0:00:02 > 0:00:04# Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
0:00:06 > 0:00:09# It's not warm when she's away
0:00:12 > 0:00:16# Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
0:00:16 > 0:00:22# She always gone too long Anytime she goes away
0:00:25 > 0:00:29# Wonder this time where she's gone
0:00:31 > 0:00:35# Wonder if she's gonna stay
0:00:38 > 0:00:41# Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
0:00:41 > 0:00:47# This house just ain't no home anytime she goes away
0:00:51 > 0:00:54# I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
0:00:54 > 0:00:57# I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
0:00:57 > 0:00:59# I know, I know, I know
0:00:59 > 0:01:02# I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
0:01:02 > 0:01:05# I know, I know, I know
0:01:05 > 0:01:08# I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
0:01:08 > 0:01:11# I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
0:01:11 > 0:01:14# Hey, I oughta leave the young thing alone
0:01:14 > 0:01:17# But ain't no sunshine when she's gone
0:01:20 > 0:01:23# Anytime she goes away
0:01:27 > 0:01:37# Anytime she goes awa-aay. #
0:01:37 > 0:01:39APPLAUSE
0:01:39 > 0:01:45TV PLAYS
0:01:57 > 0:02:01Can I take us right back to when you first started?
0:02:01 > 0:02:06- How did your recording career come about?- I saved up some of my own money and recorded myself.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08I had never written any songs,
0:02:08 > 0:02:13I didn't really know how to play anything and I had never sung before. Not really,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16you know, in the shower or some place. But I just...
0:02:16 > 0:02:19decided it would be awfully nice to get into the music business
0:02:19 > 0:02:22and then I just walked around and knocked on everybody's door.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26A lot of times, I would go in, and somebody would say to me,
0:02:26 > 0:02:30"You're too old to be just beginning."
0:02:30 > 0:02:33You know, I was like, 32 years old at the time.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Most of the major record companies called me up.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38But they had a different idea of how...
0:02:38 > 0:02:40they didn't want me to do anything quiet.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43They had this rhythm and blues syndrome in their mind
0:02:43 > 0:02:48with the horns and the three chicks and the gold lame suit, you know.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51I wasn't really into that, I had a job,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55so I thought, "If they won't let me do it like I want to do it,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59"I've got this good job, making these toilets - I don't need you cats."
0:02:59 > 0:03:03- "Making these toilets"! What kind of toilet were you making?- For aircraft.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05- Ah!- Yeah, 747 aircraft.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09I installed cameras in those toilets...
0:03:09 > 0:03:12unbeknownst to anybody but me.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17So if you've ever been to the bathroom on a 747, I know you very well!
0:03:17 > 0:03:20LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:03:24 > 0:03:29So...here's all the stuff that I don't know how to work.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31HE CHUCKLES
0:03:31 > 0:03:37I mean, I guess the stuff works, I know how to turn it on, you know.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39I can make lights come on and stuff. Let's see...
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Yeah, I can turn that on...
0:03:43 > 0:03:46And, er...let's see...
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Turn this fan on here to cool that down.
0:03:49 > 0:03:55This thing's been sitting here corroding for about ten years.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59I think I got a speaker thing here...
0:03:59 > 0:04:01Fooling around, let's see.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03I was just playing with all these gadgets.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07DEMOS PLAYING: DRUMS/MUSIC
0:04:07 > 0:04:12I have to be careful that I don't just wallow in my own comfort.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16Probably now, I'm trying to find some kind of motivation or, you know...
0:04:16 > 0:04:19I'm not lazy. I don't even understand.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23I'm trying to give myself a chance to get driven.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27Where just the sheer activity of doing something
0:04:27 > 0:04:29just jacks you up, makes you excited.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36I lived a good portion of my life before I started to play music.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39I had been working at Weber Aircraft and I got laid off.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44Then Ain't No Sunshine started appearing on the radio and stuff.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47It's funny, because I got two requests in the same day -
0:04:47 > 0:04:51I got a letter from my job saying that I was called back to work
0:04:51 > 0:04:56AND I got request to do the Johnny Carson Show.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00APPLAUSE
0:05:05 > 0:05:08I like that song, that was big for you, wasn't it?
0:05:08 > 0:05:11Yeah, that kind of, uh, got me off the ham and eggs thing
0:05:11 > 0:05:15and kind of tightened me up a little bit.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18We mentioned this before, that you were a craftsman
0:05:18 > 0:05:21and you made toilets, right?
0:05:21 > 0:05:25- Oh, yeah, it was a good job, I had a lot of fun doing it. - LAUGHTER
0:05:25 > 0:05:29- Where does the fun come in, Bill? - LAUGHTER
0:05:29 > 0:05:32'People in my own family were probably surprised when I was on the radio.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34'People had been in the Navy with,
0:05:34 > 0:05:38'people I had worked in a factory with, people that knew me
0:05:38 > 0:05:42'were probably going, "Wait a minute, is that that same guy?"'
0:05:42 > 0:05:45'If I would have gone to work the next day,'
0:05:45 > 0:05:50and told somebody where I was last night,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53I would have got laughed out of the place.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55All of a sudden, I'm travelling on the road
0:05:55 > 0:05:58and more people are interested in you than before.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01It was just like a whole other world.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03# You just call on me brother
0:06:03 > 0:06:06# When you need a hand
0:06:06 > 0:06:12# We all need somebody to lean on... #
0:06:12 > 0:06:16- Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Bill Withers! - APPLAUSE
0:06:16 > 0:06:19# ..That you'll understand
0:06:19 > 0:06:24# We all need somebody to lean on
0:06:24 > 0:06:26# Lean on me... #
0:06:26 > 0:06:27Mr Bill Withers.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31# ..when you're not strong
0:06:31 > 0:06:34# And I'll be your friend
0:06:34 > 0:06:39# I'll help you carry on
0:06:39 > 0:06:44# For it won't be long
0:06:44 > 0:06:47# Till I'm gonna need
0:06:47 > 0:06:52# Somebody to lean on... #
0:07:11 > 0:07:14New words started to enter my life
0:07:14 > 0:07:18that had never been there before, like "handsome".
0:07:18 > 0:07:21Boy, you sure do get better-looking when you get a hit record.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23# I want to spread the news
0:07:23 > 0:07:26# That if it feels this good getting used
0:07:26 > 0:07:30# Oh you just keep on using me
0:07:31 > 0:07:34# Hey, hey, until you use me up
0:07:38 > 0:07:41# Hey, hey, until you use me up
0:07:45 > 0:07:47# Hey, hey
0:07:47 > 0:07:53# Talking about you using me but it all depends on what you do
0:07:53 > 0:07:56# It ain't too bad the way you're using me
0:07:56 > 0:08:01# Cos I sure am using you to do that thing you do
0:08:04 > 0:08:08# Hey, hey, to do that thing you do... #
0:08:08 > 0:08:10'I had never been in the entertainment business before.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13'The first live singing I did was in front of 5,000 people.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16'Suddenly, somebody says, "Go to work."'
0:08:16 > 0:08:20Can I get a big round of applause for the one and only Bill Withers!
0:08:20 > 0:08:24CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:08:24 > 0:08:26# Well, I'm five years old
0:08:26 > 0:08:28# Sure am cold
0:08:28 > 0:08:32# Mama's out cooking steak
0:08:32 > 0:08:35# Cooking steak for someone else... #
0:08:35 > 0:08:38What you see as the prognosis of your career, Bill?
0:08:38 > 0:08:42You know, you'll become a big star, you're becoming a superstar.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47- Do think you can remain just as you are?- First, I have to become
0:08:47 > 0:08:51- somebody that understands what "prognosis" means! - INTERVIEWER LAUGHS
0:08:51 > 0:08:55Well, how do you interpret how things are going to go for you?
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Oh, yeah! I'm kinda just lettin' 'em go, you know.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Lettin' 'em go, and whatever is given to me,
0:09:00 > 0:09:02if I can do it, you know...
