Lean on Me (song)

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"Lean on Me"
Single by Bill Withers
from the album Still Bill
Released April 21, 1972
Recorded 1971
Genre Soul
Length 4:17
Label Sussex
Writer(s) Bill Withers
Producer Bill Withers
Bill Withers singles chronology
"Grandma's Hands"
(1971)		 "Lean on Me"
(1972)		 "Use Me"
(1972)

"Lean on Me" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bill Withers. It was released in April 1972 as the lead single from his second album, Still Bill. It was his first and only number one on both the soul singles and the Billboard Hot 100.[1] It is ranked number 205 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[2] Numerous cover versions have been recorded, and it is one of only nine songs to have scored No. 1 with versions recorded by two different artists.[3]

Contents

Background and writing [edit]

Withers' childhood in the coal mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia[4] 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 lived in a decrepit house in the poor section of 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.'" [5]

Several members of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band were used for the recording session in 1972.

Track listings [edit]

7" Single

  1. Lean On Me 3:45
  2. Better Off Dead 2:13

Charts [edit]

Chart (1972) Peak
position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[6] 20
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) 18
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 1
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 4
Preceded by
"Song Sung Blue" by Neil Diamond		 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
July 8, 1972 (three weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Alone Again (Naturally)" by Gilbert O'Sullivan
Preceded by
"Woman's Gotta Have It" by Bobby Womack		 Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles number-one single
June 24, 1972 (one week)		 Succeeded by
"Outa-Space" by Billy Preston

Club Nouveau version [edit]

"Lean on Me"
Single by Club Nouveau
from the album Life, Love & Pain
Released March 20, 1987
Recorded 1986
Genre Soul, funk, hip hop, R&B, new jack swing
Length 4:00
Label Warner Bros.
Writer(s) Bill Withers
Producer Jay King
Club Nouveau singles chronology
"Situation #9"
(1986)		 "Lean on Me"
(1987)		 "Why You Treat Me So Bad"
(1987)

R&B group Club Nouveau covered the song and took it to number one for two weeks on the Billboard charts in 1987.[7] It also scored number one on the dance charts,[7] and won a Grammy award in 1987 for Bill Withers, as the writer, for Best R&B Song.[8]

Track listings [edit]

7" Single

  1. "Lean On Me" 3:58
  2. "Pump It Up (Lean On Me) (Reprise)" 2:38

12" Single

  1. "Lean On Me (Remix)" 7:42
  2. "Lean On Me (LP Version)" 5:56
  3. "Pump It Up (Lean On Me) (Remix)" 4:51
  4. "Pump It Up (Lean On Me) (Reprise - LP Version)" 2:38

Charts [edit]

Chart (1987) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[9] 22
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[10] 12
Canada Top Singles (RPM) 1
Germany (Media Control AG)[11] 9
Ireland (IRMA) 5
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[12] 4
New Zealand (RIANZ)[13] 1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 7
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) 3
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 2
Preceded by
"Jacob's Ladder" by Huey Lewis and the News		 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
March 21, 1987 (two weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship
Preceded by
"Looking for a New Love" by Jody Watley		 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single
April 18, 1987 (one week)		 Succeeded by
"The Telephone Call" by Kraftwerk
Preceded by
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship		 Canadian Singles Chart
April 11, 1987 (three weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House
Preceded by
"Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House		 New Zealand Singles Chart
May 1, 1987 (six weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi

2-4 Family cover version [edit]

"Lean on Me (with the Family)"
Single by 2-4 Family
from the album Family Business
Released 30 January 1999
Recorded 1998
Genre Hip hop
Length 3:38 (Radio Version)
Label Epic
Writer(s) Bill Withers
Producer Alex Trime, Sven "Delgado" Jordan
2-4 Family singles chronology
"Stay"
(1998)		 Lean on Me (with The Family"
(1999)		 "Take Me Home"
(1999)

In 1999, 2-4 Family released "Lean on Me (with the Family)", a cover version with a hip hop arrangement and additional lyrics. Epic Records published a 12-inch single and a CD maxi single in Germany.[15]

In 2008, several years after the dissolution of 2-4 Family, founding band-member Mike Johnson performed the song with backing vocalists and dancers at the Eurovision Song Content in Bulgaria.

Track listings [edit]

12" single [edit]

  1. Lean on Me (with The Family) (Special Radio Version) 3:58
  2. Lean on Me (with The Family) (DSP Mix) 4:04
  3. 9 Lives (Album Version) 4:06
  4. Stay (Special Radio Version) 4:12
  5. Lean on Me (with The Family) (Lounge Mix) 6:38
  6. Stay (Jay's D-Style Mix) 4:15

CD maxi single [edit]

  1. Lean on Me (with The Family) (Radio Version) 3:38
  2. Lean on Me (with The Family) (DSP Mix) 4:04
  3. Lean on Me (with The Family) (Lounge Mix) 6:38
  4. Lean on Me (with The Family) (Special Radio Version) 3:58
  5. Stay (Jay's D-Style Mix) 4:15
  6. 9 Lives (Album Version) 4:06

Charts [edit]

Chart (1999) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[16] 6
Germany (Media Control AG)[17] 9
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[18] 7

In popular culture [edit]

The song is frequently played at charity events. Avril Lavigne and Heart made a duet singing this song at the 17th Race To Erase MS event in May 2010.[19] Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, and Keith Urban performed the song at the 2010 Hope for Haiti earthquake relief telethon.

