Kevin Burt & Big Medicine: “Thank You Brother Bill: A Tribute To Bill Withers” (2024) CD Review

Bill Withers, the songwriter responsible for such gems as “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean On Me” and “Just The Two Of Us” (among others), died in 2020 at the age of 81. Now blues musician and songwriter Kevin Burt, along with his band Big Medicine, pays tribute to Withers on the new album, Thank You Brother Bill: A Tribute To Bill Withers. In the disc’s liner notes, Kevin Burt talks about the impact that Bill Withers had on him, the way Bill Withers inspired him, and mentions the hope that he himself might have that same impact on someone else someday. His love for the music is clear in each note played and sung on this album. The band on this release is made up of Kevin Burt on guitar, harmonica and lead vocals; Scot Sutherland on bass; Ken Valdez on guitar and backing vocals; and Eric Douglas on drums and percussion.

The album opens with “Who Is He (And What Is He To You)?” a song from Bill Withers’ 1972 LP Still Bill, one of his best albums. This track features some excellent guitar work over that strong groove. Kevin Burt covers three other songs from Still Bill, including “Kissing My Love,” which follows “Who Is He (And What Is He To You).” Like the original rendition, this one begins with drums, and soon develops a delicious funky groove. This version also features some great stuff on harmonica. Oh yes, this track sounds like a celebration. And it is, isn’t it? “And I can hear the angels singing/Songs that only angels sing/And she’s such a pretty thing/And I can feel my heart just a-thumping and a-skipping/When I’m kissing my love.” I love the way that harmonica sings over that fun groove. And the band jams on it at the end, the harmonica and guitar interacting, responding to each other.

“World Keeps Going Around,” here listed as “World Keeps Going Round And Round,” is a song that was included on the 1973 live album from Bill Withers, Live At Carnegie Hall. This track features a good bass line and a passionate vocal performance. “He talked about his ups and downs/Said it don’t make no difference how many fixes you’ve been in/He said the world keeps going around and around.” Indeed, the world is indifferent to our struggles and to our triumphs. I love the raw power of this track, especially in his vocals. This track contains some good guitar work. That’s followed by “Just The Two Of Us,” one of Bill Withers’ biggest hits. This song was originally released in 1981 as a single by Grover Washington, Jr., with Bill Withers on vocals. This new rendition by Kevin Burt & Big Medicine features some great stuff on harmonica, and is a really good version. That sense of seizing the moment is strong in this rendition. “We look for love, no time for tears/Wasted water’s all that is/And it don’t make no flowers grow/Good things might come to those who wait/But not to those who wait too late.”

“I’m Her Daddy” was on the debut album from Bill Withers, Just As I Am. There is a darker, somewhat haunted vibe as this one begins, and it features an outstanding vocal performance. I love the way his performance builds in power as he says that six years is a long time, like he is realizing how long it’s been that he hasn’t seen his own child, and is upset about it. And that in turn makes the line “Does she know I’m her daddy?” all the more heartrending. The guitar work seems to equal his emotional state. As this track fades out, I wish it might go on a bit longer, because of course things are left unresolved. That is followed by another song from that first album, “Ain’t No Sunshine,” probably the most popular of all Bill Withers’ songs. This one has been covered a lot, and by a fairly wide range of artists. The guitar wails at the beginning of this track, setting the tone. And check out that great percussion during the “I know” section. This part is different than in the original recording, with Kevin Burt adding, “Know that I love her/I know I got to have her/See, in the middle of the night/She makes everything all right/I know that I love her.” There is some power behind this rendition.

“Lean On Me” is another of Bill Withers’ most beloved and moving songs. This one comes from Still Bill, and was a number one hit for him. It still resonates, and is a song that will likely always be relevant. In these strange times, it is particularly needed. Kevin Burt & Big Medicine deliver an excellent and passionate rendition. “So lean on me/When you’re not strong/And I’ll be your friend/I’ll help you carry on/For it won’t be long/‘Til I’m gonna need somebody to lean on.” That’s it, isn’t it? We all have weak moments, we all need to be able to lean on someone. Some people are too weak to admit that they are weak, especially these days when it is considered wrong to admit to being wrong, to seek help, to seek forgiveness. Those people should listen to this beautiful song. Kevin Burt delivers a section a cappella, a really nice and striking touch, and he adds a bit of riffing to that final section about calling.

“Let Us Love” was included on Bill Withers’ Live At Carnegie Hall, and was also released as a single. It is another song we need in these days of division and hatred, a song about being good to folks even on ordinary days, not waiting for Christmas to express that brotherhood. “Make it a good day just the same/Let us love one another/Let us love.” This track features some wonderful work on harmonica, that instrument nearly dancing, expressing joy. That’s followed by “Another Day To Run,” another song from Still Bill, the last of that album’s tracks to be covered here. Kevin Burt gives us a rendition that is more bluesy than the original, and it works quite well. I especially love that guitar work. Kevin Burt then gives us “Grandma’s Hands,” yet another beloved song. This one was included on Just As I Am. Kevin Burt stresses the spiritual element of the song. And he stretches it out a bit, this version nearly twice the length of the original. It features some great stuff on guitar and a powerful vocal performance.

“The Same Love That Made Me Laugh” was released as a single in 1974, and included on the +‘Justments LP. Kevin Burt’s rendition features another excellent and heartfelt vocal performance and some strong guitar work. It is followed by “Hope She’ll Be Happier,” a song that comes from Bill Withers’ first album. It feels like we can hear the darkness of the song in the music, that it has taken on form, an ominous rumble beneath his vocals. “Over the darkness, I have no power.” Yet the song certainly has power. The album then concludes with an original song by Kevin Burt, “Thank You Brother Bill,” the album’s title track, which features some good work on harmonica. It is addressed directly to Bill Withers, and in it Kevin Burt refers to some of Bill’s songs in its lyrics, including “Grandma’s Hands,” “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “World Keeps Going Around” and “Lean On Me.” “I leaned on you, I guess I always will/All I can say to that is, thank you, brother Bill.”

CD Track List

1. Who Is He (And What Is He To You)?
2. Kissing My Love
3. World Keeps Going Round And Round
4. Just The Two Of Us
5. I’m Her Daddy
6. Ain’t No Sunshine
7. Lean On Me
8. Let Us Love
9. Another Day To Run
10. Grandma’s Hands
11. The Same Love That Made Me Laugh
12. Hope She’ll Be Happier
13. Thank You Brother Bill

Thank You Brother Bill: A Tribute To Bill Withers is scheduled to be released on January 5, 2024 on Gulf Coast Records.