For the rock band of the same name, see The Material

Material is a musical group formed in 1979 and led by bass guitarist Bill Laswell.

History[link]

1978-82: The band[link]

In 1978, having received a substantial royalty payment for his work with The Yardbirds, Russian music entrepreneur Giorgio Gomelsky relocated to New York in an attempt to open up the American market to the European progressive jazz-rock bands he was working with, such as Gong, Henry Cow and Magma. He established the Zu Club in Manhattan and after meeting 24 year old bass player Bill Laswell, encouraged him to form a band. Three young friends, Michael Beinhorn (17, synthesizer), Martin Bisi (17, engineering) and Fred Maher (14, drums), responded to Laswell's advert in The Village Voice and the band began rehearsing in the club's basement.^[1]

The band became known as the "Zu Band" until Gomelsky hooked them up with former Gong frontman Daevid Allen for a performance at his Zu Manifestival at the Zu Club on October 8, 1978, for which they became "New York Gong". Guitarist Cliff Cultreri, who was replaced by guitarist Michael Lawrence for the Manifestival, and second drummer Bill Bacon joined them for a Spring 1979 tour of the USA in an old school bus playing most of Gong's Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy. In autumn, they recorded the album About Time.^[2] Allen and the band amicably parted company when they "discovered they couldn't stand the European way of life" during a tour of France.^[3]

The band then took the name Material, from the Laswell/Cultreri composed instrumental "Materialism" on the About Time album. Their debut recording was 1979's instrumental post-punk industrial funk Temporary Music 1 EP for Gomelsky's Zu Records. The band then signed to Celluloid Records, and the single "Discourse" was issued in 1980.

They were reduced back to the trio of Beinhorn, Laswell and Maher for the 1981 EP Temporary Music 2. Their first full album, Memory Serves, which featured strong jazz leanings, had contributions from guitarists Sonny Sharrock and Henry Cow's Fred Frith, cornetist Olu Dara, saxophonist Henry Threadgill and violinist Billy Bang.

They started working with singers and their music became more melodic and funkier. Their next single "Ciquiri" (included on the American Songs EP) which featured guitarist Robert Quine, became popular in New York City dance clubs. The 1981 "Bustin' Out" single was released as an extended club mix peaking at number two on the dance charts.^[4] On "Busting Out", they were fronted by singer Nona Hendryx with support from guitarist Ronnie Drayton. This line-up also recorded "It's a Holiday" for a split single with Cristina.

By 1982's One Down, drummer Maher had left the band, and they embraced a multitude of singers including Hendryx, B.J. Nelson, R. Bernard Fowler and Whitney Houston in one of her first lead singer recordings. Houston's vocal was on a cover version of Hugh Hopper's "Memories", which also featured a lead break by saxophonist Archie Shepp. Critic Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called her contribution "one of the most gorgeous ballads you've ever heard".^[5] As an indication of the direction the band headed for, Chic's guitarist Nile Rodgers was involved alongside Frith and Drayton, but perhaps more significantly, was one of the first appearances of longtime Laswell collaborator Nicky Skopelitis.

1982-89: Collaborations[link]

Bill Laswell and Michael Beinhorn settled into a duo and began working with other musicians, producing, writing and performing. They worked initially in the electro genre, but quickly moved into the fields of hip-hop and rap, collaborating with turntablist D.St and rappers PHASE 2 and Fab Five Freddy.

A chance meeting between Laswell and Herbie Hancock at Elektra Records, in which the latter expressed interest in making music in the vein of Malcolm McLaren's "Buffalo Gals" lead to a collaboration that brought forth the Future Shock album and the hit single "Rockit".^[1] They would collaborate with Hancock on two further albums released under his name, 1984's Sound-System and 1988's Perfect Machine. Hancock himself would go on to contribute to many of Material and Laswell's projects.

In 1984, under the name Timezone, they released the single "World Destruction" which featured disc jockey Afrika Bambaataa and John Lydon (former singer of the Sex Pistols).

In 1985 Laswell and Beinhorn parted company. Beinhorn went into record production for the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Marilyn Manson. Laswell retained the Material name and was calling upon a large group of musicians with, at its core, guitarist Nicky Skopelitis, keyboardist Jeff Bova, percussionist Aiyb Dieng, former Parliament-Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell and bassist Bootsy Collins, plus Jamaican reggae duo Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare (Sly and Robbie).

