 The world of soul music is thankfully abundant with perennials, singers and groups who seem to have been making records since the beginning of the era, waxing and waning in chart success through the passing decades, sometimes crossing over to transient 'pop' acclaim before easing back into what used to be called the 'Chittlin' Circuit' wherein Black performers maintained a full diary of gigs playing to their loyal audience of kindred spirits at theatres in the urban north-east to clubs and bars in the rural south. Jerry Butler is such a singer, and his repertoire of hits from the early 1960's includes a number of songs which have subsequently grown to greater recognition through cover-versions from the realms of both soul and 'popular' music. Titles like 'Moon River', 'Make It Easy on Yourself' and 'I Stand Accused' are Butler originals, presented here for your listening pleasure as prime examples of the urbane, sophisticated baritone balladry which gained Jerry the nickname 'The Iceman' from those fast-talking R&B disc-jockeys on AM radio stations of that era.. Butler built a catalogue of R&B hits on Vee Jay between October 1960 and February 1966, and was even more prolific in scoring Hot 100 hits during this time, partly due to the fact that Billboard magazine discontinued its R&B chart during 1964 (resuming in January 1965). These hits comprise a significant part of this collection, which actually includes both sides of each hit single together with a selection of ballad gems from the Butler catalogue sequenced chronologically with the hits. He Will Break Your Heart / Thanks To You / Find Another Girl / When Trouble Calls / I'm Telling You / I See A Fool / For You Precious Love / Sweet Was The Wine / Moon River / Aware Of Love / Make It Easy On Yourself / It's Too Late / You Can Run / I'm The One / Where's The Girl / How Beautifully You Lie / Woman With Soul / Just A Little Bit / Need To Belong / Giveme Your Love / I've Been Trying / Giving Up On Love / I Stand Accused / Good Times / Believe I N Me / Just For You / Give It Up / For You Precious Love
|