0:09:02 > 0:09:05'Two or three years into this, I was in a major mess.'
0:09:05 > 0:09:09The record company actually collapsed from under me.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Well, IRS came in and took the tapes and sold them.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Then, when I went to this major, big, mega label,
0:09:16 > 0:09:20you walk in, you play something, somebody goes, "Where are the horns?
0:09:20 > 0:09:24"You got to put some horns on it. How long is the intro?"
0:09:24 > 0:09:28First hit record I had was Ain't No Sunshine. No intro, nothing.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31If nobody throws all them rules at you,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34you might make a song with no introduction.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Instead of singing about romantic love all the time,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40you make a love song about your grandmother.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43Or you make a friendship song, a la Lean On Me,
0:09:43 > 0:09:47searching through your feelings and your vulnerabilities
0:09:47 > 0:09:49and your strengths and your weaknesses.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52You're already loaded up enough with the burden of just trying
0:09:52 > 0:09:55to find those feelings.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57So then, here comes a whole bunch of guys,
0:09:57 > 0:10:02trying to tell you what to do with all their goofy suggestions...
0:10:02 > 0:10:04They had the R&B black guys,
0:10:04 > 0:10:08and then they got what I like to call "Blacksperts",
0:10:08 > 0:10:11that's the white guys who are supposed to be "experts"...
0:10:11 > 0:10:14you know, who have some kind of tap into your black psyche.
0:10:14 > 0:10:19I had an A&R man once - his big suggestion to me
0:10:19 > 0:10:22was that I cover Elvis Presley's In The Ghetto.
0:10:24 > 0:10:25I was livid,
0:10:25 > 0:10:29and as I started to try to respond to that,
0:10:29 > 0:10:34that simple kind of emotional, vulnerable kind of thing,
0:10:34 > 0:10:38kind of got splattered around.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41APPLAUSE
0:10:41 > 0:10:43I became VERY interested -
0:10:43 > 0:10:46can I still stay in this business and be effective
0:10:46 > 0:10:50'and make a living and not have to play this fame game?
0:10:50 > 0:10:55'I wasn't any good at it. The fame game was kicking my ass.'
0:10:57 > 0:11:00# I see the crystal raindrops fall
0:11:00 > 0:11:02# And see the beauty of it all
0:11:02 > 0:11:05# Is when the sun comes shining through
0:11:07 > 0:11:10# To make those rainbows in my mind
0:11:10 > 0:11:12# When I think of you some time
0:11:12 > 0:11:15# And I want to spend some time with you
0:11:15 > 0:11:18# Just the two of us
0:11:18 > 0:11:20# We can make it if we try
0:11:20 > 0:11:24- # Just the two of us - Just the two of us
0:11:24 > 0:11:28# Just the two of us
0:11:28 > 0:11:30# Building castles in the sky
0:11:30 > 0:11:33# Just the two of us You and I... #
0:11:38 > 0:11:40I would like to see us move past
0:11:40 > 0:11:45where you need the validation of the mainstream so much...
0:11:45 > 0:11:48until we got away from
0:11:48 > 0:11:50liking ourselves.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53The challenge, though, is still, once you get in that mainstream,
0:11:53 > 0:11:55to not become mainstream.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59That is to say, to remain your authentic self,
0:11:59 > 0:12:03to still make the community that produced you, proud of you.
0:12:03 > 0:12:08To not, in the cultural vernacular, become a sell-out.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12"Sell-out". I'm not crazy about that word...because...
0:12:14 > 0:12:17..we're all entrepreneurs.
0:12:17 > 0:12:18To me...
0:12:20 > 0:12:24..I don't care whether you own a furniture store or whatever,
0:12:24 > 0:12:28the best sign you can put up is, "Sold out".
0:12:29 > 0:12:33- So let's... C-C-Can we make that... - THEY LAUGH
0:12:33 > 0:12:37Can we make that subservient?
0:12:37 > 0:12:40THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER
0:12:42 > 0:12:47It is a profound point. One, it's a Shakespearian point.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49"To thine own self be true.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52"If night follows the day, thou can be false to no-one."
0:12:52 > 0:12:56You have been true to yourself.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00You don't sound like Paul Simon on the guitar, you're Bill Withers
0:13:00 > 0:13:02because you come out of your roots.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05When you sing Grandma's Hands, talking about Matty,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08and talking about grandma taking care of local, unwed mothers
0:13:08 > 0:13:11in Virginia, West Virginia, that's real.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13That's being yourself.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17At the same time, in being yourself, you're able to cross over
0:13:17 > 0:13:24into a white mainstream, and they had to accept you on your own terms.
0:13:28 > 0:13:33You see, looking at this thing is...
0:13:35 > 0:13:36..not new.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41Oh, boy, these pages are really...
0:13:43 > 0:13:47Well, I guess this was brothers and sisters I had that never lived.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50I was the last of 13 kids that my mother had.
0:13:50 > 0:13:56I guess I wasn't born yet, so I'm not in here anywhere.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00Grackus Monroe Galloway was my mother's father.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02He was born a slave.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05He was probably nine years old when they freed the slaves.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11He worked in the coal mines but he would never work for the coal company.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13He hauled coal... Here's Grandma.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19Now, I took this picture when I was a kid,
0:14:19 > 0:14:21so you can see what year it was by the car.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27'Most of us at some point in our lives'
0:14:27 > 0:14:34have somebody that means more to us than anyone else that's ever meant before or will ever mean again.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38Sometimes it's a long-legged lady, if you're a man,
0:14:38 > 0:14:42or some tall, very smooth man if you're a woman.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46But in my case I learned how to really love somebody
0:14:46 > 0:14:47from just a nice old lady.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50My favourite thing that I've written
0:14:50 > 0:14:53has to be about this favourite old lady of mine.
0:14:54 > 0:14:55# Mm-mm, mm-mm
0:14:57 > 0:14:59# Mm-mm
0:15:00 > 0:15:02# Mm-mm... #
0:15:02 > 0:15:08- I'm from Slab Fork, West Virginia. You know where that is, right?- No!
0:15:08 > 0:15:11- Is that any place near Bluefield? - Yeah, it's near Bluefield.
0:15:11 > 0:15:17- About 30 or 40 miles, I guess, from Bluefield.- Slab Fork, West Virginia? - Yeah.
0:15:17 > 0:15:18# Mm-mm, mm-mm
0:15:19 > 0:15:21# Mm-mm
0:15:21 > 0:15:27# Grandma's hands clapped in church on Sunday morning
0:15:27 > 0:15:33# Grandma's hands played a tambourine so well
0:15:33 > 0:15:39# Grandma's hands used to issue out a warning
0:15:39 > 0:15:43# She's say "Billy, don't you run so fast
0:15:43 > 0:15:46# "Might fall on a piece of glass
0:15:46 > 0:15:50# "Might be snakes there in that grass"
0:15:50 > 0:15:53# Grandma's hands
0:15:55 > 0:15:58# Ah, them Grandma's hands
0:15:58 > 0:15:59# Mm-mm,
0:16:01 > 0:16:03# Mm-mm... #
0:16:03 > 0:16:05Hey, CV.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08- This is the mayor here, this is Mayor, CV.- How you doing?
0:16:08 > 0:16:11CV's running the things. I'm good, man.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14CV was talking to my daughter and he was telling her, you know,
0:16:14 > 0:16:18"Let me tell you about your great-grandmother."
0:16:18 > 0:16:21- And so CV remembers her. - Grandmother Galloway.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23She was a very elegant woman.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25She sat on this porch
0:16:25 > 0:16:29and she would sing spirituals right on that porch and clap her hands.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33- Remember they called it gettin' happy.- Right, right, right!
0:16:34 > 0:16:38There's a saying, "the sleepy smiling South
0:16:38 > 0:16:41- "with blood on its mouth." - Right, right. - Well, we weren't in THAT South.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44This was South, in a way.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47Like, when we grew up, you didn't have to sit on the back of the bus.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51- Right, right. - But we had separate schools.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56You had to go to the back door if you wanted a milkshake or something from one of the restaurants uptown.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00- Right.- But the kids, left to our own devices, we played, now...
