Jerry Butler, Erin and Me…

The first place you can go and perform is in a church and someone’s gonna say 'Amen' whether you’re good or bad.
Jerry Butler

***Soul Artistry (1968) signed by Jerry, brother Billy Butler***

While performing one night in Philadelphia, the sound system went down, and from my days in church, we just kept on singing. So we sang the song a capella. And when we finished it, the people jumped up outta their seats and hooped and hollered and Georgie (Woods) ran on stage and said, 'That was the coolest thing I ever saw. So cool, we're gonna call you the Ice Man."
Jerry Butler on the origin of his nickname bestowed by Philly DJ Georgie Woods

We were always political. When we started traveling, especially in the South, we were caught up in the fact that we were celebrities and we had money, but we were denied entrance to places because of the color of our skin. Then came the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War and the women's liberation movement. All this came along while we were making music. So naturally a lot of the people who came out of that music became political.
Jerry Butler

We both loved Jerry Butler and have listened to him endlessly out on the road while on tour. The Iceman Cometh is a classic LP! Love that so much. 'Baby, don't you understand...what you're doing to the man?' How could we not at least try to cover that?
Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys on covering "Never Gonna Give You Up" in 2010

***More Of The Best (1966) signed by Jerry***

Born in Mississippi, Jerry "The Iceman" Butler grew up poor in Chicago, a resident of the infamous Cabrini Green housing project. Jerry wrote and sang his first hit "For Your Precious Love" in 1958 as the eighteen year old lead singer of The Impressions, a band Jerry formed with his childhood friend, Curtis Mayfield. Blessed with a deep, mellifluous baritone, there weren’t many eighteen year olds who sounded like Jerry. Ever.

Jerry is also a brilliant songwriter and wrote many of his hits -"Hey, Western Union Man", "Only The Strong Survive', "Never Give You Up", and "Moody Woman" - with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, a terrific songwriting team. And Jerry co-wrote "I've Been Loving You Too Long" with Otis Redding in 1965, one of Otis' most moving and powerful songs.

***The Soul Goes On (1968) signed by Jerry and Billy Butler***

For nearly thirty years, Jerry performed a Valentine's Day concert at Blues Alley in Washington DC, a small and intimate club. A gifted singer and storyteller with great breadth and depth, Jerry can sing Willie Nelson's "Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground" or Jimmy Cliff's "Sitting In Limbo", and almost eclipse the original artists, while crushing his own compositions. He is soul incarnate.

Jerry also covered Randy Newman's "I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore". Randy Newman is a Los Angeles born, New Orleans-influenced master songwriter, that is, until he wrote, to me, the most annoying, cloying top 10 hit ever in "Short People", and all the other Disney soundtrack tripe that followed. Newman's early work remains transcendent: "I Guess It's Going To Rain Today", "Sail Away", "Louisiana 1917", "You Can Leave Your Hat On", "Guilty" and "Mama Told Me Not To Come" are classics that Nina Simone, Aaron Neville, Etta James, Ray Charles and many others have performed.

One memorable Valentine's Day, Erin and I went to see Jerry at Blues Alley with some friends. Erin excused herself to go to the bathroom before the show. Only Erin didn't go to the bathroom, she went to see "The Iceman." She couldn't get into his dressing room, a rare miscue, so she slipped a piece of paper underneath his dressing room door with one of my favorite songs as a request.

***Only The Strong Survive (1984) signed by Jerry***

Erin returned to our table as Jerry came on stage to thunderous applause. He grabbed the microphone. "Thank you very much. Before I start the show, I want to acknowledge how great my fans are. Thank you. I get a lot of requests but this is unusual. I just got a piece of paper which says: I don't want to hear it anymore." Jerry paused and waved the piece of paper in his hand. The crowd laughs nervously, then got the joke. Jerry continued, "Actually, this is a great song. My band doesn't know it, but I will sing the first verse for you." Jerry then sang a cappella:

"In my neighborhood, we don’t live so good
The rooms are small, and the buildings made of wood
I hear the neighbors talking 'bout you and me
I guess I heard it all, ‘cause the talk is loud and the walls are much too thin. I don’t want to hear it anymore.”

The crowd goes nuts. There is no one cooler.

Jerry Butler is the Iceman and he cometh.

Happy Valentine's Day!