| "Use Me" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Side A of the US single | ||||
| Single by Bill Withers | ||||
| from the album Still Bill | ||||
| B-side | "Let Me in Your Life" | |||
| Released | August 1972 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:45 | |||
| Label | Sussex Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bill Withers | |||
| Bill Withers singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Official audio | ||||
| "Use Me" on YouTube | ||||
"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 song is noted for its repeated bass figure which is heard alongside a complex rhythm in the percussion.[ citation needed ]
Withers has said the song relates to feedback he received from women that he was "too nice", and his intent to change that:
That's fun stuff. That's just talkin' trash. That’s just a song about being a little playful, a little arrogant and a little cool. Unless you were one of those people that were born popular, I was a chronic stutterer until I was twenty-eight. I avoided the phone. So I wasn't this popular guy. I remember being young and I would have girls tell me, "You’re too nice." I didn't understand that.
What kind of twisted world are we in? Women like bad boys, I guess. There is no more confusing form of rejection than for somebody to tell you that you’re not interesting to them because you’re too nice.
So over the course of time, you say okay, you wanna play, okay, let's play? Use Me taps into that. I tried to be nice, now let's get nasty. That song came quick. I was working in McDonnell Douglas out in Long Beach and the noise of the factory, they had some women working there. I crossed that line there thinking, “You all want a nasty boy? Well here I come.” [laughs]. [2]
It was Withers second-biggest hit in the United States, released in September 1972 and later reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. [3] It was kept from No. 1 by both "Ben" by Michael Jackson and "My Ding-a-Ling" by Chuck Berry. [4] "Use Me" also peaked at No. 2 on the soul chart for two weeks. [5] Withers performed it on Soul Train on November 4, 1972. [6] Billboard ranked "Use Me" as the No. 78 song for 1972. [7] The song was certified Gold by the RIAA. [8]
Music critic Robert Christgau called "Use Me" "one of the few knowledgeable songs about sex our supposedly sexy music has ever produced", featuring a "cross-class attraction" in its narrative. [9]
| Chart (1972) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Easy Listening | 14 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles | 2 |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100 | 5 |
| Canada RPM Hot Singles | 33 |
| Chart (1972) | Rank |
|---|---|
| US Cash Box [10] | 100 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI) [11] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
A variety of artists have covered the song, including:
William Harrison Withers Jr. was an American singer and songwriter. He is known for having several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), "Use Me" (1972), "Lean on Me" (1972), "Lovely Day" (1977) and "Just the Two of Us" (1980). Withers won three Grammy Awards out of nine total nominations.
Tupelo Honey is the fifth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released in October 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. Morrison had written all of the songs in Woodstock, New York, before his move to Marin County, California, except for "You're My Woman", which he wrote during the recording sessions. Recording began at the beginning of the second quarter of 1971 at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco. Morrison moved to the Columbia Studios in May 1971 to complete the album.
Jackson Browne is the debut album of American singer Jackson Browne, released in 1972. It peaked on the Billboard 200 chart at number 53. Two singles were released with "Doctor, My Eyes", which peaked at number 8 on the Pop Singles chart, and "Rock Me on the Water", which reached number 48.
The Emotions are an American soul/R&B vocal group from Chicago. The group started out in gospel music but transitioned into R&B and disco music. The Emotions were named by VH1 as one of the 18 most influential girl groups of all time.
"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. String arrangements were arranged by Jones. The song was recorded in Los Angeles, with overdubs in Memphis by engineer Terry Manning.
Prince is the second studio album by the American musician Prince. It was released on October 19, 1979, by Warner Bros. Records. The album was written, arranged, composed, produced and performed entirely by Prince. Overall, Prince was regarded as more diverse than For You (1978), and performed better critically and commercially. Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote: "This boy is going to be a big star, and he deserves it".
"It's Too Late" is a song from American singer-songwriter Carole King's second studio album, Tapestry (1971). Toni Stern wrote the lyrics and King wrote the music. It was released as a single in April 1971 and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. Sales were later platinum-certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Billboard ranked "It's Too Late" and its fellow A-side, "I Feel the Earth Move", as the No. 3 record for 1971.
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.
"A Horse with No Name" is a song by American folk rock trio America. Written by Dewey Bunnell, it was released on the Warner Bros. label, in late 1971 in Europe and early 1972 in the United States. The song was met with commercial success and topped charts in Canada, Finland, and the United States. It reached number 3 in the UK singles chart. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on March 24, 1972. The song was quickly added to a rerelease of the bands' debut studio album, America. The song is a staple of the group's discography and one of their most popular.
"Lean on Me" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bill Withers. It was released in April 1972 as the first single from his second album, Still Bill. It was a number one single on both the soul and Billboard Hot 100 charts, the latter chart for three weeks in July 1972. Billboard ranked it as the No. 7 song of 1972. It was ranked number 208 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2010. Numerous other versions have been recorded, and it is one of only nine songs to have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with versions recorded by two different artists. In 2007, the 1972 recording of the song by Bill Withers on Sussex Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. 1970s Glam Rock band 'MUD' recorded a cover of the song in 1976 that became a chart hit in the UK the same year.
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Still Bill is the second studio album by American soul singer-songwriter and producer Bill Withers, released in 1972 by Sussex Records. The album was recorded and produced by Withers with musicians from the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. The rhythmic music produced for the record features soul, funk, and blues sounds, backing lyrics that explore themes of human nature, emotion, and sex from a middle-class male perspective. It also features some of Withers' most popular songs, including the hit singles "Lean on Me" and "Use Me". A commercial and critical success at the time of its release, Still Bill has since been regarded by music journalists as a highlight of the singer's recording career and a classic of 1970s R&B.
As I Am is the third studio album by American singer and songwriter Alicia Keys, released on November 9, 2007, by J Records. Recording sessions for the album took place at various recording studios from 2005 until 2007. Production was handled primarily by Keys, Kerry Brothers Jr., Jack Splash, and Linda Perry, with a guest contribution from musician John Mayer.
"Outa-Space" is an instrumental recorded by Billy Preston that originally appeared on his 1971 A&M Records-debut album, I Wrote a Simple Song. To create the primary instrumental sound, Preston played a clavinet through a wah wah pedal. The song was created by Preston improvising while calling out chord changes to the backing band. He later added organ and hand claps. Preston named the song "Outa-Space" for the instrumental's spacy sound.
Big City is the thirty-third studio album by American country music artist Merle Haggard backed by the Strangers, released in 1981. It was his debut on the Epic label after ending his association with MCA. Big City peaked at number three on the Billboard Country Album charts and number 161 on the Pop Album charts. It is an RIAA-certified Gold album.
Making Music is the fourth studio album by American soul singer-songwriter and producer Bill Withers, released in 1975. It was also released in the UK as Making Friends.
Song Sung Blue is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 13, 1972, by Columbia Records and featured his renditions of mostly recent chart hits.
When Will I See You Again is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in March 1975 by Columbia Records and was again predominantly composed of covers of recent hit songs by other artists.
Live at Carnegie Hall is a live album by American soul singer-songwriter and producer Bill Withers. The album was recorded on October 6, 1972, at Carnegie Hall in New York City and released on April 21, 1973, by Sussex Records as a double LP. On October 28, 1997, it was reissued as a single CD by Columbia/Legacy.
The discography of American singer-songwriter and musician Bill Withers (1938–2020). It consists of eight studio albums, one live album, 10 compilation albums and 34 singles.
