| "Ain't No Sunshine" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Side B of the 1985 US reissue | ||||
| Single by Bill Withers | ||||
| from the album Just As I Am | ||||
| B-side | "Harlem" | |||
| Released | July 1971 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:04 | |||
| Label | Sussex | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bill Withers | |||
| Producer(s) | Booker T. Jones | |||
| Bill Withers singles chronology | ||||
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| Official audio | ||||
| "Ain't No Sunshine" on YouTube | ||||
"Ain't No Sunshine" is a song by Bill Withers, from his 1971 debut album Just As I Am, produced by Booker T. Jones. The record featured musicians Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass guitar, Al Jackson Jr. on drums and Stephen Stills on guitar.[2] String arrangements were arranged by Jones. The song was recorded in Los Angeles, with overdubs in Memphis by engineer Terry Manning.
The song was released as a single in 1971, becoming a breakthrough hit for Withers, reaching number six on the U.S. R&B Chart and number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 23 song for 1971.
The song reached the Top 40 again in 2009, when it was sung by Kris Allen in the eighth season of American Idol.
In 2024, the single was added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, and/or aesthetically significant".[3]
- ^ Pitchfork Staff (August 22, 2016). "The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
"Ain't No Sunshine" is a literal throughline from the era's Southern soul to the folk-rock movement...
- ^ The Mojo Collection: 4th Edition, LyricsFreak, Broken Radio, About.comOldies Music - In The Spotlight: Bill Withers
- ^ "The Notorious B.I.G., The Chicks, Green Day & More Selected for National Recording Registry (Full List)". Billboard. 2024-04-16. Retrieved 2024-04-16.