Customer Reviews

The Iceman Cometh/Ice on Ice

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Jerry Butler has long been one of the best R&B singers in music. Here at last you get his best two albums
on 1 CD. 60 minutes of pure magic. Almost all the hits are here, Hey Western Union Man, Only The Strong
Survive, Moody Woman, What's The Use of Breaking Up and a Brand New Me. It is a great collection
that exemplifies his talent and skill as a great singer. It is well worth the purchase. My only negative
is would have been nice to include He Will Break Your Heart, Find Another Woman,
Time and Faith, and his last hit, Mr. Dream Merchant.

Chicago soul legend Jerry Butler has a great career resume. He was doo-wopping with Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions in the late 50's, and one of my favorite songs of all time is 1958's (or 1959's) "Gift Of Love," a gorgeous ballad with Butler's pleading lead vocals, and the song always without fail sends goosebumps up and down me, and the song was also re-released on Jerry Butler's solo album He Will Break Your Heart from 1960, and he made solo magic through the 60's and well beyond. Well at the end of the 60's, Butler hooks up with Philly soul magicians Gamble and Huff (Intruders, Blue Notes, O'Jays, etc), and again the listener is treated to another side of Mr. Butler. This CD is a 2-Fer of his end of 60's albums The Ice Man Cometh and Ice On Ice. Before the listener even opens up the album, he or she can see how classy the music is based on Mr. Butler's dapper appearance on both album covers, and yes, the music is just as classy. Gamble and Huff co-write with Jerry Butler and produce these albums. The production is immaculate, and Mr. Butler's baritone voice is extremely well-suited for the music. The Ice Man Cometh (tracks 1-11) is my favorite of the 2 albums here, and I believe is from late 1968 (I was born in the 80's, so I was not around for it), and has several classic RnB jams. One of my favorite songs here is "Never Give You Up," a great slower groove for the slow dance. "Hey, Western Union Man" is one of the lead singles here from 1968 and has great string orchestration, and deals with sending a message and candy and flowers to a loved one trying to get in touch with her. "Lost" is another cool song about being "lost ... but found in the nick of time" with respect to a difficult time finding a good romance. It is uptempo and uplifting. "How Can I Get In Touch With You" has again that magic Gamble and Huff orcestration, and the title is self-explanatory. Ice on Ice (tracks 12-22) was from 1969, and is another cool album. "Moody Woman" has some tropical background, somewhat islander, with a slight sitar like guitar twang, and is a cool mid-tempo groove. "What's The Use of Breaking Up?" is a midtempo song, dealing with the issue of not even bothering to break up because the relationship will just be made up again anyways. "Don't Let Love Hang You Up" reminds me a little of an up beat soul-rockabilly-rock soup of a song, with its tempo and instrumentation. In short, both late 60's album show off Jerry Butler's versatility and showcase Gamble and Huff's up and coming as producers. Any serious soul and RnB fans should check this 2-Fer set out for real music.

Jerry Butler's "Ice On Ice" and "The Iceman Cometh" were both the albums that let the world know that Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff had arrived on the scene and also revived Jerry Butler's then-flagging career. Gamble & Huff's productions and songwriting brought out the best in Jerry Butler's ultra-smooth singing style and also set the stage for what they would accomplish once their legendary Philadelphia International label began operations in 1972. Most of the songs on these two albums remain timeless and are forever associated with Jerry Butler despite other artists' covering them throughout the years.

If you want to know what the first offical Philly Soul albums were, look no further. Gamble and Huff may have really hit big in the mid 1970s, but these two records, released in 1968 and 1969, laid four massive footprints. Gamble and Huff were in town and were going to be setting up shop for a long, long time

Of course it would have never worked without a singer the calabre of Jerry Buttler, who was born to sing these songs. In 1968 there were belters and crooners. Butler brought a clean, stong voice and a deep, quick phrasing. His singing is so rich, but is delivery so fast, the depth leaves you wanting more, and there lies the impact. He is not Wilson Picket and he is not Billy Stewart, but Butler shows a third way of soul singing that has never been matched.

You know the songs--"Western Union Man" "Moody Woman," "Only The Strong Survive," and these give you a great idea of what these albums sound like. Don't expect to come to this classic pairing hearing fully hatched, 70s Philly Soul--in general, the strings are lighter, the bass is more up front, there is less orchestration, and Gamble and Huff don't add that floating sound to Buttler's voice as they did with, say, the Stylistics, or go for the massive punch they did with the Spinners.
But staying right in the middle of the road is what makes these albums work so well.

It is a shame Butler was for so long reissued in drips and on hits pacakges, as if he were Gary Pucket or some other low class AM radio also ran. He in reality is one of our greatest singers, and on these ALBUMS, coheasive as any of the rock era, there is no dispute--Gamble and Huff have found the perfect music for Butler's massive talent.

There would be many more great soul albums if great producers had found the right context for each great soul singer. These two gems are an all to rare example of this .

The Cd is great and brought back so many wonderful memories. I recommend
it to all Jery Butler fans.

This twofer is a '70s soul-music lover's dream. In their work with Jerry Butler, producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff laid the groundwork for their later Philadelphia International label acts (the O'Jays, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, et al.) by mastering a lush, string-laden sound that nonetheless _moved_. Even the ballads here are ear candy, their every moment offering sonic charms. And atop them all rides Butler's grainy, lived-in baritone, a voice that set the template for later Gamble & Huff vocalists such as Teddy Pendergrass and the O'Jays' Eddie Levert. Butler is smoother and, yes, cooler than those. His signature is an "off-the-cuff" delivery that is actually a feat of technique and talent. (Compare his version of "Only the Strong Survive" -- which he co-wrote -- with Elvis'. The king's performance is stirring yet slightly detached from the lyric, whereas Butler takes you inside it, makes you feel both a heartbroken young man's vulnerability and his growing determination to move on.) Some of the compositions on these two releases feel a bit tossed off, but most of the them are keepers. In their seductive soul, these albums stand among the three primary artists' finest creations.

My husband and I love Jerry Butler and this record in particular. There is nobody who sounds like him with that wonderful emotional "smokey" voice. We saw him 3 times in Washington, DC at the Blues Alley on Valentine's Day where he appears every year. Even in a heavy snowstorm one year with the Dept. of Homeland Security's code Orange he showed up and gave a wonderful performance. We went to see him during intermission and he is as interesting as he is a great vocalist! He was warm, interested and told us about his stint as Cook County Commissioner in Chicago.

A must have record for all R&B/60's soul fans.

The sound quality of this combined set seems to me to be of poorer quality than the original vinyl. Could be that memory does not serve well since I have't made a direct comparison of the CD to the originals. Just an observation.

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