|
Jerry Butler - The Iceman Cometh/Ice On Ice
Collector's Choice Records
When seeking out great music for listening (and writing
about), like any critic worth his salt (or worth assaulting) I
try my hardest to find cooler than cool artists and albums upon
which to feast my ears and pontificate about on this website.
What then better to review, to hip you crazy cats to, to do the
music do, then the new reissue from the music crew at
Collector's Choice on The Iceman himself, Jerry Butler?
Coolsville, baby!
Butler began his singing career by honing his style as a
member of his church's choir in Chicago. It was a fortuitous
choice for Butler as a young Curtis Mayfield was also in the
choir. And if you don't know who Mayfield is, shame on you. Quit
reading this review right now and check out Mayfield's work as
he is a soul legend of rarely equaled proportions. Anyway, to
get back to this review, Mayfield and Butler became close
friends and musical collaborators shortly after meeting and, as
you will see, their decision to form a partnership would
influence the course of R&B from that point forward.
The two like-minded vocalists joined up with an R&B
group looking for singers called The Roosters. After hearing
Butler's smooth, commanding style, the group immediately changed
its' name to focus on their new member and began calling
themselves Jerry Butler and the Impressions. A scant year later
found the group on the top of the charts thanks to a monster hit
ballad written by Butler called "For Your Precious Love" that
remains one of the most popular songs ever recorded in the
'50's. Butler's tenure with the band was short lived, however,
as immediately after the song left the charts Butler decided to
quit the band and start a solo career. By 1960, after a few
relatively unsuccessful singles, Butler jumped to Vee-Jay
Records and scored his first solo hit with the classic ballad
"He Will Break Your Heart" and his career was off and running.
It was steady sailing for Butler for several years as he hit the
charts on a regular basis with his singular brand of smooth
soul. By 1967, however, Butler started to feel his act was
becoming stagnant. He soon signed with Mercury Records and began
working with the fledgling yet immensely talented R&B production
duo Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff who would later become the
architects of the Philly soul sound. These two albums
(re-released on one CD by Collector's Choice) are the high
points of this partnership.
The first of these, The Ice Man Cometh, was a conscious
attempt by the triumverate to broaden Butler's style. Previously
known for being more of an R&B crooner, the song (and huge hit)
"Hey, Western Union Man" revealed Butler could also excel at
singing uptempo material. A fantastic album containing several
hits, this became the template for the rest of Butler's career.
It is one of the soul albums a real soul fan just has to own.
Butler's voice is so controlled, yet so powerful and emotional,
it is simply thrilling to hear. One of the best soul albums
ever.
The second album, Ice On Ice, proved to be almost as
good and was the last time Butler, Gamble and Huff worked on an
album together. Butler had recently re-signed with Mercury
Records shortly before Gamble and Huff decided to quit producing
other artists and devote time to getting their own record label
up and running. Although the results would prove the decision
was a great one for them, time would show the results to be less
advantageous for Butler who found himself without writing
partners and a production team. Butler would eventually form a
sort of "workshop" for newbie songwriters, keeping the best
songs for himself and farming the rest to other artists but it
wasn't the same. Butler did keep having hits until the early
'80's but nothing of the magnitude of his hits during his time
working with Gamble and Huff. Eventually, he would put music on
a permanent back burner as he became involved in politics in his
hometown of Chicago. He still tours occasionally, but hasn't
released an album of new material in quite some time. As I write
this he is due to perform a concert in Charlotte, NC later this
week. I will be there, that's a guarantee.
This album will appeal to soul fans who appreciate the
slicker Motown and especially Philly styles of soul music. This
is stuff that's not at all gutbucket and greasy but definitely
more on the Sam Cooke side of R&B though any true soul fans will
love this CD. If you have yet to hear some Jerry Butler, to have
his smooth voice pierce your heart and soul, you owe it to
yourself to hear this CD. It is the bomb. - Scott Homewood
www.jerrybutler.com
|