1989-99: Projects[link]

By 1989, Laswell had ceased using the Material name as an umbrella for his own activities and began to use it as a front for specific projects. The first of these projects was the album Seven Souls, featuring William S. Burroughs reading portions of his novel The Western Lands. In 1998, the album was subject to a series of re-mixes by Laswell, Talvin Singh, Spring Heel Jack, DJ Olive and released as The Road to the Western Lands.

The Third Power was released in 1991, with duo Sly and Robbie and Bootsy Collins being Laswell's main collaborators. Vocal performances were given by the Jungle Brothers' Baby Bam and Mike G, The Last Poets's Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin, and Shabba Ranks. Other musicians included members of Funkadelic, Herbie Hancock, Henry Threadgill and Olu Dara.

1993's Hallucination Engine was a fusion of jazz, Indian and Middle Eastern influences. Noted jazz players included Wayne Shorter, Jonas Hellborg, and from John McLaughlin's Shakti tabla player Zakir Hussain, violinist L. Shankar and Vikku Vinayakram (on ghatam). Palestinian violinist Simon Shaheen, Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu, and William S. Burroughs also contributed.

The final release under the name Material was 1999's Intonarumori. Sub-titled "Rap is still an art", it featured contributions from Rammellzee, Kool Keith, Flavor Flav and Killah Priest.

Laswell has on occasion used the name for live performances, the last being at the Bonnaroo Music Festival on June 13, 2004 with, among others, his wife Gigi, drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia and guitarist Buckethead (both from Laswell's other project, Praxis).^[6]

Discography[link]

• 1981: Temporary Music (compilation)
• 1981: Memory Serves
• 1982: One Down
• 1989: Seven Souls
• 1991: Live from Soundscape (live 1981)
• 1991: The Third Power
• 1993: Live in Japan (live 1992)
• 1993: Hallucination Engine
• 1998: The Road to the Western Lands (remixes of Seven Souls)
• 1999: Intonarumori

References[link]

External links[link]

• Material at Allmusic
• Material discography at Discogs
• "Material, A Band of Many Faces" by Robert Palmer

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

Material is anything made of matter, constituted of one or more substances. Wood, cement, hydrogen, air and water are all examples of materials. Sometimes the term "material" is used more narrowly to refer to substances or components with certain physical properties that are used as inputs to production or manufacturing. In this sense, materials are the parts required to make something else, from buildings and art to stars and computers.

Raw materials and processing[link]

A material can be anything: a finished product in its own right or an unprocessed raw material. Raw materials are first harvested from the earth and divided into a form that can be easily transported and stored, then processed to produce semi-finished materials. These can be input into a new cycle of production and finishing processes to create finished materials, ready for distribution, construction, and consumption.

Some examples of raw materials[link]

Cotton

An example of a raw material is cotton, which is harvested from plants. Cotton can be processed into rope(also considered a raw material), which can then be woven into cloth, a semi-finished material. Cutting and sewing the fabric turns it into a garment, which is a finished product.

Steel

Steelmaking is another example – raw materials in the form of ore are mined, refined and processed into steel, a semi-finished material. Steel is then used as an input in many other industries to make finished products.

See also[link]

Look up material in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Materials

• Chemical compound
• Chemical substance
• Materiality (auditing)
• Materials science
• List of building materials
• Raw material

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William Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. (born July 4, 1938) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. He recorded a number of hits such as "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands". His life was recently the subject of the documentary film Still Bill.

Early life[link]

Withers was born the youngest of six children in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia. Raised in nearby Beckley, West Virginia, Withers was twelve years old when his father died. He enlisted with the United States Navy at age eighteen and served for nine years, during which time he became interested in singing and writing songs. Soon after his discharge from the Navy in 1965, he relocated to Los Angeles in 1967 for a musical career.^[1]

Withers worked as an assembler for several different companies, including Douglas Aircraft Corporation, while recording demo tapes with his own money, shopping them around and performing in clubs at night. When he debuted with the song "Ain't No Sunshine" he refused to resign his job because of his belief that the music business was a fickle industry and that he was still a novice compared to other acts.

Career[link]

Sussex Records[link]

During early 1970, Withers' demonstration tape was audited favorably by Clarence Avant of Sussex Records. Avant signed Withers to a record deal and assigned Booker T. Jones to produce Withers' first album. Four three-hour studio sessions were planned to record the album, but funding caused the album to be recorded in three sessions with a six-month break between the second and final sessions. Just as I Am was released in 1971 with the tracks "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Grandma's Hands" as singles. The album features Stephen Stills playing lead guitar.^[2]

The album was a success and Withers began touring with a band assembled from members of The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band: drummer James Gadson, guitarist Benorce Blackmon, keyboardist Ray Jackson, and bassist Melvin Dunlap.