The song was used in a 1970s drug awareness film titled Dead Is Dead, hosted and produced by actor Godfrey Cambridge.

Mary J. Blige performed this song at the HBO We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial.[20] The next day, a crowd spontaneously began singing the song in the Purple Tunnel of Doom under the National Mall as they waited to gain entrance to the inauguration ceremonies.[21]

The song features at the end of Radioactive Man, an episode of The Simpsons, when two film producers return to Hollywood after a movie failure.

Paula Abdul and The Muppets performed this song on a 1997 episode of Muppets Tonight.

On the fourth season of Martin, Martin and the crew sang the song in the hospital in the episode, "Why Can't We Be Friends" that was aired in 1996.

Brian Eno, Michael Stipe, and Stephen Colbert sang an a cappella version of the song on The Colbert Report that first aired on November 10, 2011.

Other cover versions [edit]

"Lean on Me" has been interpreted by various other artists including Mud (1976), Al Jarreau (1985), DC Talk (1992), Michael Bolton (1993), Bonnie Tyler (1999), Anne Murray (1999), and The Temptations.

In 1989, covers of "Lean on Me" by The Winans and Sandra Reaves-Phillips provided the emotional uplift for a motion picture of the same name. Additionally, for the same film, the song was adapted by Big Daddy Kane in "hip hop" form.[22]

Jack Vidgen recorded a version of the song for his album Inspire.

Rapper Majid featuring Burhan G made a rap song entitled "Lean On Me". The song contains the same introduction words as the original, with Burhan G doing the refrain from the song however otherwise has different lyrics.

Mitchel Musso recorded a version of the song for the 2008 film Snow Buddies.[23]

Sarah Siobhan Leighton recorded the song live as a piano solo at an intimate fund-raising dinner for the Siobhan Outreach music program. The song was distributed gratis to attendees, donors, and students, and then incorporated into individual lesson plans as a way to show how simple chords can be improved through dedicated performance.

Glee recorded a version of the song for their "Ballad" episode, in which the glee club sings it to fellow members Finn and Quinn.[24]

Clay Aiken and Arsenio Hall sang the song live, during the season 12 finale of The Apprentice.

References [edit]

  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 633. 
  2. ^ Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
  3. ^ Cover Me: Same Songs to Hit No. 1 By Two Different Artists
  4. ^ Lean On Me entry in the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
  5. ^ Lean On Me Songfacts
  6. ^ Canadian peak
  7. ^ a b "Artist Chart History - Club Nouveau". Billboard Music Charts. Retrieved 2009-06-06. 
  8. ^ "Bill Withers Biography". Billwithers.com. pp. 8th Paragraph;Last Sentence. Retrieved 2009-06-06. 
  9. ^ "Club Nouveau – Lean on Me – Austriancharts.at" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Hung Medien.
  10. ^ "Ultratop.be – Club Nouveau – Lean on Me" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.
  11. ^ "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, News, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche – musicline.de" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  12. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Club Nouveau search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Stichting Nederlandse Top 40.
  13. ^ "Charts.org.nz – Club Nouveau – Lean on Me". Top 40 Singles. Hung Medien.
  14. ^ "Club Nouveau – Lean on Me – swisscharts.com". Swiss Singles Chart. Hung Medien.
  15. ^ "Lean on Me (with The Family)" at Discogs (list of releases)
  16. ^ "2-4 Family – Lean on Me (With the Family) – Austriancharts.at" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Hung Medien.
  17. ^ "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, News, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche – musicline.de" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  18. ^ "2-4 Family – Lean on Me (With the Family) – swisscharts.com". Swiss Singles Chart. Hung Medien.
  19. ^ "17th Annual Race to Erase MS raises $2 million!". Erasems.org. May 10, 2010. Retrieved June 17, 2010. 
  20. ^ Anderson, Erica; Kaufman, Gil. "Live From The "We Are One" Inaugural Concert". MTV News. pp. Entry titled: "Gil, 2:52 p.m.". Retrieved 2009-06-06. 
  21. ^ "Cursed Purple Tickets (or, how I worked for two years to get Obama elected and then couldn't view the Inauguration)". Barackoblogger.com. January 20, 2009. Retrieved June 19, 2010. 
  22. ^ "Lean On Me: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2009-06-06. 
  23. ^ "The Official Disney Snow Buddies Movie and DVD Website (About the Movie --> DVD Bonus Features)". Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-06-06. 
  24. ^ Goldman, Eric (November 19, 2009). "'Glee: "Ballad" Review". IGN. News Corporation. Retrieved 7 December 2009. 
Bill Withers
Studio albums
Songs
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