0:17:00 > 0:17:03- We sat here... That was the dividing line.- Right.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06We were the only two black families on this side of the railroad track.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Well, we just integrated the whole thing by ourselves.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13I think all of the black families basically, like it or not,
0:17:13 > 0:17:15most of us had white people in our families.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19You know, after you did a day's work in the coal mines,
0:17:19 > 0:17:23- everybody was black anyway! - Yeah, yeah, well, that's true.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26- That's true.- Wasn't nothing BUT black people here!
0:17:26 > 0:17:31'I haven't been to Slab Fork since about 1959.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35'Nobody's back there. There's nothing there much except graves,
0:17:35 > 0:17:37'and old coal mines.'
0:17:37 > 0:17:41And I'm really not too hung up on going and laying flowers on dead people.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50L-Let me b-be very candid about it. This was a white graveyard.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53This is a black graveyard.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57- Hey, Bill Withers.- Yeah? - What was your brother's name?
0:17:57 > 0:18:01- His name was Earl Martin. - Here he is right here.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05- OK.- Earl W Martin. - Yeah, that's my brother.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09Well, they give him a nice stone. Where do you see those number...
0:18:09 > 0:18:11Oh, 1942...
0:18:11 > 0:18:17- Do you vaguely remember any location about where your father would be?- No.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20And I don't know whether he would be buried close to Earl or not.
0:18:22 > 0:18:28Yeah, well, Papa, well, yeah. Hello, bud. I'll catch you somethin' later.
0:18:28 > 0:18:33My father taught me, you know... He put the work thing in my head.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37My mother put the moral thing in my head.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40My father used to have a little barber shop here
0:18:40 > 0:18:44and he wasn't a good barber but he told great stories.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47# Just can't keep from crying
0:18:49 > 0:18:52# Six years, Lucy
0:18:52 > 0:18:57# Lord, have mercy That's a long time
0:18:58 > 0:19:02# That's a long time... #
0:19:02 > 0:19:05All these houses were owned by the coal company
0:19:05 > 0:19:07and they all looked the same.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10- Absolutely.- They've probably done stuff to 'em now.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13- The company owned everything. - Which was one family.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16The coal company got your money, they paid you,
0:19:16 > 0:19:17then you had to shop...
0:19:17 > 0:19:21You shopped in their store. Now, this was the old store.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25- Yeah, company store.- You could buy everything at this store.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29Now, this is an exceptional coal camp from the standpoint that
0:19:29 > 0:19:32it still have enough life to have some people living here.
0:19:32 > 0:19:37They had a lot of churches. They had a Baptist church, then they had a Methodist church somewhere.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40And then they had your Holy and Sanctified Church.
0:19:40 > 0:19:47CONGREGATION: # Remember me... #
0:19:47 > 0:19:51I liked my grandmother's church. It was spontaneous singing.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53There was no programmed singing.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57Somebody got up and started to sing a song, everybody sung.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01It was my favourite kind of singing.
0:20:01 > 0:20:09# Remember me
0:20:09 > 0:20:13# Oh, Lord
0:20:13 > 0:20:21# Remember me... #
0:20:21 > 0:20:24- Well, we have walked these railroad ties, huh, CV?- Yeah.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29Now, if you want to test how skilful you are, walk this.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Remember that used to be the thing, who could walk the rail?
0:20:32 > 0:20:35- If you can walk the rail... - The furthest.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38- See, that's how to test how skilful you are.- Look at you.- Yeah.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42- I still can walk it. - You doing tricks and stuff.- Yeah.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44You see, that's how skilful.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47- If you break out a handstand, I'm leaving tonight. - CV LAUGHS
0:20:47 > 0:20:51I'm telling you, this was like, life, busy, busy.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54Summertime come, we'd go around,
0:20:54 > 0:20:57- dam up the creek, get buck naked. - And go swimming.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00Go swimming, and so the girls would time you out,
0:21:00 > 0:21:05- say, "Well, it's about swimming time," then the girls would come down there.- Yeah.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07And stand on the side
0:21:07 > 0:21:10so you couldn't get out of the water until they left.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13- Right!- So it was just a whole culture of stuff like that.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16It's an amazing thing, when you look back,
0:21:16 > 0:21:22and you realise that...the world changed completely around you.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26- It's gone, brother. This has gone. - You're seeing what used to be.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29- So we are truly the last of a... - Yeah, we getting there.- ..of a breed.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31Yeah, we getting there.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33- Hey, Bill.- Yeah? - Sing it one time for me.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36# Ain't no sunshine when she's gone. #
0:21:36 > 0:21:39You already hit it. I can't hit it like you no more.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43Let me ask you, do you do any... Do you go on any tours at all now?
0:21:43 > 0:21:47- The first thing you said to me was, "You look like an old man."- Right!
0:21:47 > 0:21:50So, now, how could you tell me in one breath that
0:21:50 > 0:21:53I look like an old man and then in the second breath tell me,
0:21:53 > 0:21:56- "You ought to be out on the road, playing rock'n'roll"?- No.
0:21:56 > 0:22:01I have never understood how you entertainers could be on the road
0:22:01 > 0:22:05and do every-other-night or one-night stands.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09I don't understand it either, that's how come I ain't doing it!
0:22:14 > 0:22:17'I've had people ask me that question a lot.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19'You know, "How could you just stop?"
0:22:19 > 0:22:22'Well, to me, it wasn't stopping anything.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24'It was doing something else.'
0:22:24 > 0:22:29I mean, I like music, but I'm not going to place my whole worth on it.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31You know how unhappy you would be
0:22:31 > 0:22:34if you thought that the way you are is not OK?
0:22:34 > 0:22:38I started out my life like that. I don't want to end it up like that.
0:22:42 > 0:22:47OK, we're on our way to get... a birthday cake.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49I'm getting just a "7-0".
0:22:49 > 0:22:53I don't want him to have to struggle to blow out 70 candles.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00We are putting this here.
0:23:00 > 0:23:06- This doesn't seem very formal, but...- Doug.- Yeah?- You cool?
0:23:06 > 0:23:07Yeah.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12But we still have to celebrate.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15We would love you to make a gigantic wish and blow out your candles.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20You don't have to divulge the wish but we'd love you to make a wish.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24THEY CLAP AND WHOOP
0:23:24 > 0:23:26'I'm a senior citizen.'
0:23:27 > 0:23:29That's OK with me.
0:23:29 > 0:23:35'I'm OK with my grey hair and my... you know, my narrowing shoulders.'
0:23:35 > 0:23:36To the Country Inn.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40'The most important thing is to be OK, you know.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43'I just want to feel good.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46'I know what it feels like not to feel all right.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50'You know, guilt and regret, aches and pains.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55'I'd really like to learn to accept everything before I die.'
0:23:55 > 0:24:01- Hey, Bill.- Hey, man, how you doing? Look out! Jimmy!- What's going on?
0:24:01 > 0:24:05How you doing? Boy, you still look like a teenager. How you doing?
0:24:05 > 0:24:10- Good seeing you, Bill.- You too, man, you too.- It must be your son.- Yep.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12Looks just like you!
0:24:12 > 0:24:16How are you doing, man? How's everything? How's everything going?
0:24:16 > 0:24:20I'm his daughter, but last time I remember you, you held me on your lap.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24- We went over to your mom's house. - Yeah. How you doing, sugar?
0:24:24 > 0:24:28Well, you could still sit on there. You know, not too long, though.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32# When I wake up in the morning, love... #
0:24:34 > 0:24:38- Great to see you, how you doing? - I'm so glad to see you, girl.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40# And something without warning, love... #
0:24:40 > 0:24:43Yeah, girl, come here. How you doing?
0:24:43 > 0:24:46I'm fine. This is Delores.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49# Then I look at you
0:24:49 > 0:24:54# And the world's all right with me... #
0:24:56 > 0:25:00- You're looking good, man.- Thank you. You're looking great!
