By the time Bill Withers made this, his debut recording, he'd already served for many years in the US Navy, had a job as a milkman and installed toilets in jets for American airplane construction companies. All the while, he bombarded record companies with self-produced demo tapes that landed in the dustbin. In 1971 came his breakthrough when the successful producer Booker T. Jones hauled him onboard and sent him into the studio with guitarist Stephen Stills, drummer Al Jackson and bass player Donald "Duck" Dunn. In his debut album, Withers demonstrates his universal, mature competence as a singer, composer and performer, which was hardly surpassed in his later recordings.