Still Bill (film)
Encyclopedia
Still Bill is a 2009 documentary film about musician Bill Withers
. It received its world premiere at the 2009 South by Southwest Film Festival. The title is a reference to Withers' 1972 album of the same name
.
to his career in the United States Navy
, to his famed musical career and post retirement family life.
, which assigns normalized scores, gave the film a 76 out of 100, indicating "generally positive reviews."
Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
gave the film 3 1/2 out of 4 stars and wrote positively about the film except for one set up interview with Cornel West and Tavis Smiley in the film:
Mike Hale of The New York Times
also thought the film was well done and mirrored Ebert's position on the interview with West and Smiley:
Bill Withers
William Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. is an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. Some of his best-known songs are "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands"...
. It received its world premiere at the 2009 South by Southwest Film Festival. The title is a reference to Withers' 1972 album of the same name
Still Bill
Still Bill is the second studio album by American soul musician Bill Withers, released in 1972 by Sussex Records. It includes two hit singles: "Lean on Me", which is number 205 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and went to number 1 on the Billboard pop and R&B charts in summer of...
.
Plot
The film follows the life of Bill Withers, from his roots in West VirginiaWest Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
to his career in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, to his famed musical career and post retirement family life.
Cast
- Bill WithersBill WithersWilliam Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. is an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. Some of his best-known songs are "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands"...
- Cornell DupreeCornell DupreeCornell Luther Dupree was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He worked at various times with Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, King Curtis and Steve Gadd, appeared on David Letterman, and wrote a book on soul and blues guitar: Rhythm and Blues Guitar ISBN 0-634-00149-3...
- James Gadsen
- Jim JamesJim JamesJames Edward Olliges Jr. , professionally known as Jim James or Yim Yames, is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of Louisville, Kentucky-based rock band My Morning Jacket. James grew up in the Hikes Point neighborhood of Louisville, attended St. Martha grade school and graduated...
- Angélique KidjoAngélique KidjoAngélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo, commonly known as Angélique Kidjo is a Grammy Award–winning Beninoise singer-songwriter and activist, noted for her diverse musical influences and creative music videos. Time Magazine has called her "Africa's premier diva". The BBC has...
- Ralph MacDonaldRalph MacDonaldRalph MacDonald is an American percussionist and song-writer. He joined Harry Belafonte's band at age 17. He wrote the Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway song "Where is the Love" with songwriting partner William Salter. Probably his best-known composition is the Grover Washington, Jr...
- Raul MidónRaul MidónRaúl Midón is a singer-songwriter and guitarist from New Mexico, based in New York City. He combines his distinct voice, strumming, beats, and vocal mouth trumpet sounds to create a one-man performance. His unique style shows influence of virtually every musical genre which came before him,...
- Tavis SmileyTavis SmileyTavis Smiley is a talk show host, author, liberal political commentator, entrepreneur, advocate and philanthropist. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and grew up in Kokomo, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to Tom Bradley, the mayor of...
- Sting
- Cornel WestCornel WestCornel Ronald West is an American philosopher, author, critic, actor, civil rights activist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America....
Critical reception
The film received mostly positive reviews. Website metacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns normalized scores, gave the film a 76 out of 100, indicating "generally positive reviews."
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
gave the film 3 1/2 out of 4 stars and wrote positively about the film except for one set up interview with Cornel West and Tavis Smiley in the film:
Mike Hale of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
also thought the film was well done and mirrored Ebert's position on the interview with West and Smiley: