''Bout Love'' is the seventh studio album by the American musician

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) 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 ( ...

, released in 1979 on the Columbia label. Withers collaborated with

Paul Smith Paul Smith is the name of: Music * Paul Smith (composer) (1906–1985), American film music composer * Paul Smith (pianist) (1922–2013), Los Angeles jazz pianist * Paul Smith (English singer) (born 1979), vocalist and songwriter of British in ...

, who co-wrote all the tracks but "Memories Are That Way" with Withers.

Reception

''Bout Love'' features Withers' usual mellowness and introspective lyrics, however its lead single, "Don't It Make It Better" is up-tempo, and its follow-up single, "You Got the Stuff" is a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

song. "Don't It Make It Better" peaked at No. 30 on Billboard R&B Singles, but "You Got the Stuff" reached only No. 85 on the chart. ''Bout Love'' peaked at #50 on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

and No. 134 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Track listing

# "All Because Of You" (Bill Withers,

) – 3:50 # "Dedicated To You My Love" (Withers, Smith) – 4:47 # "Don't It Make It Better" (Withers, Smith) – 4:12 # "You Got The Stuff" (Withers, Smith, Keith Hatchell) – 7:14 # "Look To Each Other For Love" (Withers, Smith) – 4:23 # "Love" (Withers, Smith) – 4:57 # "Love Is" (Withers, Smith) – 4:21 # "Memories Are That Way" (Withers) – 5:06

Personnel

* Bill Withers – vocals, acoustic guitar (1), bass (1), whistle (2), guitar (3, 4, 7, 8), horn and string arrangements (3), acoustic piano (4), drums (8) *

Wah Wah Watson Melvin M. Ragin (December 8, 1950 – October 24, 2018), known professionally as Wah Wah Watson, was an American guitarist who was a member of the Funk Brothers, the studio band for Motown Records. He also worked extensively as a session musician ...

– electric guitar (1) *

– keyboards (1–7), synthesizer (1–4) * Geoffrey Leib – keyboards (8) * Clifford Coulter – synthesizer (8) *

Keni Burke Kenneth M. "Keni" Burke (born September 28, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He began his career with four siblings in the 1970s band the Five Stairsteps. Biography Five Stairsteps As a membe ...

– additional bass lIcks (1, 2), bass (3, 6, 7) * Bryan Garofalo – bass (2, 5, 8) *

Jerry Knight Jerry Ernest Knight (April 17, 1952 – December 29, 1996) was an American R&B vocalist and bassist who reached prominence in the late 1970s and early 1980s, during which he was part of several groups and had a brief solo career. Career A Los ...

– bass (3) * Keith Hatchell – bass (4) *

Russ Kunkel Russell Kunkel (born September 27, 1948) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician with many popular artists, including Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Chapin, Rita Coolidge, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Cass Elliot, Dan Fo ...

– drums (1, 2, 3, 5–8), additional cymbal (8) *

Harvey Mason Harvey William Mason (born February 22, 1947) is an American jazz drummer, record producer, and member of the band Fourplay. He was the original drummer for Herbie Hancock's band The Headhunters. Life and career Mason was born and grew ...

– drums (4) *

Ralph MacDonald Ralph Anthony MacDonald (March 15, 1944 – December 18, 2011) was an American percussionist, steelpan virtuoso, songwriter, musical arranger, and record producer. His compositions include " Where Is the Love", a Grammy Award winner for the due ...

– percussion (1, 5–8) *

Buddy Collette William Marcel "Buddy" Collette (August 6, 1921 – September 19, 2010) was an American jazz flutist, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He was a founding member of the Chico Hamilton Quintet. Early life William Marcel Collette was born in ...

– flute solo (2) * Bill Eaton – horn and string arrangements (1, 8), additional string arrangements (5, 6) * Jeff Ervin – additional horn arrangements (1, 3) * Jean Hintermann – additional horn arrangements (1, 3) *

Wade Marcus Wade Marcus was a music producer and arranger associated with the Motown (music style), Motown sound during the 1970s. He composed the music to the film ''The Final Comedown'' with Grant Green. He also produced albums by The Blackbyrds, Gary Bartz ...

– horn arrangements (4–7), string arrangements (5, 6, 7)

Production

* Paul Smith – producer * Bill Eaton – production consultant * Gerry Griffith – production consultant * Ralph MacDonald – production consultant * Wade Marcus – production consultant * Bob Merritt – recording, mixing * Phil Jantaas – assistant engineer * Ollie Cotton – assistant engineer * Ed Rakowicz – assistant engineer * Andy Engel – design * Fred Anderson – photography

Charts

Singles

References

External links

Bill Withers-'Bout Love at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bout Love Bill Withers albums 1979 albums Columbia Records albums Albums arranged by Wade Marcus Albums produced by Paul Smith (pianist)