Columbia/Legacy (2012) Bill Withers has always been the down-to-earth, odd-man-out of the '70s soul brothers: he's the one who came bearing a lunch box on the cover of his relaxed 1971 debut, Just as I Am. In an era of lavish, disco-prompted come-ons, Withers's unrefined, blue-collar take on R&B was — and continues to be — refreshing and disarming. This exhaustive nine-disc box set includes at least one undisputed masterpiece (1972's Still Bill), one overlooked masterpiece (1974's +'Justments), one all-killer live record (1973's Live at Carnegie Hall), and plenty of other offerings that hit more often than they miss. He was arguably strongest in the first years of his career (later albums 'Bout Love and Watching You Watching Me turn Withers's low-key formula into anonymity), but his trademark duality – smooth/gruff, casual/paranoid — is in great abundance on any given record.
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