0:25:00 > 0:25:03- I actually turned 70 today.- Oh, wow.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08'Some people are just born cool. They'd been cool all their lives, you know.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11'Well, I hadn't been cool all my life.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13'I was an asthmatic stutterer as a kid.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17'One popular thing is, "Spit it out! Spit it out!"
0:25:17 > 0:25:19'And then they have all these folky kind of cures,
0:25:19 > 0:25:23'like hitting you in the face with a dishrag or something, you know what I mean.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26'Really stupid stuff. You know.'
0:25:26 > 0:25:29I grew up with, "You can't do nothing."
0:25:29 > 0:25:33One teacher said to me once that I was handicapped.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36And I didn't like that word.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39So any dreams that I had, I kept them to myself.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44Once you're labelled sort of a less-than person, it gave me
0:25:44 > 0:25:48this crisis of confidence.
0:25:48 > 0:25:53I just wanted to leave. And then go and start over with some new people.
0:25:57 > 0:26:02The Navy, at that age, you know, 17, seemed like somewhere to go.
0:26:02 > 0:26:07# If you don't look into your mind
0:26:07 > 0:26:10# And find out what you're running from
0:26:10 > 0:26:17# Tomorrow might be just another day to run... #
0:26:18 > 0:26:23These are my old Navy buddies. I've known these guys since I was...
0:26:23 > 0:26:2521.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27We all met in Guam.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30There was not much for us to do socially,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33so it was frustrating, because you got all these young guys, you know,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36who had all this testosterone.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39'And there was nowhere for them to go.'
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Good old Bill.
0:26:41 > 0:26:42This is the man.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45'You know what they told me about Guam?'
0:26:45 > 0:26:47The guy says, "Oh, you're going to Guam.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50"There's a woman behind every tree.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53"There's only two trees." LAUGHTER
0:26:55 > 0:26:59It was hard on a brother in Guam. It was funny times.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02- That was a whole lot of life real fast. You know?- Yeah.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04On the way over I was thinking...
0:27:04 > 0:27:05When I first seen you,
0:27:05 > 0:27:09didn't you bring a guitar to Guam?
0:27:09 > 0:27:15- No. No. I never owned a guitar until 1970 or something.- Is that right?
0:27:15 > 0:27:19Yeah, I don't know an F Sharp from Ninth Street.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22And when you got there you found that little old bar.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26You were singing Johnny Mathis, more so.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29- Or whatever the piano player could play.- Is that right?
0:27:29 > 0:27:33Couple of drinks, man, everybody, you know... You start singing.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36Shoot. Yeah.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40But I still hadn't given it any thought as to making a living out of it.
0:27:40 > 0:27:48# When you appeared in my imagination... #
0:27:49 > 0:27:52He's always been just Bill Withers to me.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54I'm sure that's what you feel too.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56I don't think he would want it any different.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00'My real life was when I was just a working guy.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05'Just in the Navy, just a mechanic, you know what I mean.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08'But the true measure of any group of people is,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11'how are the ones that are just people?'
0:28:11 > 0:28:14# You were here in my memory
0:28:15 > 0:28:22# And I love you now that you're here. #
0:28:25 > 0:28:30- I was an aircraft mechanic, in the Navy nine years.- Is that right?
0:28:30 > 0:28:33I can do masonry and all these things. Now...
0:28:34 > 0:28:37Were you writing songs while doing that?
0:28:37 > 0:28:42I've written songs working at McDonnell Douglas.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45Use Me, you know, working on the airplane, and things.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47THEY LAUGH
0:28:47 > 0:28:52- Grandma's Hands, Weber Aircraft in Burbank.- Is that right?
0:28:52 > 0:28:54You understand what I'm saying?
0:28:54 > 0:28:58You're working on the thing and singing it over and over
0:28:58 > 0:29:01to yourself so you don't forget it before you get home.
0:29:01 > 0:29:02Wow.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04You know what's funny?
0:29:04 > 0:29:07People say, "He wrote that song about that woman."
0:29:07 > 0:29:10I didn't know none of them damn women when I was writing them songs.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12I couldn't get no women,
0:29:12 > 0:29:16I was making 3 an hour working in the damn thing!
0:29:16 > 0:29:18'Uno, dos, tres, cuatro.'
0:29:22 > 0:29:28I was 23 years old, I was a graduate student, UCLA, working on my MBA.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33And my sister and I decided we wanted... Actually, it was me.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36I wanted to go see Gil Scott-Heron.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42There's a vacant table. She said, "Let's go sit there." "It says reserved."
0:29:42 > 0:29:47Lo and behold, it was Bill sitting there, which I didn't know.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50She recognised him. That's how I met him.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59I wasn't starstruck at all. He was this regular, normal person.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03He was interesting and was interested in me.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07# When I'm kissing my love
0:30:07 > 0:30:11# Thump-a-thumping in my head
0:30:14 > 0:30:17# Now, when I'm kissing my love
0:30:17 > 0:30:19# I close my eyes and see
0:30:19 > 0:30:24# A pretty city with a million flowers in it. #
0:30:24 > 0:30:28A lot of men can't express what they're feeling, and he can.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31He can, you know, he's sensitive but tough.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34# Put your foot on the rock and put your foot, don't stop
0:30:34 > 0:30:36# Put your foot on the rock
0:30:36 > 0:30:39# Put your foot on the rock I know you just can't stop
0:30:39 > 0:30:41# Put your foot on the rock
0:30:41 > 0:30:44# When I'm kissing my love
0:30:44 > 0:30:47# Feel the blood pumping in my veins
0:30:51 > 0:30:54# Now, when I'm kissing my love
0:30:54 > 0:30:56# She's such a tender sender
0:30:56 > 0:31:00# With her sweet young frame
0:31:00 > 0:31:04# Ah, ha, ha
0:31:04 > 0:31:06# She's so good at what she does
0:31:06 > 0:31:08# All she wants to do is kiss and hug
0:31:08 > 0:31:13# She's got me in love and I can feel my heart
0:31:13 > 0:31:14# Just pumping and skipping
0:31:14 > 0:31:18# When I'm kissing my love. #
0:31:18 > 0:31:23As soon as I figured out who I was, I married an MBA. Know what I mean?
0:31:23 > 0:31:31The one thing about Marcia, she's an optimist in the face of everything.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35We live a life that is comfortable and simple,
0:31:35 > 0:31:40and I think Bill never really wanted these riches and material things.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43When the kids came along, he was home a lot.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45He didn't do a lot of touring.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48There were times when I'm sure he missed being in the business,
0:31:48 > 0:31:52making music, but I think that it was more important for him
0:31:52 > 0:31:55to have a life and a family.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57He'd never had a family before.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00He had his mother, but his dad died when he was 13,
0:32:00 > 0:32:04and it was really important for him to be a father to the kids.
0:32:17 > 0:32:23# I get a warm summer feeling
0:32:23 > 0:32:27# Walking through the snow
0:32:27 > 0:32:32# Even chilly darkness
0:32:32 > 0:32:36# Has the brightest glow
0:32:36 > 0:32:44# And I just love you so. #
0:32:44 > 0:32:48From very early on, my father played a lot of music at home.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51Music was never something that was pushed, it was just there.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54We had two pianos at home, on opposite sides of the house.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58It certainly was something that blended the family together,
0:32:58 > 0:33:01it was something we all shared.
0:33:01 > 0:33:06- You're the navigator.- OK. - You're getting the tour.
0:33:06 > 0:33:11- 'This was Todd's big day, accepted into this law school.'- Exciting!
0:33:11 > 0:33:15'It's exciting for him and for us.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19'I really learned about this whole family thing from Marcia.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21'I think the older you get,'
0:33:21 > 0:33:26the more your concerns shift from you to other people.
0:33:26 > 0:33:32So, Todd, do I have to start calling you mister in a couple years?