At the 14th annual Grammy Awards on Tuesday, March 14, 1972, Withers won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for "Ain't No Sunshine." The track had already sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in September 1971.^[3]

During a hiatus from touring, Withers recorded his second album, Still Bill. The single "Lean on Me" went to number one the week of July 8, 1972. It was Withers' second gold disc awarded track with confirmed sales in excess of three million.^[3] His single "Use Me" released in August 1972, became his third million seller, with the R.I.A.A. gold disc award taking place on October 12, 1972.^[3] His performance at Carnegie Hall on October 6 1972 was recorded, and released as the live album Bill Withers, Live at Carnegie Hall on November 30 1972. In 1974 Withers recorded the album +'Justments. Due to a legal dispute with the Sussex company, Withers was unable to record for some time thereafter.

During this time, he wrote and produced two songs on the Gladys Knight & the Pips record I Feel a Song, and in October 1974 performed in concert together with James Brown, Etta James, and B. B. King four weeks prior to the historic Rumble in the Jungle fight between Foreman and Ali in Zaire.^[4] Footage of his performance was included in the 1996 documentary film, When We Were Kings, and he is heard on the accompanying soundtrack. Other footage of his performance is included in the 2008 documentary film Soul Power which is based on archival footage of the 1974 Zaire concert.

Columbia Records[link]

Withers signed with Columbia Records in 1975. His first release with the label, Making Music, Making Friends, included the single "She's Lonely" which was featured in the film Looking for Mr. Goodbar. During the next three years he released an album each year with Naked & Warm (1976), Menagerie (1977, containing the successful Lovely Day) and Bout Love (1978) and Get On Down, the latter song was also on Looking for Mr. Goodbar soundtrack.

Due to problems with Columbia, he concentrated on joint projects between 1977 and 1985, including the successful "Just the Two of Us", with jazz saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr., which was released during June 1980. It won a Grammy on February 24, 1982. Withers next did Soul Shadows with The Crusaders, and In the Name of Love with Ralph MacDonald, the latter being nominated for a Grammy for vocal performance.

In 1985 came Watching You, Watching Me, which featured the Top 40 rated Rhythm&Blues single "Oh Yeah". Withers ended his business association with Columbia Records after this release, which as of 2011 is his last studio album.

In 1988, a new version of "Lovely Day" from the 1977 Menagerie album, titled "Lovely Day (Sunshine Mix)" and remixed by Ben Liebrand, reached the Top 10 in the United Kingdom, leading to Withers' performance on the long-running Top of the Pops that year. The original release had scored #7 in the UK in early 1978, and the re-release scored to #4.

In 1987, he received his ninth Grammy award nomination and on March 2, 1988 his third Grammy for Best Rhythm and Blues Song as songwriter for the re-recording of Lean On Me by Club Nouveau on their debut album Life, Love and Pain, released in 1986 on Warner Bros. Records.

In 1996, a portion of his song "Grandma's Hands" was sampled in the song "No Diggity" by BLACKstreet, featuring Dr. Dre. The single went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and sold 1.6 million copies and won a Grammy in 1999 for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

Withers contributed two songs to Jimmy Buffett's July 13, 2004 release License To Chill. Following the reissues of Still Bill on January 28, 2003 and Just As I Am on March 8, 2005, there was speculation of previously unreleased material being issued as a new album.^[5] In 2006, Sony gave back to Withers his previously unreleased tapes.

In 2007, "Lean On Me" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Personal life[link]

Withers married actress Denise Nicholas in 1973, during her stint as the main actress of the popular sitcom, Room 222. The couple divorced the next year.^[6]

During the professional semi-hiatus which began in the late 1970s, Withers concentrated more on personal matters than professional recording. In 1976, he married Marcia Johnson and they had two children, Todd and Kori. Marcia eventually assumed the direct management of his Beverly Hills-based publishing companies, in which his children also became involved as they became adults.^[7]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Live albums[link]

Compilation albums[link]

Singles[link]

• ^A The original version of "Ain't No Sunshine" did not chart on the UK Singles Chart until 2009, 38 years after its release.

