By Michelle James The Register-Herald
BECKLEY, W.Va. — “When and where I grew up, there were only two places to sing — church or school,” Bill Withers told former Register-Herald reporter Mannix Porterfield for a West Virginia South article in 2007. “We always sang in quartets, whether it was gospel in the church or doo-wop in the school.”
It’s been 65 years since Withers, a three-time Grammy Award winner and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who passed away March 30, 2020 at 81, sang doo-wop as a student at Stratton High School.
And though he won’t be on hand to perform the songs that launched him to fame, his music will ring out Saturday, first from the streets surrounding his alma mater then from an uptown Beckley concert as May 15 is declared Bill Withers Day.
Saturday’s events will kick off at 11 a.m. with the dedication of the new Bill Withers historical marker across from what is now Stratton Elementary School on South Fayette Street…