0:33:32 > 0:33:36Growing up listening to my dad's songs was just
0:33:36 > 0:33:40the most peaceful space I remember being able to have as a child.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43He kind of speaks in little poems.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46You know, the sky is blue, and I'm happy to see you.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49You know, he'd just pull it out of anywhere.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52Quit crying and start trying.
0:33:52 > 0:33:56A lot of times he says, "Write this down. Get a pencil."
0:33:56 > 0:34:00I'm sure my mother has hundreds of little pieces of paper
0:34:00 > 0:34:03all over the house, not even full songs, but two lines.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07Just a thought.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09Sometimes he'll call me just to say,
0:34:09 > 0:34:12"I was thinking this and want you to make a note of it."
0:34:12 > 0:34:15Then some of these things make it into Songville.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21Growing up, I always wanted to be just like my dad, really.
0:34:21 > 0:34:26When I started writing songs, it just took a lot of courage to say
0:34:26 > 0:34:29that's really, secretly, what I want to do.
0:34:29 > 0:34:34# Paint a portrait of tomorrow
0:34:34 > 0:34:39# With no colours from today. #
0:34:39 > 0:34:42I always wanted to write, but I always thought,
0:34:42 > 0:34:45"How could I ever come close to doing the things he did?"
0:34:45 > 0:34:48Just because I know I'm a different person.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52I knew I wasn't going to sit down the first time I picked up a guitar
0:34:52 > 0:34:57and write Ain't No Sunshine, but I know what he thinks is good.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59I didn't want to share anything with him.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02I ended up playing something for him when I wasn't ready,
0:35:02 > 0:35:04and he was just, "No, this is not happening."
0:35:04 > 0:35:09It was hard for me because I needed him to just be my dad and say,
0:35:09 > 0:35:12"I'm proud of you working on something,
0:35:12 > 0:35:14"I'm excited about your journey."
0:35:14 > 0:35:16It was none of that.
0:35:21 > 0:35:26One thing I always tell my kids, it's OK to hit out for wonderful,
0:35:26 > 0:35:30but on your way to wonderful, you have to pass through all right.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34When you get to all right, take a good look around
0:35:34 > 0:35:37and get used to it, cos that may be as far as you go.
0:35:37 > 0:35:42Most people don't know or don't care who you are.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45I think I'm kind of like pennies.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48You have them in your pocket but don't remember they're there.
0:35:50 > 0:35:51Nobody knows who I am.
0:35:51 > 0:35:56Sometimes if I tell somebody who I am, they'll say, "No, you ain't!"
0:35:56 > 0:35:59Or people don't know, never did and don't care.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04I don't work the circuit where you keep reminding people of you,
0:36:04 > 0:36:05you know?
0:36:05 > 0:36:10This is my first tribute kind-of-thing.
0:36:11 > 0:36:16We're here tonight for Bill Withers and his amazing catalogue of music.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20An amazing vocalist, songwriter, musician,
0:36:20 > 0:36:24and someone I've loved and appreciated for many years.
0:36:24 > 0:36:29So congratulations, Bill, and for you for coming out to support him.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33Brooklyn's own Corey Glover!
0:36:33 > 0:36:41# A man we passed just tried to stare me down
0:36:43 > 0:36:49# And when I looked at you, you looked at the ground
0:36:52 > 0:36:58# Now, I don't know who he is, but I think that you do. #
0:36:58 > 0:37:01Y'all know this one.
0:37:01 > 0:37:07# Dag gummit, who is he and what is he to you? #
0:37:22 > 0:37:28# Memories take you back to the good times
0:37:28 > 0:37:30# When it's over
0:37:30 > 0:37:34# And the sad times disappear. #
0:37:36 > 0:37:39It would be kind of rough to just go out there and say,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42"I want to see how many people I can make notice me."
0:37:42 > 0:37:46There was a time when that was it.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49I wanted everybody to look at me, to want to know me.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53There was a time for that.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57This is not that time.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00What if I had to get up from here right now,
0:38:00 > 0:38:05and about nine o'clock tonight, start trying to kick up a ruckus?
0:38:07 > 0:38:09I'm not feeling that way.
0:38:09 > 0:38:15No matter how many people say, "You should feel that way." I can't.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18If I was completely honest with myself,
0:38:18 > 0:38:20I'm probably a little manic-depressive.
0:38:20 > 0:38:27That's why I might write some songs that might reach somebody else's emotions, cos I have some.
0:38:27 > 0:38:29I have my own.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32Wouldn't it be fun to all of a sudden jump up
0:38:32 > 0:38:35and start shaking it around?
0:38:35 > 0:38:37That'd be something.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40If I just had some showing-off steroids, man,
0:38:40 > 0:38:46you would get tired of me, you know what I mean?
0:38:46 > 0:38:49I want to. I want to.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52I watch other people show off, and I say,
0:38:52 > 0:38:54"Man, I used to want to show off."
0:38:54 > 0:38:58If I could just get moved to.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02I need a little injection in my showing-off gland.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08# Memories are that way... #
0:39:08 > 0:39:11Is he going to sing again? What's he doing?
0:39:11 > 0:39:14I'd love to see Bill sing another record.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17There's millions of people that would love to hear
0:39:17 > 0:39:19Bill Withers again.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22If he wants to do it, fine.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24If he don't want to, I respect that too,
0:39:24 > 0:39:27because what he's been through, with the record business
0:39:27 > 0:39:32and his life, to come through it, I may not want to sing again neither.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37In some ways I think it's really cool he hasn't made a record since 1985.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40If he feels like he's got nothing to say, or he wants to
0:39:40 > 0:39:45focus on his family, you've got to define your priorities for yourself.
0:39:45 > 0:39:49For me, it shows the artist that he is.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52Not only about money, it's about the beauty of the song.
0:39:52 > 0:39:58For him not to write a song or album for 23 years, from me to him,
0:39:58 > 0:40:01I say, respect.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04It would be great to do some stuff with Bill again.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08It would be, you know, I've always thought about that.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10We haven't played together for 30 years.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14In my career, that was probably the best times that I had.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16No telling what might happen.
0:40:16 > 0:40:20Bill might pop up in the next studio doing something.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24He's always doing something, don't think Bill's not recording.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27He's doing something, writing. It's in his blood.
0:40:27 > 0:40:32Just like it's in mine to play this guitar. It's in his blood to write.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35Something might pop up. I stay optimistic.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38Until then, I'll keep on grooving.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42The hardest thing to be in songwriting is to be simple
0:40:42 > 0:40:44yet profound.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48It's difficult, it's a very difficult artform.
0:40:48 > 0:40:53Some people have it intrinsically, some have to work very hard,
0:40:53 > 0:40:58but Bill seemed to understand intrinsically, instinctively,
0:40:58 > 0:41:00how to do that.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03Bill Withers could work a lot and make a whole lot of money
0:41:03 > 0:41:07if he wanted to do that, but I don't think he's comfortable doing that.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09People call me all the time, "Can I get Bill?"
0:41:09 > 0:41:13I say, "Don't call me, cos I don't think he's going to do it."
0:41:13 > 0:41:16DREAMY SYNTH MUSIC PLAYS
0:41:16 > 0:41:20SYNTH INSTRUMENTAL OBSCURES SINGING
0:41:31 > 0:41:37We are so remiss in over-valuing entertainers,
0:41:37 > 0:41:41of which I am one, no problem.
0:41:41 > 0:41:47And athletes, and undervaluing the people among us
0:41:47 > 0:41:49who have less obvious gifts.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52Let me ask you this question about your own legacy,
0:41:52 > 0:41:58both personally, as a human being, and as a great artist,
0:41:58 > 0:42:01what would you want your legacy to be?
0:42:16 > 0:42:19I'm in New York because I have the pleasure of being honoured
0:42:19 > 0:42:23by the Our Time Theatre Group, for kids who stutter.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25It's a great thing, very close to my heart.
