Album: Bill Withers, The Complete Sussex and Columbia Albums (Sony Legacy)

Bill Withers had all but given up on music when, at age 32, he finally got to see the inside of a studio; and even then, he refused to give up his job installing airplane toilets because he'd learnt how fickle the music industry could be.

That sort of mature attitude glows through his songs, in the warm selflessness of "Lean On Me", the unalloyed emotion of "Ain't No Sunshine" and the level-headed observation of "Lonely Town, Lonely Street", eased into life by the tender ministrations of producer Booker T Jones.

Download: Ain't No Sunshine; Lean On Me; Lonely Town, Lonely Street; Use Me; You