Awards[link]

Honors[link]

• 2002: Honorary doctorate from Mountain State University
• 2005: Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee
• 2006: ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Heritage award^[14]
• 2007: Inducted into West Virginia Music Hall of Fame^[15]

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Official website
• Bill Withers at Allmusic
• Bill Withers at the Internet Movie Database
• Biography at Soultracks.com
• Bill Withers Biography with photos
• Still Bill documentary
• Extensive 2009 audio interview with Withers on public radio program The Sound of Young America

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2008)

Eli Young Band
Mike Eli
Background information
Origin	Denton, Texas, U.S.
Genres	Country
Years active	2000-present[1]
Labels	Carnival Universal South Republic Nashville
Website	http://www.eliyoung.net
Members
Mike Eli James Young Jon Jones Chris Thompson
Past members
Bryan Tyler Mark Sims

Eli Young Band is an American country music band based in Denton, Texas. The band is composed of Mike Eli (vocals, guitar), James Young (guitar), Jon Jones (bass guitar), and Chris Thompson (drums). They released their self-titled debut album in 2002, followed by the Carnival records release Level in 2005. Their third album, Jet Black & Jealous, was released in 2008 by Universal South Records. A second major-label album, Life at Best, was released in 2011 by Republic Nashville; it includes their first #1 hit, "Crazy Girl".

Biography[link]

Mike Eli and James Young met each at the University of North Texas when they became dorm roommates their freshman year. They played guitar and eventually began writing and singing songs together; they formed the acoustic duo, Eli & Young, while attending the University of North Texas.^[1] Chris Thompson and Jon Jones joined them later on and they became the Eli Young Band.^[2]

They released their first album in 2002, self-titled "Eli Young Band". In 2005 they released "Level" on Carnival Records and opened shows for Miranda Lambert.^[2] National exposure on CMT and GAC helped them begin to build a following well outside of their touring base. They sold as many as 2,000 tickets a night in multiple markets. In late 2006 they released Eli Young Band Live At the Jolly Fox located in Huntsville, Texas. Early in 2007, they signed a management deal with George Couri and C3 Management. Their plans included a rigorous tour schedule and key opening spots with Pat Green, Robert Earl Keen, and Jack Ingram, as well as a spot on the 2007 Austin City Limits Music Festival.

While touring, they were also making songwriting a top priority and made time for writing trips and retreats at the Young family ranch. Energized with new songs, they were ready to begin working on a new album in late 2007. Working with producers Frank Liddell and Mike Wrucke (who have also produced for Lambert), they took time off from touring to record at Omni Studios in Nashville. Their third album, Jet Black & Jealous, was released in 2008. Its lead-off single, "When It Rains", spent thirty-seven weeks on the country charts and peaked at #34.^[3] A second chart single, "Always the Love Songs" (co-written by David Lee Murphy and George Ducas), scored the Eli Young Band their first top 15 hit, making #11. ("Radio Waves" also made top 40, while "Guinevere" peaked at #45.)

They were nominated for an Academy of Country Music award as the Top New Vocal Group or Duo, an award that is based on the number of fan entries on the GAC website. They lost to the Zac Brown Band. They were then nominated for the 2010 Top New Vocal Group for the 45th ACM Awards, but lost to Gloriana.

They appeared as part of the pregame ceremonies for an NFL game between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on December 5, 2010. Mike Eli forgot the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner" and was promptly booed. He attempted to sing the song again, but forgot a considerable amount of the lyrics in his second try.^[4]

In 2011, the Eli Young Band moved to Republic Nashville and released their fifth overall single, "Crazy Girl" as the lead single off "Life at Best". It became the band's first gold-selling digital single,^[5] as well as their first #1 single.

The band received three nominations for the 2012 Academy of Country Music Awards: Song of the Year, Top Vocal Group of the Year, and Single Record of the Year. On April 1, 2012 the band won the Academy of Country Music Award for Song of the Year.

Band members[link]

Current[link]

• Mike Eli (lead vocals, guitars)
• James Young (lead guitar, backing vocals)
• Jon Jones (bass guitar, backing vocals)
• Chris Thompson (drums)
• Keith Davis (pedal steel, keys, guitars, backing vocals)

Former[link]

• Mark Sims (guitar)
• Bryan Tyler (guitar)

Guests[link]

• Blu Sanders (guitars, backing vocals)
• Allen Huff (organ)

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Extended plays[link]

Live albums[link]

Singles[link]

• ^ACurrent single.

Other charted songs[link]

Songs charted from unsolicited airplay.

Videography[link]

Music videos[link]

Cultural References[link]

Australian Golfer Rhein Gibson claimed, after possibly scoring the lowest score ever recorded in a round of golf, "I had this song playing in my head... that new one from the Eli Young Band. It was in there all day."^[12]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website