"Ain't No Sunshine" | ||||
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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 | ||||
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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 arranged by 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) [25] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [26] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
Germany (BVMI) [27] | Gold | 250,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [28] | Platinum | 50,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [29] | 3× Platinum | 90,000‡ |
Portugal (AFP) [30] | 2× Platinum | 20,000‡ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [31] | 2× Platinum | 120,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [32] | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [33] | 4× Platinum | 4,000,000‡ |
Streaming | ||
Greece (IFPI Greece) [34] | 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) [36] | 8 |
Chart (2009) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Singles (OCC) [37] | 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 [38]
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. [39] [40] It also peaked at number eight in New Zealand. [41]
The Nylons version was released in 1998 and reached number 53 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart. [42] 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. [43]
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. [44]
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.
"Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is a Christmas song written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, and first recorded by Harry Reser and His Orchestra. When it was covered by Eddie Cantor on his radio show in November 1934 it became a hit; within 24 hours, 500,000 copies of sheet music and more than 30,000 records were sold. The version for Bluebird Records by George Hall and His Orchestra was very popular in 1934 and reached the various charts of the day. The song has been recorded by over 200 artists including Mariah Carey, Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, the Crystals, Neil Diamond, Fred Astaire, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Mitch Miller, Boxcar Willie, Bill Evans, Chris Isaak, the Temptations, The Pointer Sisters, the Carpenters, Michael Bublé, Luis Miguel, Michael Bolton, jschlatt, and the Jackson 5.
American rock musician Bruce Springsteen has released 21 studio albums, 121 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.
The Irish rock band U2 has released 15 studio albums, one live album, three compilation albums, 84 singles, and nine extended plays (EPs). The band formed at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in 1976 as teenagers. In 1979, the group issued their first release, the EP U2-3, which sold well in Ireland. The following year, the group signed to Island Records and released their debut album, Boy. It reached number 52 in the UK and number 63 in the US. They followed it up with the release of October (1981) and War (1983). War was a commercial success, becoming the band's first number-one album in the UK while reaching number 12 in the US. The album included the singles "Two Hearts Beat As One", "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New Year's Day". On the subsequent War Tour, the group recorded the live album Under a Blood Red Sky and concert film U2 Live at Red Rocks, both of which sold well and helped establish them globally as a live act.
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.
Just As I Am is the debut studio album by American soul musician Bill Withers, released on May 1 1971, by Sussex Records. The album features the hit single "Ain't No Sunshine", which was ranked at number 280 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The album is also known for featuring the single "Grandma's Hands," which reached number 18 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart and 42 on the Billboard Hot 100. Booker T. Jones produced, arranged, and played keyboards and guitar on Just As I Am. The album was later reissued as a dual disc with the DVD side featuring all the tracks in 5.1 Surround Sound.
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English rock band Arctic Monkeys have released seven studio albums, five extended plays, two video albums, 24 music videos and 23 singles. Formed in 2002 by guitarist and vocalist Alex Turner, guitarist and backing vocalist Jamie Cook, bass guitarist and backing vocalist Andy Nicholson and drummer and backing vocalist Matt Helders, Arctic Monkeys released their first EP, Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys, in May 2005, and signed with London-based Domino Recording Company in June.
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"Ain't No Sunshine" is a literal throughline from the era's Southern soul to the folk-rock movement...
another day paul mccartney.
It doesn't matter if it's reworked by teen-pop icons...