Bill Withers

I feel really lucky, because I get offered record deals now. The funny thing is, right after I did “Just the Two of Us” with Grover [Washington Jr.], I tried to get a record deal and I couldn’t get one (laughs). So now that I don’t care, I get offers! I have a funny phrase. I call A&R Departments Antagonistic & Redundant Departments (laughs). Because there’s always somebody in there who thinks they know what’s going on. They ask you, “How long is the intro? How long is the song? Are you gonna put horns on it?” I’ve always come out of left field anyway, because I know I’ve gotten away with doing songs like “Lean on Me,” which is not about romantic love, it’s just sort of generic feeling for people. Or “Grandma’s Hands.” Probably if you walked up to some guy in a bar and said, “You know, I really love my grandmother,” he’d probably move away from you. So, the record business has a sort of strange way of evaluating stuff.

From Performing Songwriter Issue 79, July/Aug 2004

Category: In Their Own Words