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Bill Withers - Just As I Am (1971) [DualDisc: CD + DVD] (2005 Legacy Remaster)

Date: 10 Jun 2012 22:45:43

In a career laden with highlights and hallmarks in the annals of soul history, Just as I Am gets rather overlooked as one of the best soul debuts ever issued. Remastered and repackaged as a part of Sony's DualDisc series, Just as I Am gets cleaned up and presented to a new generation of listeners who may have missed out the first time. And with this remastering comes an intimacy, warmth, and immediacy to the recordings that was only hinted at with previous versions; it's almost as if Withers is in a living room singing to a small group of people, rather than making a record. Of course, the instantly recognizable anthem "Ain't No Sunshine" gets all of the acclaim it so richly deserves, but tracks like "Harlem" and "Better Off Dead" also warrant kudos for the intensity and maturity of their performances.

Even when he's doing covers, Withers treats them as if they are his own compositions and handles them with great delicacy. And while the audio performances are top-notch, the new documentary on the making of the record, as well as rare performances of "Ain't No Sunshine," "Ain't Her Daddy," and "Harlem" are the icing on the proverbial cake. Kudos to Sony for not only reissuing a long lost masterpiece, but for doing it in such a classy fashion.

Sony/Legacy 2005. Original release on Sussex Records, June 1971

He's hip, he's hop and he's all heart. If I could sing like any human ever it would be Billy. Where did he get that voice - the highs, the lows, the mids, the truthfulness? That manner of expression, the sly, but modest knowing? I swear I adore this man. How the hell he ever got a record contract still baffles me. How did some A&R ear hear it…get it? He shouldn't have happened, but he did. Nevermind his influentialness given the fact that you hear his songs covered or sequenced constantly on TV, radio and film. But Bill Withers is a songwriter first and a hitmaker second. Still Bill and Just As I Am are proof. The DVD documentary on the 'B' side, which was made about four years ago, displays our present Bill as aged to perfection, funny, vulnerable, unfooled, pointed and not a drop less Billy then he ever was. All the same characteristics you'll find in this collection. Please know that anyone who can steal, Let It Be off the Beatles..is one humdinger of a raw talent. And further note, I have never heard anyone cover his work and be dead on. Not one is there. Some sincere efforts, but no one can capture whatever is it that Bill Withers puts out. Whadda beauty!

TRACKLIST

1. Harlem
2. Ain't No Sunshine
3. Grandma's Hands
4. Sweet Wanomi
5. Everybody's Talkin'
6. Do It Good
7. Hope She'll Be Happier
8. Let It Be
9. I'm Her Daddy
10. In My Heart
11. Moanin' and Groanin'
12. Better Off Dead

EAC LOG

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008

EAC extraction logfile from 30. December 2009, 22:11

Bill Withers / Just As I Am (DualDisc)

Used drive : OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5630A Adapter: 0 ID: 0

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : No
Make use of C2 pointers : Yes

Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 320 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "artist=%a" -T "title=%t" -T "album=%g" -T "date=%y" -T "tracknumber=%n" -T "genre=%m" %s

TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 3:23.57 | 0 | 15281
2 | 3:23.57 | 2:05.07 | 15282 | 24663
3 | 5:28.64 | 2:01.06 | 24664 | 33744
4 | 7:29.70 | 2:32.58 | 33745 | 45202
5 | 10:02.53 | 3:24.30 | 45203 | 60532
6 | 13:27.08 | 2:52.17 | 60533 | 73449
7 | 16:19.25 | 3:50.11 | 73450 | 90710
8 | 20:09.36 | 2:36.58 | 90711 | 102468
9 | 22:46.19 | 3:18.02 | 102469 | 117320
10 | 26:04.21 | 4:19.72 | 117321 | 136817
11 | 30:24.18 | 2:58.27 | 136818 | 150194
12 | 33:22.45 | 2:14.36 | 150195 | 160280

Track 1

Filename C:\Documents and Settings\Administratцr\Skrivbord\Bill Withers - Just As I Am (DualDisc)\01 - Harlem.wav

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Test CRC 6D8C2ACD
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Accurately ripped (confidence 6) [8D94B460]
Copy OK

Track 2

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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [E2228B5B]
Copy OK

Track 3

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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [46070201]
Copy OK

Track 4

Filename C:\Documents and Settings\Administratцr\Skrivbord\Bill Withers - Just As I Am (DualDisc)\04 - Sweet Wanomi.wav

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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [FAD7238E]
Copy OK

Track 5

Filename C:\Documents and Settings\Administratцr\Skrivbord\Bill Withers - Just As I Am (DualDisc)\05 - Everybody's Talkin'.wav

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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [FFD48690]
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Track 6

Filename C:\Documents and Settings\Administratцr\Skrivbord\Bill Withers - Just As I Am (DualDisc)\06 - Do It Good.wav

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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [7078242C]
Copy OK

Track 7

Filename C:\Documents and Settings\Administratцr\Skrivbord\Bill Withers - Just As I Am (DualDisc)\07 - Hope She'll Be Happier.wav

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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [037CAC98]
Copy OK

Track 8

Filename C:\Documents and Settings\Administratцr\Skrivbord\Bill Withers - Just As I Am (DualDisc)\08 - Let It Be.wav

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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [86411EF1]
Copy OK

Track 9

Filename C:\Documents and Settings\Administratцr\Skrivbord\Bill Withers - Just As I Am (DualDisc)\09 - I'm Her Daddy.wav

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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [6CCE62EE]
Copy OK

Track 10

Filename C:\Documents and Settings\Administratцr\Skrivbord\Bill Withers - Just As I Am (DualDisc)\10 - In My Heart.wav

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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [D1355337]
Copy OK

Track 11

Filename C:\Documents and Settings\Administratцr\Skrivbord\Bill Withers - Just As I Am (DualDisc)\11 - Moanin' And Groanin'.wav

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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [35B439AE]
Copy OK

Track 12

Filename C:\Documents and Settings\Administratцr\Skrivbord\Bill Withers - Just As I Am (DualDisc)\12 - Better Off Dead.wav

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Test CRC 546FE516
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Accurately ripped (confidence 5) [F5FFAD8D]
Copy OK

All tracks accurately ripped

No errors occurred

End of status report