Song of the Day

When there ain't no sunshine: Bill Withers thought of "Grandma's Hands."

It’s a shame that Bill Withers had to pass away (in 2020) for most folks to remember or catch up with “Grandma’s Hands.” It was a great album cut early in his career but only a modest hit as a single. Still one of the best songs of the ‘70s.

Withers' maternal grandfather was born into slavery. As a kid, Withers attended church with his maternal grandmother, Lula (born in 1868). They would sing and clap along with the hymns. "It was spontaneous singing, there was nothing programmed,” he recalled. “People got up and sang and everybody would join in. It was my favorite kind of singing." Bill talked about her here, and with photos.

There have been quite a few covers. Willie Nelson & Mavis Staples’ version--and Pops Staples here. Even Chadwick Bozeman tried it here and Jamie Foxx there. And then there’s the diva version from La Streisand. Bill in 1974:

At Crawdaddy we gave Bill his first cover, in January, 1973.

Holiday bonus: Our Crawdaddy Christmas card, 1973, from high above the Hudson along the Jersey palisades. Couple of staffers missing. This small group somehow put out a 96-page magazine every month. In fact it was twice a month until October 1972.

“Essential daily newsletter.” — Charles P. Pierce, Esquire

“Incisive and enjoyable every day.” — Ron Brownstein, The Atlantic

“Always worth reading.” — Frank Rich, New York magazine, Veep and Succession

Greg Mitchell is the author of a dozen books, including the bestseller The Tunnels (on escapes under the Berlin Wall), the current The Beginning or the End (on MGM’s atomic bomb movie twisted by the White House and Pentagon), and The Campaign of the Century (on Upton Sinclair’s left-wing race for governor of California), which was recently picked by the Wall St. Journal as one of five greatest books ever about an election. His 2021 film, Atomic Cover-up, drew extraordinary acclaim, and his current one, The First Attack Ads, aired over hundreds of PBS stations this past fall. For nearly all of the 1970s he was the #2 editor at the legendary Crawdaddy. Later he served as longtime editor of Editor & Publisher magazine. He recently co-produced a film about Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.