Lean on Me

“Lean on Me” is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bill Withers. It was released in April 1972 as the first single from his second album, Still Bill. It was a number one single on both the soul and Billboard Hot 100 charts, the latter chart for three weeks in July 1972. Billboard ranked it as the No. 7 song of 1972 It was ranked number 208 on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” in 2010. Numerous other versions have been recorded, and it is one of only nine songs to have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with versions recorded by two different artists. In 2007, the 1972 recording of the song by Bill Withers on Sussex Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. 1970s Glam Rock band ‘MUD’ recorded a cover of the song in 1976 that became a chart hit in the UK the same year. Background and writing
Bill Withers’ childhood in the coal mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, was the inspiration for “Lean on Me”, which he wrote after he had moved to Los Angeles, and found himself missing the strong community ethic of his hometown. He had lived in a decrepit house in the poor section of his town. Withers recalled to SongFacts the original inspiration for the song: “I bought a little piano and I was sitting there just running my fingers up and down the piano. In the course of doing the music, that phrase crossed my mind, so then you go back and say, ‘OK, I like the way that phrase, Lean On Me, sounds with this song.'” Withers stated in the same interview that he made an effort to keep the lyrics simple. Several members of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band were used for the recording session in 1972. A string section was also included.