Use Me (Bill Withers song)

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"Use Me"
Use Me - Bill Withers.jpg
Single by Bill Withers
from the album Still Bill
B-side"Let Me in Your Life"
ReleasedAugust 1972
GenreSoul, funk
Length3:45
LabelSussex Records
Songwriter(s)Bill Withers
Bill Withers singles chronology
"Lean on Me"
(1972) 		"Use Me"
(1972) 		"Let Us Love"
(1972)

"Use Me" is a song, composed and originally recorded by Bill Withers, which was included on his 1972 album Still Bill. It was his second-biggest hit in the United States, released in September 1972 and later reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[1] It was kept from No. 1 by both "Ben" by Michael Jackson and "My Ding-a-Ling" by Chuck Berry.[2] "Use Me" also peaked at No. 2 on the soul chart for two weeks.[3] Withers performed the song on Soul Train on November 4, 1972.[4] Billboard ranked it as the No. 78 song for 1972.[5] The song was certified Gold by the RIAA.[6] The song is noted for its repeated bass figure which is heard alongside a complex rhythm in the percussion.

Music critic Robert Christgau called "Use Me" "one of the few knowledgeable songs about sex our supposedly sexy music has ever produced", featuring a "cross-class attraction" in its narrative.[7]

Grace Jones covered the song - with a reggae-influenced arrangement - on her 1981 album Nightclubbing and subsequently released the song as a single.

Charts[]

Weekly charts[]

Chart (1972) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 2
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening 14
U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles 2
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 5
Canada RPM Hot Singles 33

Year-end charts[]

Chart (1972) Rank
US Cash Box[8] 100

Other recordings[]

A variety of artists have covered the song, including:

References[]

  1. ^ "Billboard Singles". All Media Guide / Billboard. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  2. ^ "The Hot 100 Chart".
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 633.
  4. ^ The Best of Soul Train Live (booklet). Time Life. 2011.
  5. ^ Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1972
  6. ^ "RIAA searchable certification database". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert. "CG: Bill Withers". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  8. ^ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 30, 1972". Archived from the original on September 28, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  9. ^ "Kisses in the Rain overview". Allmusic.com.
  10. ^ "Berks Jazz Fest 2007: Rick Braun & Friends". SmoothVibes.com.
  11. ^ "Alicia Keys and Rob Thomas performing for VH1 Save The Music Concert". Dailymotion. Retrieved 2011-10-01.

External links[]

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