on rat poison. Sometimes you miss things that weren't particularly good for you. It's just something that crossed my mind from watching that movie, and probably something else that happened in my life that I'm not aware of." [4]
For the song's third verse, Withers had intended to write more lyrics instead of repeating the phrase "I know" 26 times, but then followed the advice of the other musicians to leave it that way: "I was this factory worker puttering around," Withers said. "So when they said to leave it like that, I left it." [4]
Withers, then 31, was working at a factory making bathrooms for 747s at the time he wrote the song. When the song went gold, the record company presented Withers with a golden toilet seat, marking the start of his new career. [5] "Ain't No Sunshine" was the first of Withers' three gold records in the U.S.
Originally released as the B-side to another song called "Harlem", "Ain't No Sunshine" was preferred by disc jockeys, and it became a huge hit, Withers' first. [6] "Harlem" was subsequently covered by The 5th Dimension, who featured it on their Soul and Inspiration album and released it as a single.
Withers performed "Ain't No Sunshine" on The Old Grey Whistle Test . [7] It won the Grammy for Best R&B Song in 1972 [6] and is ranked 285th on Rolling Stone 's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. [8]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [24] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [25] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
Germany (BVMI) [26] | Gold | 250,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [27] | Platinum | 50,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [28] | 3× Platinum | 90,000‡ |
Portugal (AFP) [29] | 2× Platinum | 20,000‡ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [30] | 2× Platinum | 120,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [31] | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [32] | 4× Platinum | 4,000,000‡ |
Streaming | ||
Greece (IFPI Greece) [33] | Platinum | 2,000,000† |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
"Ain't No Sunshine" | ||||
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Single by Michael Jackson | ||||
from the album Got to Be There | ||||
B-side | "I Wanna Be Where You Are" | |||
Released | July 3, 1972 | |||
Recorded | 1971 | |||
Studio | Hitsville West (Los Angeles, California) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:09 | |||
Label | Motown | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bill Withers | |||
Producer(s) | Hal Davis | |||
Michael Jackson singles chronology | ||||
|
In 1971, singer Michael Jackson recorded a rendition of Bill Withers' song for his debut album Got to Be There (released in early 1972).
In the UK the song was released as the third (and final) single from the album (after the two singles "Got to Be There" and "Rockin' Robin", a cover of Bobby Day's 1958 song). The song "I Wanna Be Where You Are", which was released as the third single in the US, was on the B-side. It was a hit, peaking in the UK Singles Chart at number 8 for 3 weeks in September 1972. The song was remixed by Benny Blanco for the 2009 release The Remix Suite . The song's drum break was sampled in "Gonna Love Me" by Teyana Taylor from her second studio album K.T.S.E. .
Chart (1972) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Singles (OCC) [35] | 8 |
Chart (2009) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Singles (OCC) [36] | 92 |
The Polish rock band Budka Suflera recorded a cover version of the song in 1974 under the title "Sen o dolinie", with Krzysztof Cugowski providing the lead vocal. The single also appeared on their 1983 compilation album "1974-1984" released by Polskie Nagrania Muza. The Polish lyrics were written by Adam Sikorski. It peaked at number 14 on Poland's LP3 chart in 1983 [37]
In November 1991, Australian pop band Rockmelons, (featuring vocalist Deni Hines) released a version as the lead single of their second studio album, Form 1 Planet (1992). The version peaked at number five and was certified Gold in Australia. [38] [39] It also peaked at number eight in New Zealand. [40]
The Nylons version was released in 1998 and reached number 53 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart. [41] A South African male choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo recorded its own version featuring vocalist Des'ree for their studio album In Harmony (1999). As a single, the version peaked at number 42 in the UK. [42]
A heavy metal band Black Label Society covered the song entitled "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone" for their 2013 album Unblackened . As a single, the version peaked at number 42 on the Canadian Rock Chart. [43]
Dohnyale Sharon "Deni" Hines is an Australian singer who has been releasing music since the early 1990s, with chart success in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Europe. She is the daughter of American-born Australian singer Marcia Hines.
American rock musician Bruce Springsteen has released 21 studio albums, 23 live albums, 77 singles, and 66 music videos. Widely referred to as "The Boss" by the media, Springsteen has sold over 150 million records worldwide, listing him among the best-selling music artists in history. Billboard ranked him as the 24th Greatest Artist of all time. According to Recording Industry Association of America, he has sold 65.5 million albums in the United States, making him the 7th best-selling male soloist of all time. Born in the U.S.A. remains the best-selling album of his career, selling more than 30 million copies around the world.
