60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
2/23/65 – Comedian / Actor Stan Laurel (and one half of the legendary comedy team of Laurel and Hardy) dies of a heart attack at age 74
Jerry Butler has died. He was 85 years old.
Butler carved out a nice musical career for himself, first as the lead vocalists for The Impressions (“For Your Precious Love,” #11 Pop, 1958) and then as a solo artist, scoring sixteen Top 40 Pop Hits between 1960 and 1972, including “He Will Break Your Heart” (#3, 1960), “Moon River” (#5, 1961) and “Let It Be Me,” a duet with Betty Everett that reached #3 in 1964 … before staging a major comeback that brought him back to the charts in the late ‘60’s with hits like “Only The Strong Survive” (#4, 1969), “Hey Western Union Man” (#16) and “What’s The Use Of Breaking Up” (#20, 1969.)
Butler co-wrote several of his hits (many with Curtis Mayfield, also of The Impressions) … but he received his greatest royalties from writing “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” with soul legend Otis Redding. (In his autobiography … also titled “Only The Strong Survive,” Butler wrote “I receive more royalties from Otis’ one recording of that song than I get from everything I ever recorded.”
He was a fixture in Chicago politics for decades, often referred to as “The Ice Man,” a nickname that dated back to his recording career. For 32 years, he was a member of The Cook County Board. (kk)
THE JERRY BUTLER HIT LIST
1958 – For Your Precious Love (with The Impressions) POP – #11 / R&B – #3
1958 – Come Back My Love (with The Impressions) Pop - #94 / R&B – #29
1959 – Lost (Pop – #83 / R&B – #17)
1960 – A Lonely Soldier (Pop – #100 / R&B – 25)
1960 – He Will Break Your Heart (Pop - #3 / R&B – #1)
1961 – Find Another Girl (Pop - #21 / R&B – #10)
1961 – I’m A-Telling You (Pop - #25 / R&B – #8)
1961 – Moon River (Pop - #5 / R&B – #14)
1962 – Make It Easy On Yourself (Pop - #20 / R&B – #18)
1962 – You Can Run But You Can’t Hide (Pop – #63 / R&B - #23)
1963 – Need To Belong (Pop - #28 / R&B – #2)
1964 – Giving Up On Love (Pop - #56 / R&B - #17)
1964 – I Stand Accused (Pop - #44 / R&B – #3)
1964 – Let It Be Me (with Betty Everett) Pop – #3 / R&B – #1)
1965 – Ain’t That Loving You Baby (with Betty Everett) Pop - #91 / R&B – #24)
1965 – Smile (with Betty Everett) Pop - #42 / R&B – #16)
1965 – Just For You (Pop - #136B / R&B - #33)
1966 – For Your Precious Love (remake, solo version) Pop - #99 / R&B - #25
1966 – Love (Oh, How Sweet It Is) Pop - #103 / R&B - #34)
1967 – I Dig You Baby (Pop - #60 / R&B - #8)
1967 – Mr. Dream Merchant (Pop - #38 / R&B – #23)
1968 – Lost (Pop - #52 / R&B - #15)
1968 – Never Give You Up (Pop - #17 / R&B – #4)
1968 – Hey, Western Union Man (Pop - #16 / R&B – #1)
1969 – Are You Happy (Pop - #33 / R&B – #9)
1969 – Only The Strong Survive (Pop - #4 / R&B – #1)
1969 – Moody Woman (Pop - #19 / R&B – #3)
1969 – What’s The Use Of Breaking Up (Pop - #20 / R&B – #4)
1969 – Don’t Let It Hang You Up (Pop - #38 / R&B – #12)
1970 – Got To See If I Can’t Get Mommy To Come Back Home (Pop – #54 / R&B – #21)
1970 – I Could Write A Book (Pop – #45 / R&B – #15)
1970 – Special Mommy (Pop – #96 / R&B – #36)
1971 – You Just Can’t Win (as Gene [Chandler] and Jerry) Pop - #59 / R&B – #32
1971 – If It’s Real What I Feel (Pop – #69 / R&B - #8)
1971 – How Did We Lose It Baby (Pop - #85 / R&B - #38)
1971 – Walk Easy, My Son (Pop - #92 / R&B - #33)
1972 – Ain’t Understanding Mellow (with Brenda Lee Eager) Pop - #21 / R&B – #3
1972 – Close To You (with Brenda Lee Eager) Pop - #66 / R&B - #6
1972 – I Only Have Eyes For You (Pop - #67 / R&B - #20)
1972 – One Night Affair (Pop - #52 / R&B - #6)
1973 – Can’t Understand It (with Brenda Lee Eager) Pop - #xx / R&B - #26)
1974 – Power Of Love (Pop - #124 / R&B - #15)
1975 – Playing On You (Pop - #xx / R&B - #33)
1977 – I Wanna Do It To You (Pop - #51 / R&B – #7)
1977 – Chalk It Up (Pop - #xx / R&B - #28)
1978 – Cooling Out (Pop - #101 / R&B - #14)
So thankful I saw The Impressions and met Jerry. "You don't have to present your work as a demo to a record label. We didn't."
Harvey Kubernik
Just a fabulous singer.
Gordon “Snowy” Fleet, original drummer and founding member of The Easybeats, has died. He was 79. This leaves Harry Vanda as the last surviving member of the original band, formed in Sydney, Australia, in 1964. They scored the Top 20 Hit “Friday On My Mind” in 1967, a fun up-tempo tune that still sounds great today. (Think “Workin’ For The Weekend” twenty years sooner!) Back in our old AOL Chat Room Days, we hosted a Friday Night get-together with several other oldies music buffs … and “Friday On My Mind” was our theme song. (kk)
