And the opening track, “Hey, Western Union Man”, is only kept out of the pantheon by bad luck. “Are You Happy?” (one of the great musical questions) is a chilly snow shower, three parts melancholy and one part hope. “Lost”, a single that debuted a whole year before the album hit the charts - all y’all don’t remember when people used to do that, but it was kind of like leaking tracks on the Internet - uses Stax-like grooves and big fat horn charts to nail things down. (You will think I’m kidding only if you have never heard the song.)īut there are many other gems here. But the main heavy lifting is done by the chorus, which combines Zen Renunciation with Stoic Macho. There are so many perfect components to this single: its opening drum crack, Butler’s spoken-word intro, the heavily echoed backing vocals, Gamble and Huff’s trademark string charts, and so on. Its biggest single, “Only the Strong Survive”, is still considered Butler’s signature song, despite heavy covers from the likes of Elvis Presley - and rightly so, considering the sheer genius of the thing. The sublimely-named The Ice Man Cometh, was released in January of 1969. (I’m not going to get into Gamble and Huff here, but, um, damn were they important.) Second, and most importantly, they are awesome. First, they were produced by the classic Philly production team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. These records were significant for a couple of reasons. This two-fer, recently reissued by Collector’s Choice, combines two of Butler’s most important solo records, both from 1969. His ultra-cool delivery and demeanor earned him the nickname “The Ice Man.” (Butler still performs occasionally, but his main gig these days is his role as a Cook County Board Commissioner his official government webpage even identifies him as “The Ice Man.” Now that is smooth.) Jerry Butler was just about the smoothest singer in the history of soul music, from his early days in the classic Chicago vocal group the Impressions - Butler, not Curtis Mayfield, wrote “For Your Precious Love,” the group’s first gold record - and all through his solo career.
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