''+'Justments'' (pronounced: ''add justments'') is the third studio album by American

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer-songwriter and producer

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 1974 by

Sussex Records Sussex Records Inc. was an American, Los Angeles-based record label, founded by music executive and businessman Clarence Avant, that existed from 1969 to 1975. Its catalog is now controlled by Universal Music. History Sussex Records was launch ...

. It contains the hit single, "

The Same Love That Made Me Laugh "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" is a song, composed and originally recorded by Bill Withers, which was included on his 1974 album '' +'Justments''. Released as a single, it reached No. 50 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and No. 10 R&B ...

" (US #50, Canada #39), which charted during the spring of 1974.

Reception

The album cover shows Withers writing the following explanation of the title:

Life like most precious gifts gives us the responsibility of upkeep. We are given the responsibility of arranging our own spaces to best benefit our survival. We have the choice of believing or not believing in things like God, friendship, marriage, love, lust or any number of simple but complicated things. We will make some mistakes both in judgement and in fact. We will help some situations and hurt some situations. We will help some people and hurt some people and be left to live with it either way. We must then make some adjustments, or as the old people back home would call them, + 'JUSTMENTS.

The album features

José Feliciano José Montserrate Feliciano García (; born September 10, 1945) is a Puerto Rican musician. He recorded many international hits, including his rendition of the Doors' " Light My Fire" and his self-penned Christmas song "". Music genres he explo ...

playing guitar on "Can We Pretend" and congas on "Railroad Man". Withers was a guest musician and composer on the 1973 Feliciano album ''Compartments''. Legal tussles between Withers and Sussex prevented further recording sessions until Columbia signed the singer a year later. Columbia bought Withers' back catalog, re-releasing his earlier hit records, but ''+'Justments'' was not reissued on CD until 2010.

Track listing

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals, guitar (2, 9), acoustic piano (4), electric piano (5, 6, 9) * Benorce Blackmon – guitar (1) *

– guitar (7), congas (10) * Ray Jackson – electric piano (1, 2) * John Barnes – acoustic piano (1, 3), electric piano (4) * John Myles – electric piano (7, 8, 10),

clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

(10), string arrangements * Melvin Dunlap – bass (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10) *

James Gadson James Edward Gadson (born June 17, 1939) is an American drummer and session musician. Beginning his career in the late 1960s, Gadson has since become one of the most-recorded drummers in the history of R&B. He is also a singer and songwriter. ...

– drums (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10) * Chip Steen – congas (5, 10) *

Dorothy Ashby Dorothy Jeanne Thompson (August 6, 1932 – April 13, 1986), better known as Dorothy Ashby, was an American jazz harpist, singer and composer. Hailed as one of the most "unjustly under loved jazz greats of the 1950s" and the "most accomplished ...

– harp (2, 3, 4, 7)

Production

* Bill Withers – producer * Melvin Dunlap – producer * James Gadson – producer * Phil Schier – engineer * Bobby Thomas – engineer * Carl Overr – art direction * John Van Hamersveld – design *

Norman Seeff Norman Seeff (born 5 March 1939) is a South African photographer and filmmaker. Since moving to the United States in 1969, his work has been focused on the exploration of human creativity and the inner dynamics of the creative process. Early l ...

– photography ;Studios * Recorded at

Record Plant The Record Plant was a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and last operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it produced highly influential albums, including the New York ...

(Los Angeles, CA) and Dijobe Sound (Orange, CA). * Mastered at

Artisan Sound Recorders Artisan Sound Recorders was one of Southern California's premier disk mastering facilities. It was founded by Robert M. MacLeod Jr. in the 1960s, and acquired by Kent Duncan in 1979 when MacLeod retired. In the early 1990s, it was sold to Jon Lo ...

(Hollywood, CA).

Charts

Singles

External links

Bill Withers - + 'Justments at Discogs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Justments 1974 albums Bill Withers albums Sussex Records albums