0:42:25 > 0:42:32Having navigated through my youth and well into my adulthood
0:42:32 > 0:42:35dealing with that issue,
0:42:35 > 0:42:37it's fun to, you know,
0:42:37 > 0:42:39see this thing grow.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41APPLAUSE
0:42:50 > 0:42:54I grew up in a place called Slab Fork, West Virginia,
0:42:54 > 0:42:56I'm sure you've been there on many vacations...
0:42:56 > 0:42:58LAUGHTER
0:42:58 > 0:43:00Swam in our creek.
0:43:00 > 0:43:05No disrespect to Slab Fork, it's a coal-mining camp.
0:43:05 > 0:43:10And stuttering is rough for kids, but stuttering in Slab Fork, West Virginia -
0:43:10 > 0:43:13let's just say you don't go to Slab Fork on the scholarship.
0:43:14 > 0:43:20When you're a kid you want to be cool, and you want to be cool with the cool people.
0:43:21 > 0:43:27And that doesn't always happen, so if you can learn to value the people who value you.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30And I was very moved when I saw these kids
0:43:30 > 0:43:33talking about how much they meant to each other.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36I am honoured to be honoured, and let's hope
0:43:36 > 0:43:43that each kid finds his own personal comfort zone,
0:43:43 > 0:43:47where he can grow, and nurture whatever gifts that he might have
0:43:47 > 0:43:51because if you take away the people who stutter
0:43:51 > 0:43:56from the world, you're left with a whole bunch of chatty...
0:43:56 > 0:43:57LAUGHTER
0:44:03 > 0:44:06Fill in your own word.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12The kids are so excited, I've been playing your music,
0:44:12 > 0:44:16- and they cannot wait to meet you and talk with you.- Yeah...
0:44:16 > 0:44:21- You are a role model for me, and for them.- Oh, thank you, bud. Let's go see 'em.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23- Right here.- All right... - Come on in.
0:44:23 > 0:44:28- OK...- Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce Mr Bill Withers!
0:44:33 > 0:44:37Our Time kids, feel free to come up and introduce yourself.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39Yeah.
0:44:39 > 0:44:40Hi, my name is Victoria.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43Hi, sweetie.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46- Tanya.- Hi, sweetie. - Nice to meet you.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50How you feeling, bud? My man.
0:44:50 > 0:44:51What's your name?
0:44:51 > 0:44:55- Er...Joe.- All right, Joe.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59You know, what I noticed when we were meeting is,
0:44:59 > 0:45:01it's almost like fingerprints.
0:45:01 > 0:45:06We each have our own style of stutterings, which makes us unique.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10I really identified with people who stop at their name.
0:45:10 > 0:45:14Last night this friend of mine, who's a fairly well-known painter,
0:45:14 > 0:45:18had this thing, so there were a lot of athletes
0:45:18 > 0:45:20and people that I had seen in my life,
0:45:20 > 0:45:24so I wanted to say hello to everybody and introduce myself.
0:45:24 > 0:45:29And I went over to this one guy, and man, I got stuck.
0:45:29 > 0:45:33And it brought back memories, because there was a woman with him
0:45:33 > 0:45:36and she started to laugh.
0:45:36 > 0:45:41It was fear. Fear of the perception of the listener.
0:45:42 > 0:45:43This fear that makes us
0:45:43 > 0:45:47apprehensive right at the point of trying to speak,
0:45:47 > 0:45:49that stops us.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53Well, one of the ways to deal with the fear is to approach people
0:45:53 > 0:45:56with a prepared forgiveness.
0:45:56 > 0:46:01We have to be more civil than most people that we will encounter.
0:46:01 > 0:46:05Having had people not understand me a lot
0:46:05 > 0:46:08maybe helped me wait a little beat to where I can extend
0:46:08 > 0:46:11something that hasn't been given to me.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14And I think that makes you a much bigger person.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16We are thrilled to have you here,
0:46:16 > 0:46:19and everything that you said just means so much to me personally,
0:46:19 > 0:46:22and we'd love to sing for you today.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25I would have been insulted if you would have not done.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27LAUGHTER
0:46:27 > 0:46:33# Sometimes I feel like everyone's always ignoring me
0:46:36 > 0:46:43# Sometimes I feel like everyone's always ridiculing me
0:46:45 > 0:46:49# All I want in this whole world
0:46:49 > 0:46:54# Is to be myself, and nobody else
0:46:54 > 0:46:58# All I want in this whole world
0:46:58 > 0:47:02# Is love, is love
0:47:02 > 0:47:04# Is love
0:47:04 > 0:47:07# All I want
0:47:07 > 0:47:09# In this world
0:47:09 > 0:47:12# Is love
0:47:12 > 0:47:16# All I want
0:47:16 > 0:47:18# In this world
0:47:18 > 0:47:21# Is love
0:47:21 > 0:47:24# All I want
0:47:24 > 0:47:27# In this world
0:47:27 > 0:47:30# Is love. #
0:47:39 > 0:47:42I understood what you meant, you know.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45There's an old Southern saying that says, you know,
0:47:45 > 0:47:49it don't sound right if it ain't said right.
0:47:49 > 0:47:55You know. So you guys are saying, your feeling's right, so just keep doing that.
0:47:55 > 0:48:00And er... it's really a big favour to me,
0:48:00 > 0:48:04for you guys to remind me of some things that maybe I had forgotten.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08And maybe to show me some things that I didn't know.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12So you guys are...are cool.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15APPLAUSE AND WHOOPING
0:48:30 > 0:48:33And next time I see you I probably won't be this nice.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35LAUGHTER
0:48:35 > 0:48:39We have to make allowances for each other!
0:48:53 > 0:48:59Thoreau I think said the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
0:48:59 > 0:49:03I would like to know how it feels for my desperation to get louder.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14Yes, Raul Midon, please.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16- 'Hello.'- Hello, Raul.- 'Yes.'
0:49:16 > 0:49:20- It's Bill Withers. How you doing, bud?- 'Oh, good.'
0:49:20 > 0:49:24I was hoping that at some point or another, you know,
0:49:24 > 0:49:27that you would maybe have just a little time
0:49:27 > 0:49:29so we could just mess around, you know?
0:49:29 > 0:49:33Just you and me, you know, we could plonk around,
0:49:33 > 0:49:37- I'll even break out my old Linn drum machine... - Raul LAUGHS
0:49:37 > 0:49:41- ..make some noise, you know what I mean?- 'I don't know what to say.
0:49:41 > 0:49:43'I'm just so happy that you're interested
0:49:43 > 0:49:46'and, man, I'd love to put our heads together.'
0:49:46 > 0:49:50- I'd like to try something out on you, Raul.- 'OK.'
0:49:50 > 0:49:55Because I've always wanted to write something in Spanish.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59I had a friend, a Cuban friend. And we worked together
0:49:59 > 0:50:03and we laughed all the time, and it was just great.
0:50:03 > 0:50:07- And I really miss him, you know? - 'Yeah.'
0:50:07 > 0:50:13What I was thinking, to start off, "Mi amigo Cubano, hola, como esta?
0:50:15 > 0:50:19"Que paso, mi hermano", and I don't know whether you would say "tu"
0:50:19 > 0:50:24or "usted" there, but one or the other. I'll just say "tu y yo no mas hablar."
0:50:24 > 0:50:27'Yeah, "tu", definitely, because you're good friends.'
0:50:27 > 0:50:30Now your background is what, Raul?
0:50:30 > 0:50:34'My background is my mother was African-American
0:50:34 > 0:50:37'and my father is Argentinian.
0:50:37 > 0:50:42'When I lived in Miami, I got very deeply involved in Cuban music,
0:50:42 > 0:50:46'the music of guaguanco. In guaguanco, everything goes together
0:50:46 > 0:50:49'so there's the clave, right?' Raul TAPS A RHYTHM
0:50:49 > 0:50:54- OK.- 'And then it goes boom boom boom boom, boom boom boom boom,
0:50:54 > 0:50:56'boom boom boom boom, you know?
0:50:56 > 0:51:00'As you're doing all that, you sing, and you keep all that going.
