Song of the Day 2/22: Jerry Butler, “He Will Break Your Heart”
As El Somnambulo noted last night, soul singer Jerry Butler died Thursday at age 85. When his recording career wound down in the ’80s he got elected to the Cook County Board of Commissioners, a post he held for 32 years.
Butler was born in the Mississippi Delta but grew up in Chicago, where he and fellow church choir member Curtis Mayfield joined the vocal group the Roosters in 1957. They were soon billed as Jerry Butler and the Impressions, but their first hit, “For Your Precious Love,” caused hard feelings when he credited it to “Jerry Butler and the Impressions.” He left for a solo career in 1960 with Mayfield’s help – they co-wrote Butler’s first No. 1 R&B hit, “He Will Break Your Heart.” You might know it as “He Don’t Love You,” the title Tony Orlando gave it when he turned it into a No. 1 hit in 1975. That’s Mayfield singing the high harmony.
Butler’s smooth baritone made him a great balladeer, but his voice wasn’t his only asset. He co-wrote a couple of dozen songs, including several of his 55 chart hits, which paid long-lasting dividends. He wrote “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” with Otis Redding, who had a No. 2 R&B hit with it in 1965. He said in his memoir, “I receive more royalties from Otis’ one recording of that song than I get from everything I ever recorded.” Butler recorded it himself in 1968; Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones and dozens of others have recorded it, too.
Butler hooked up with upcoming producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff in 1967 and released several hits, including “Only the Strong Survive,” his highest-charting Hot 100 single at No. 4. I always preferred the first single their collaboration produced, “Never Give You Up,” which made No. 20 in 1968. You don’t have to strain to hear the nascent Sound of Philadelphia.
