THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,921) Jerry Butler — “Since I Lost You Lady”
Written by Jerry Butler (see #347) along with Kenny Gamble, Billy Butler and Thom Bell, this glorious soul ballad of love lost makes it hurt so good! (Thanks, John Cougar (Mellencamp).) “[C]collapses under it’s own sadness”? (FunkMySoul, https://www.funkmysoul.gr/jerry-butler-1969-ice-on-ice/) No way, it luxuriates in its own sadness, thank you very much!
“I wish you knew what I’m going through since I lost you lady”
John Bush talks about the LP, Ice on Ice:
Ice on Ice didn’t yield as many hits as its predecessor (The Ice Man Cometh), but for fans of mature uptown soul and smooth string-laden productions, it’s yet another success. The Butler-Gamble-Huff triumvirate began right where they’d left off less than a year earlier, and occasionally upped the energy level . . . . True, there’s nothing . . . up to the level of “Only the Strong Survive” or “Hey, Western Union Man,” but it’s a great place to go for more of Jerry Butler’s smooth, confident approach to late-’60s soul.
Ben Beaumont-Thomas gives us some history:
Born to a poor family in Mississippi and then raised in Chicago, Butler originally trained to be a chef . . . but became an influential and versatile musician . . . . He brought his gospel music background to bear on one of his earliest songs, “For Your Precious Love” . . . which he wrote and then performed with his group Jerry Butler and the Impressions, taking it to No 11 in the US charts in 1958. The group [see #118, 285, 1,347, 1,544, 1,848] also featured Butler’s childhood friend Curtis Mayfield, who fronted them after Butler left for a solo career – they found further success with songs such as “People Get Ready”. But the Butler-Mayfield collaboration continued, with Mayfield writing or co-writing a number of solo Butler songs, including “He Will Break Your Heart”, a No 7 hit in 1960. Butler also co-wrote other hits, such as Otis Redding’s [see #1,333, 1,385] “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”. Butler also found success with his takes on a series of pop standards . . . but his biggest hit of all was self-penned: “Only the Strong Survive'” which reached No 4 in 1969. It was co-written with powerhouse Philadelphia duo Gamble and Huff, and together they scored a number of other hits. He earned the nickname “Iceman” for his cool, collected demeanour on stage: “I came through a period when the Isley Brothers [see #1,137] were jumping off the stage, and James Brown [see #1,074] was sliding across the floor. But I am just a standup singer,” he said. A cover of “He Will Break Your Heart” became a US No 1 hit for Tony Orlando and Dawn in 1975, under the title “He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You)”. But his own musical success waned in that decade, and he ended up focusing on a beer distribution company he’d founded in 1973. Come the 1980s, he decided to move into politics, and in 1986 was elected to the Board of Commissioners in Cook County, Illinois . . . . He held a position on the . . . board until his retirement in 2018. He was made a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a member of the Impressions . . . .
Craig Lytle adds:
Jerry Butler’s recording career spanned seven decades and saw him release more than 50 albums, and his voice is one of the most distinguished in all of music. Soulful yet smooth as ice, his nickname, “The Ice Man,” epitomized his demeanor — and his sound. Butler moved from Sunflower, Mississippi, to Chicago at the age of three and grew up in the Cabrini-Green Housing Projects. He had initial music lessons as a young boy while a member of a church choir in Chicago. Curtis Mayfield, who was three years younger, was a member of the same choir. The two befriended each other and began a collaboration that would have an everlasting impact on music. The duo joined brothers Arthur and Richard Brooks and Sam Gooden to form the R&B group the Roosters. . . . In 1957, the quintet’s name was changed to Jerry Butler & the Impressions. Butler scored his first hit with the Impressions in 1958 with the timeless ballad “For Your Precious Love.” (He’d written the lyrics to the song when he was 16.) That same year, Butler and the Impressions cordially split, and Butler began his solo career. He released his first single, “Lost,” on the Abner label. It peaked at number 17 on the Billboard R&B charts. Jumping over to Vee-Jay in late 1960, where his career blossomed, Butler had his first hit as a solo artist with “He Will Break Your Heart.” The single went to number one and stayed there for seven consecutive weeks.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jerry-butler-mn0000329468#biography
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