Jerry Butler - The Ice Man Cometh - Mini-LP Papersleeve Replica CD

Mini-LP Papersleeve Replica CD

The Ice Man Cometh, Jerry Butler’s most successful LP, was the first full-album work from the production team Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff. It marks an excellent collaboration, the first time R&B production techniques reached a level of maturity and elegance capable of fully complementing one of the smoothest vocalists in soul history. The Top Ten singles “Hey, Western Union Man” and “Only the Strong Survive” weren’t just popular radio hits, but great performances displaying how far the R&B/soul crowd had progressed from the novelty-laden ‘50s. Thanks to Butler and Gamble/Huff, the sound proved incredibly influential, both in the short term (Elvis Presley was definitely listening and cut a very similar “Only the Strong Survive” one year later) and the long term (Gamble and Huff’s Philly Intl. label ruled the mid-’70s R&B world with the same sound). Here’s where it coalesced. ****½ AMG

Tracklist:

1. Hey Western Union Man
2. Can't Forget About You Baby
3. Only The Strong Survive
4. How Can I Get In Touch With You
5. Just Because I Really Love You
6. Lost
7. Never Give You Up
8. Are You Happy
9. (Strange) I Still Love You
10. Go Away - Find Yourself
11. I Stop By Heaven

Credits:

ARRANGEMENTS: Tracks 1, 4 & 7: Bobby Martin Tracks 2 & 5: Thom Bell Tracks 3 & 8-11: Bobby Martin & Thom Bell Track 6: Joe Renzetti Originally released as SR-61198 by Mercury Records in November 1968. Produced by Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff. Original Lp cover by Jay Thompson. Engineered by Joe Tarsia. Recorded at Cameo-Parkway Studios and Sigma Sound Studio, Philadelphia, PA, Winter-Summer 1968, except “Lost”, recorded at Bell Sound Studios, New York, September 1967.