WHO SANG JUST THE TWO OF US

William Salter assisted write among America"s many iconic love songs.

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He collaborated v Bill Withers and Ralph macdonald on "Just the 2 of Us," perform by Grover Washington Jr. On his album Winelight in 1980.

Salter, now 84, spoke v his 25-year-old nephew Jada Salter for a remote StoryCorps conversation around how he very first found his sound.

Jada remembered she grandfather constantly humming a tune on her childhood visits to his house in brand-new Rochelle, N.Y.

"Even as soon as we"re eating, you hum in in between the bites," she said. "And that is a huge component of what ns think of, as soon as I think the Grandpa — her sound."

As a kid, William grew up in a quiet residence environment. Yet he claimed radio music ended up being somewhat the a coping mechanism for his solitude.

"My mother used come tell me, "Children to be to be seen and not heard." us had little or no conversation," that said. "She was a day worker. She would go out and also clean people"s houses. And also so i was constantly by myself — and lonely.

"But I had actually the radio, and also songs that I could whistle or sing. For this reason the radio and I adopted each other."

wilhelm Salter, right, his granddaughter Jada, front, and also his kid — and Jada"s father — Jamal.

Jada asked her grandpa how the bass ended up being his instrument of choice.

As william recalled, it wasn"t lot of a choice: once he remained in junior high institution music class, all the other tools were taken.

"All the was left were three string basses standing versus the wall. It to be either the or ns didn"t perform anything. So i took what you get," he said. "But I had no complaints."

When he found music v the bass, that said, "I found myself."

"Prior come getting associated with music, ns was just another kid top top the block, without knowing who i was," he said. But with the large instrument in tow, william recalled, "I walked prefer I was somebody special."

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Jada recalled hearing her grandpa pat "Just the 2 of Us" for the very first time once she was around 8 years old.

"When ns heard the lyrics, I simply imagined in my head — Grandpa and I," she said.

William stated he invested a most time babysitting Jada as soon as she to be younger.

"It was an extremely meaningful to have this really precious time to share with you in a method that i didn"t have when I came up," he told her.

"I was blessed enough to have you for these years," Jada said. "And hopefully, ns pray, I"ll have actually you for a whole lot more. Yet I realize that tune is an example of how you"re tho gonna be there — you"re always gonna it is in there."

Audio created for Morning Edition by Abe Selby. invernessgangshow.net"s Emma Bowman adapted it because that the Web.

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StoryCorps is a national noinvernessgangshow.netofit that gives human being the opportunity to interview friends and loved ones about their lives. These conversations are archived at the American Folklife center at the Library the Congress, permitting participants to leaving a legacy for future generations. Find out more, including just how to interview someone in your life, in ~ StoryCorps.org.

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