0:51:00 > 0:51:04'# Ae, ae, ae la chambelona
0:51:04 > 0:51:08'# Ae, ae, ae la chambelona
0:51:08 > 0:51:13RAUL SINGS AT PACE IN SPANISH
0:51:13 > 0:51:17- You know what I'm saying?' - Yeah, Raul. Yeah, man,
0:51:17 > 0:51:21We're going to use all that stuff you know, Raul.
0:51:21 > 0:51:26That's about all the preview I would like to do on that.
0:51:26 > 0:51:28Let's just walk in with a blank sheet of paper
0:51:28 > 0:51:30and see what we can mark on it.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33- 'Sounds good to me.' - Yeah.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36# Sometimes a song is funky
0:51:36 > 0:51:39# Cos you feel that way
0:51:39 > 0:51:45# A song might be easy and melancholy on another day
0:51:45 > 0:51:48# Sometimes a song gets mean and evil
0:51:48 > 0:51:52# Cos it ain't going right
0:51:52 > 0:51:54# Sometimes a song just might get nervous
0:51:54 > 0:51:56# Cos you might be uptight. #
0:51:56 > 0:51:59I don't even know what chords he has for it, you know,
0:51:59 > 0:52:04so it's all going to be kind of a question of openness.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08I'm going to bring what I have to the table and hopefully, you know,
0:52:08 > 0:52:12come up with something. I mean, I just felt very honoured.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14Dad?
0:52:14 > 0:52:17# Sometimes a song is tender, sometimes a song is sad. #
0:52:17 > 0:52:19Raul! Hey, bud.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21# Maybe that evening that you wrote the song
0:52:21 > 0:52:23# That's all the feeling you had. #
0:52:23 > 0:52:25How you doing, Raul? Let's walk to the studio.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27# Sometimes a song just feels real good
0:52:27 > 0:52:30# And lays right there in the groove. #
0:52:30 > 0:52:35- Feels like a studio.- Yeah?
0:52:35 > 0:52:41I'm going to be largely dependent on you because I have no skills, Raul.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44- See, you're the virtuoso.- I'm... - No, I'm serious.
0:52:44 > 0:52:48I've got this stuff in here, I can't play any of this stuff.
0:52:48 > 0:52:50I learned, do you know what,
0:52:50 > 0:52:54instead of putting myself in a situation where my blindness
0:52:54 > 0:52:58makes me inferior, I'm going to create a situation where
0:52:58 > 0:53:01I can put my strengths out there.
0:53:01 > 0:53:06I think that when you're disabled in any way or when you have some...
0:53:06 > 0:53:08I think you have to figure out how you learn.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12- But you know what, Raul, you use the word disabled.- Right.
0:53:12 > 0:53:19You are enabled in other areas that the average person doesn't have.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22I was a stutterer until I was 28.
0:53:22 > 0:53:24I used to avoid the phone and, you know,
0:53:24 > 0:53:28just anywhere where you had to talk.
0:53:28 > 0:53:33And people would get up in your face and say "Spit it out, spit it out!"
0:53:33 > 0:53:37As if you had a choice in the matter, you know what I mean?
0:53:37 > 0:53:39As if you got in that line and said,
0:53:39 > 0:53:43"Well, I think I'm going to get in", you know, when you're getting ready
0:53:43 > 0:53:47to be born, you know, like, "I think I'll get in the stuttering line."
0:53:47 > 0:53:52And the thing is, what do you do after you find out you're here?
0:53:52 > 0:53:57So then, you know, there was a phrase that I kept batting around,
0:53:57 > 0:54:01"In my mind's eye, I can see the world from here."
0:54:01 > 0:54:03- Right. Wow.- How's that?
0:54:03 > 0:54:07- I love it.- You want to play with that later.- Yes.
0:54:07 > 0:54:11- Why don't you write it down so you don't forget it. - I'm writing it down.
0:54:11 > 0:54:15I love it, and it could be something about being clear.
0:54:15 > 0:54:19- Yeah, OK, write down "clear". "I can see the world from here."- Yeah.
0:54:19 > 0:54:22- Because it's...- "And sometimes I..."
0:54:22 > 0:54:26Because clarity, in the mind's eye, is absolute.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30- It can be absolute.- OK. OK, now let's begin another line.
0:54:30 > 0:54:37- "I can hear the dream, my dream, so clear."- Yeah.
0:54:37 > 0:54:39"Just an idea, just an idea."
0:54:41 > 0:54:43- OK.- That's good, Raul. That's good.
0:54:43 > 0:54:46"In my mind's eye, I can see the world from here.
0:54:46 > 0:54:50"And sometimes I can hear my dreams so clear."
0:54:52 > 0:54:54Get down, Raul, come on, brother.
0:54:54 > 0:54:56Throw something in the pot. There you go.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59Because people always ask me about dreams.
0:54:59 > 0:55:02"How do you dream if you can see?" Well, I hear in my dreams, don't you?
0:55:02 > 0:55:04- Yeah.- You know what I mean?
0:55:04 > 0:55:07It's not about seeing, it's about being in your dream.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23I don't know what would motivate someone at the point
0:55:23 > 0:55:26in their life that he's in, with the break that he's taken.
0:55:26 > 0:55:29But I do know that he has no problem throwing down
0:55:29 > 0:55:32when he feels like throwing down.
0:55:32 > 0:55:36When he wants to do something, I mean, he's just obsessed,
0:55:36 > 0:55:38he's all in, up at two o'clock in the morning, not eating,
0:55:38 > 0:55:41not sleeping, and that's exhausting.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47# Mi amigo Cubano. #
0:55:47 > 0:55:49No, I'm looking for the count-in.
0:55:49 > 0:55:54# Hola, como esta?
0:55:54 > 0:55:58# Mi amigo Cubano
0:56:06 > 0:56:09# Que paso, mi hermano? #
0:56:09 > 0:56:12- Yeah.- Something like that.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19# Mi amigo Cubano... #
0:56:28 > 0:56:31There you go, Raul, that's what I'm talking about.
0:56:31 > 0:56:33That was pretty cool, actually.
0:56:33 > 0:56:37You know, you know, it all gets back to that thing.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40If you start sweet then you got somewhere to go.
0:56:40 > 0:56:42Let me go to 41 here and see what's happening, Raul.
0:56:44 > 0:56:46Bear with me here, one more time, OK?
0:56:46 > 0:56:50Listen to this and then I'll make my next edit, OK?
0:56:52 > 0:56:56- # Hola, como esta? # - I think Bill is always thinking of songs.
0:56:56 > 0:57:00He has songs that he's created over the last 10,
0:57:00 > 0:57:0515 years that are on tape.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08He put a lot into building that studio.
0:57:08 > 0:57:12I think in his imagination, he felt, I'm going to do some music.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15Whether or not he was actually going to put it out there,
0:57:15 > 0:57:17that's another story.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20Background - # Amigo cubano!
0:57:20 > 0:57:21# Ba-do be-da-boo-dee... #
0:57:21 > 0:57:25Selfishly, it would be fantastic, fantastic,
0:57:25 > 0:57:28if he would get a record together
0:57:28 > 0:57:32and it'd be new music and all that kind of stuff.
0:57:32 > 0:57:36It'd be fun, but realistically, I'm not sure that he wants that.
0:57:36 > 0:57:42He just hasn't wanted to get back into the music business.
0:57:42 > 0:57:44# Que paso, mi hermano. #
0:57:44 > 0:57:49RAUL IMITATES A TRUMPET
0:57:49 > 0:57:51I'm going to go to the Carnival here.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56# Mi amigo Cubano. #
0:57:56 > 0:57:59There it is, there.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02Yeah, there it is, there it is.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06# Mi amigo Cubano
0:58:11 > 0:58:13It's got that hump with it.
0:58:13 > 0:58:17# Que paso, mi hermano? #
0:58:17 > 0:58:20'I might just go in this frenzy, you know,
0:58:20 > 0:58:24'just become obsessed with it every day.
0:58:24 > 0:58:28'All you hear is just noise and me. You know what I mean?
