Jerry Butler was born in Sunflower, Mississippi, in 1939. Three years later, his family moved north, in search of work, along with hundreds of other Black families. The war was about to restrict opportunities in the south, while factories in the industrial towns in the northern states were expanding production. Chicago was the biggest city and attracted a large number of these new workers.
Butler grew up on the Calibri-Green housing project and developed his singing ability in church, where he befriended another talented teenager, Curtis Mayfield. They both joined a local group called the Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers and, to bring in a little money for their families, both boys also sang in a secular group, Butler with the Quails and Mayfield with the Alphatones. Butler had a plan. He wanted to become a chef and enjoy music as a hobby, but that plan soon changed.
In 1957 Butler and Mayfield decided to make a career in the music industry, probably inspired by the success of Sam Cooke. They joined up with three youngsters from Chattanooga, Tennessee, who had formed a group in their hometown and were now in Chicago in search of fame and fortune. Sam Gooden, Arthur Brooks and his brother Richard Brooks, Jerry Butler and Curtis Mayfield became the Roosters. The three boys from Chattanooga enrolled at Washburne High School (Butler’s school), and the group started working.
They drew the attention of Eddie Thomas, who drove them around Chicago in his Cadillac and offered to become their manager, which they thought was a good idea! Thomas suggested a new name for the group, however, which he thought would be less Country and more Sophisticated: The Impressions. Thomas’ first action was to visit Record Row, where he pitched the group to the record companies along South Michigan Avenue. One company was interested enough to offer a contract. That was Vee-Jay Records. The boys signed in 1958 and recorded a song written by Butler back in 1955, entitled “For Your Precious Love”. Butler was nineteen and Mayfield seventeen, as the single started to sell, entering the Pop chart and reaching number eleven. On the R&B chart it peaked at number three. The single went on to achieve gold accreditation from the RIAA.
It was issued on the Falcon label, a subsidiary of Vee-Jay. It was common practice in the recording industry for companies to create a major label plus a series of subsidiary labels. Sometimes this was to cater for different genres, but often it was just a device to get around radio station rules that prevented too many songs from one label being played on each show. Unfortunately, the name Falcon was already in use by another company, so Vee-Jay changed Falcon to Abner, which was, of course, the name of the Vee-Jay executive.
Butler has described what the group were aiming to create: “We didn’t want to be doo-wop. We wanted to have a different and lasting impression. There’s no hook. There’s nothing to sing along with. It’s a poem set to music.” (https://soulfuldetroit.com). The song starts with a strong Gospel feel and then moves into a more secular style. It marks the beginning of Chicago Soul.
Unfortunately, Vee-Jay had decided to put the song out under the name of Jerry Butler and the Impressions, which didn’t impress the boys from Tennessee. Within a year or so, Butler left the group to go solo. Mayfield stayed with the group but did play guitar for Butler on several occasions.
Jerry Butler
Photo: 1970 Trade Ad (Wikimedia Commons)
Butler’s next success came with his first solo release for Abner Records, “Lost”, which reached number seventeen on the Billboard R&B chart. The company switched him back to the Vee-Jay label in 1960 and hit the jackpot. “He Will Break Your Heart” went to number one R&B, remaining at the top for seven weeks. Two more top ten singles followed in 1961, “Find Another Girl” and “I’m a Telling You”.
In subsequent years up to 1965, Butler released around twenty more singles, some of which were aimed at a more mainstream easy-listening market. “Moon River” and “Make It Easy on Yourself” are typical of this style. Vivian Carter’s desire to break into the mainstream market led to a series of releases that ranged across a wide range of styles. “Wish I Could Be Your Man” has a jazzy big-band feel, “One By One” is sung in the style of its co-writer crooner Brook Benton, and many of the tracks are lacking the R&B promise of the early Curtis Mayfield songs that Butler had recorded.
Between 1959 and 1963, he also released six albums, the first “Jerry Butler Esq” on Abner, the remaining five on Vee-Jay. In addition, in 1963, Vee-Jay released an album of the songs that had been recorded with the Impressions in1958 and 1959, named after the first single “For Your Precious Love”.
Towards the end of his time with Vee-Jay Butler released three singles and an album, “Delicious Together”, with Betty Everett. Several tracks are reworkings of old Everly Brothers classic songs, plus a new version of Peggy Lee’s “Fever”, but there are also others that are genuine R&B songs that show what Jerry Butler was capable of, at last!
Vee-Jay were declared bankrupt in 1966. He had stayed with them for eight years, despite all the financial troubles, but the following year saw Butler sign for Mercury Records, where he started to work with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.