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and became a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes frontwoman Diana Ross. The song became Ross's first solo number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Got to Be There is the debut solo studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released by Motown on January 24, 1972, four weeks after the Jackson 5's Greatest Hits (1971). It includes the song of the same name, which was released on October 7, 1971, as Jackson's debut solo single.
The discography of American rhythm and blues singer Diana Ross, the former lead singer of the Supremes, consists of 26 studio albums and 116 singles. Throughout her career, Ross has sold over 100 million records worldwide. Billboard ranked her as the 47th Greatest Artist of all time and the 11th Greatest Hot 100 Female Artist of all time. In 1993, Guinness World Records crowned Ross as the "most successful female artist in music history". Her 11th studio album "Diana" remains the best-selling album of her career, selling more than 10 million copies and album-equivalent units around the world.
"Ain't Nobody" is a song by American funk band Rufus and American singer Chaka Khan. It was released on November 4, 1983 by Warner Bros., as one of four studio tracks included on their live album, Stompin' at the Savoy (1983). "Ain't Nobody" quickly gathered popularity, and reached number one on the US Billboard R&B chart and number 22 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In 1984 at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards, "Ain't Nobody" won for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. It has become one of Khan's signature songs.
"Just the Two of Us" is a 1980 song written by Bill Withers, William Salter, and Ralph MacDonald, and recorded by Grover Washington Jr. with Withers on vocals. Elektra Records released it in Washington's 1980 album Winelight and as a February 1981 single.
Rockmelons, often referred to as the Rockies, were an Australian pop/dance/R&B group formed in 1983 in Sydney. Primary members are Bryon Jones, his brother Jonathon Jones and Raymond Medhurst. They had two Australian top five hit singles in the early 1990s with "Ain't No Sunshine" and "That Word (L.O.V.E.)", both sung by Deni Hines. The associated album, Form 1 Planet, peaked at number 3 on the ARIA albums chart in 1992, and was certified platinum in Australia.
American pop rock band OneRepublic has released six studio albums, one live album, six extended plays, 39 singles, 10 promotional singles, and 31 music videos. Formed in 2002, OneRepublic first found commercial recognition when their song "Apologize" was released onto Myspace in 2006 and they subsequently became the biggest act on that site. It was remixed by American record producer Timbaland, appearing on his album Shock Value. Released as a single in 2007, the song topped the charts in multiple countries, including Australia and Canada, while also reaching the top three in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has since sold over 3.6 million digital downloads in the United States. The band's debut studio album, Dreaming Out Loud, was released in November 2007. It hit the top ten on the albums charts of countries such as Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. It also peaked at number 14 on the US Billboard 200, earning a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album's second single, "Stop and Stare", peaked at number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 while also reaching the top five in Austria and the United Kingdom. The album spawned three more singles: "Say ", "Mercy", and "Come Home".
"Use Me" is a song, composed and originally recorded by Bill Withers. It was included on his 1972 album Still Bill and was released as a single. An eight-minute live version opens the 1973 album "Live at Carnegie Hall."
The American rock band Paramore has released six studio albums, five extended plays, two live albums, twenty-eight singles, one video album, thirty music videos, and one remix album. The band was formed in Franklin, Tennessee, in 2004 by lead vocalist Hayley Williams with guitarists Josh Farro and Taylor York, bassist Jeremy Davis, and drummer Zac Farro. In 2005, Paramore signed with the New York City-based Fueled by Ramen and released their debut album entitled All We Know Is Falling. Three singles were released from the album, but none of them charted. The album did not chart in the Billboard 200 either, although it peaked at number thirty in the Billboard Top Heatseekers. All We Know Is Falling received gold certification in the United Kingdom and in July 2014 the RIAA certified the album gold in the United States.
"Lovely Day" is a song by American soul and R&B singer Bill Withers. Written by Withers and Skip Scarborough, it was released on December 21, 1977, and appears on Withers's sixth album, Menagerie (1977). Withers holds a sustained note towards the end which, at 18 seconds, is one of the longest ever recorded on an American pop song. The song was listed at No. 402 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time" in 2021.
Desirée Annette Weekes, known by her stage name Des'ree, is a British pop recording artist who rose to popularity during the 1990s. She is best known for her hits "Feel So High", "You Gotta Be", "Life", and "Kissing You". At the 1999 Brit Awards she received the Brit Award for Best British female solo artist.
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