Which one is your favorite? - XXXI -

This week's song is coming from Bill Withers, whom we lost on March 30th. The sweet-voiced baritone had written hits like "Ain't No Sunshine", "Lean On Me" and "Just The Two Of Us" that were covered by many artists. I chose another song which I personally like very much.


Here is the song for this week;

"Use Me"

This is a song, composed and originally recorded by Bill Withers, which was included on his 1972 album Still Bill. It was his second-biggest hit in the United States, released in September 1972, and later reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The song is about a guy whose girlfriend walks all over him. His friends try to convince him to break up with her, but he enjoys the abuse and won't consider leaving. As Withers explains in the 2009 documentary Still Bill, he didn't write it about a particular person. He came up with the song when he was working as a mechanic making airplane parts - the original inspiration was his employer. After all, he was making $3 an hour and wasn't getting much attention from the ladies.

Withers' band for the album was keyboardist Ray Jackson, bassist Melvin Dunlop, guitarist Benorce Blackman and drummer James Gadson. In 2003, Withers told Mojo magazine that they rehearsed in Gadson's garage, and then, "We cut that whole Still Bill album in eight hours for $7,500. I loved that band." According to Gadson, he played the groove for about 5 minutes before Withers came up with the song.

Here are the 6 versions I picked for you;

• Liza Minnelli - "Use Me"

• Patricia Barber - "Use Me"

• José James - "Use Me" 

• Better Than Ezra - "Use Me"

• Grace Jones - "Use Me"

• Mick Jagger & Lenny Kravitz - "Use Me"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.