0:58:28 > 0:58:30'I would like that.'
0:58:37 > 0:58:44BILL SINGS SCAT
0:58:44 > 0:58:46Let's figure it out. # Waay-oh... #
0:58:48 > 0:58:51# There's just so much about you
0:58:53 > 0:58:58# That I li-I-ike
0:59:01 > 0:59:06# And it's been so good to kno-o-ow
0:59:08 > 0:59:15# How you've always been there for me
0:59:17 > 0:59:21# When I needed a friend
0:59:24 > 0:59:27# And oh, by the way
0:59:33 > 0:59:37# Any time, any time
0:59:39 > 0:59:42# Any time of the night or day
0:59:46 > 0:59:52# I will be ju-u-ust
0:59:52 > 0:59:54# A telephone call away. #
0:59:59 > 1:00:01Come on, Kori, sing that bridge.
1:00:01 > 1:00:06# Say if you need me
1:00:06 > 1:00:10# I'll always be
1:00:10 > 1:00:16# Just a telephone call
1:00:16 > 1:00:20# A-wa-a-ay. #
1:00:20 > 1:00:26- Go ahead, sing it. - # And oh, by the way
1:00:26 > 1:00:30# I just want to say
1:00:30 > 1:00:34# Any time, any ti-ime
1:00:34 > 1:00:39# Any time of the night or day
1:00:39 > 1:00:43# I will be ju-u-u-ust
1:00:46 > 1:00:50# A telephone call away. #
1:00:53 > 1:00:56- Yeah.- Yeah.- Haha, let's get out of here.
1:00:56 > 1:00:57That sounded really nice.
1:00:57 > 1:01:02- But Kori, girl, we can work that tune.- We can.- We can do that song.
1:01:03 > 1:01:04Yeah.
1:01:04 > 1:01:09'As far as music goes, I think my dad is a pretty honest critic,
1:01:09 > 1:01:10'and I really had to toughen up
1:01:10 > 1:01:13'and realise that there was a difference between someone
1:01:13 > 1:01:16'criticising you in a way that's saying you're untalented
1:01:16 > 1:01:18'and someone being a coach, you know,
1:01:18 > 1:01:21'someone saying, "Yeah, that wasn't a strike."'
1:01:21 > 1:01:25- You ain't no joke, sugar.- No.
1:01:25 > 1:01:28That was so great to sing in that room.
1:01:28 > 1:01:30Yeah. You getting a little grease on you,
1:01:30 > 1:01:33that's what I'm talking about, you understand?
1:01:33 > 1:01:36You know, getting a little grease on you, that is, you know,
1:01:36 > 1:01:39you bringing the stuff, Kori.
1:01:43 > 1:01:46Let's hit this sucker here.
1:01:48 > 1:01:50Yeah.
1:01:50 > 1:01:54I knew there are ways that my father is gifted,
1:01:54 > 1:01:56and that I'm different than that,
1:01:56 > 1:01:59and that I'm going to have to find my own process
1:01:59 > 1:02:00and sort of my own way,
1:02:00 > 1:02:03and for me I just knew that I wanted to get better.
1:02:03 > 1:02:08- You just be comfortable and we'll make all this work.- OK.- Yeah.
1:02:08 > 1:02:11- Er...- I'm going to lift this just slightly.
1:02:11 > 1:02:13Do what you want to with it. You want it closer, further away?
1:02:13 > 1:02:15No, that's good.
1:02:15 > 1:02:18This is a... This is called Blue Blues.
1:02:31 > 1:02:34# I've moved on
1:02:35 > 1:02:36# From you
1:02:38 > 1:02:39# So I say
1:02:41 > 1:02:43# So it seemed
1:02:44 > 1:02:47# You are gone
1:02:47 > 1:02:49# Far away
1:02:49 > 1:02:52# I let you go
1:02:52 > 1:02:54# I set you free
1:02:56 > 1:03:04# Still I swim in a sea
1:03:05 > 1:03:07# Of you
1:03:08 > 1:03:19# My blue... #
1:03:22 > 1:03:26'My biggest fear, worst nightmare, was that
1:03:26 > 1:03:29'I would be a disappointment to him, that I would show him what I had
1:03:29 > 1:03:31'and he would be disappointed,
1:03:31 > 1:03:33'because I knew he always was really eager'
1:03:33 > 1:03:35to work with me, and I was always just like,
1:03:35 > 1:03:38"Why? You're Bill Withers. Why would you ever want to do that?"
1:03:38 > 1:03:40Like, why would you ever want to do that?
1:03:40 > 1:03:45And I just could never see how he and I could sit in a room as equals and do anything together.
1:03:45 > 1:03:46# I give up
1:03:47 > 1:03:49# I give in
1:03:51 > 1:03:53# I can't hide away
1:03:53 > 1:03:56# This love I'm in
1:03:56 > 1:04:00# Will never have me
1:04:02 > 1:04:06# Will only leave me
1:04:06 > 1:04:13# Deep in the sea of my blue, blue blues. #
1:04:33 > 1:04:36- HE SOBS - Oh, that's great.- Oh, I'm sorry.
1:04:36 > 1:04:38SHE LAUGHS
1:04:40 > 1:04:47I'm just, erm... You know, I'm just glad to see you.
1:04:49 > 1:04:51HE SNIFFS
1:04:51 > 1:04:52Er...
1:04:55 > 1:04:57HE SOBS
1:04:57 > 1:04:59- You know what I mean.- Yeah.
1:04:59 > 1:05:04Let's hear that. Let's hear that.
1:05:05 > 1:05:08RECORDING PLAYS
1:05:10 > 1:05:13We're all accidents at birth, you know?
1:05:13 > 1:05:16We don't get to choose, you know, what we look like,
1:05:16 > 1:05:20we don't get to choose how gifted we're going to be,
1:05:20 > 1:05:22how tall, how strong,
1:05:22 > 1:05:25we don't get to choose anything about what we're going to be.
1:05:27 > 1:05:29One day, somebody says, "You ARE."
1:05:29 > 1:05:34At some point or another, we have a choice...
1:05:36 > 1:05:39..if we're sane enough by that point,
1:05:39 > 1:05:42as to how much we're going to apply ourselves,
1:05:42 > 1:05:48and a lot of that is influenced by the people who nurture us.
1:05:59 > 1:06:01'I already did what I did.'
1:06:01 > 1:06:06You know, I'm not that little boy or that young guy any more
1:06:06 > 1:06:08that hasn't had any validation.
1:07:25 > 1:07:28CHEERING
1:07:42 > 1:07:45# Grandma's hand
1:07:45 > 1:07:49# Clapped in church on Sunday morning
1:07:49 > 1:07:51# Grandma's hand
1:07:51 > 1:07:53# Played a tambourine so well
1:07:53 > 1:07:56# Grandma's hand
1:07:56 > 1:07:59# Issued out a warning
1:07:59 > 1:08:02# Billy, don't you run so fast
1:08:02 > 1:08:05# Might fall on a piece of glass
1:08:05 > 1:08:07# Might be snakes there in that grass
1:08:07 > 1:08:09# Grandma's hand
1:08:46 > 1:08:48# And you know that Grandma's hands
1:08:48 > 1:08:52# Soothed a local unwed mother
1:08:52 > 1:08:54# Grandma's hand
1:08:54 > 1:08:58# It aches some times and swells
1:08:58 > 1:09:00# Grandma's hands
1:09:00 > 1:09:02# Lift her face and tell her
1:09:03 > 1:09:05# Baby, Grandma, understand
1:09:05 > 1:09:08# That your really love that man
1:09:08 > 1:09:09# Even though he ain't no good
1:09:11 > 1:09:13# Grandma's hand... #
1:09:14 > 1:09:15Come on, play it, man.
1:10:18 > 1:10:21# A man we passed
1:10:21 > 1:10:24# Just tried to stare me down
1:10:27 > 1:10:30# And when I looked at you
1:10:31 > 1:10:34# You looked at the ground... #
1:10:36 > 1:10:39Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd