![]() Sudden success caused bickering among the youthful Impressions, especially after “For Your Precious Love ” appeared with a label crediting “Jerry Butler and the Impressions ” for the performance. The group rocketed to the R&B top three with “For Your Precious Love, ” and the song also reached number eleven on the pop charts. Stardom was just around the corner for the Impressions. Clearly a standout even in Chicago ’s crowded harmony-group scene, the Impressions were signed to their hometown Vee Jay label in 1958. In 1957, along with three other compatriots, Butler and Mayfield formed the Impressions. The two had already worked together in a gospel ensemble called the Modern Jubilaires. One of Butler ’s choirmates was a singer and guitarist named Curtis May-field. It was natural that these gospel singers would gather into secular groups after hours. The choir put Butler in contact with other musically talented young men, just as the streetcorner-harmony style known as doo-wop, after the exquisitely harmonized nonsense syllables that permeated the music, was peaking in popularity. He also became interested in gospel music, joining the choir of the Traveling Souls Spiritual Church when he was only 12-years-old. At the age of 14, Butler took over as the family ’s main breadwinner, but still found time to attend Chicago ’s Washburn High School. His younger brother, Billy, also embarked upon a musical career. Before he had reached the age of three, his family joined the African American migration north to Chicago. Unlike those of many other virtuoso vocal stylists, his career has encompassed both singing and songwriting.īutler was born in the small community of Sunflower, Mississippi, on December 8, 1939. As both a solo artist and during his long partnership with Curtis Mayfield, Butler forged new styles that grew from his own musical background of gospel and doo-wop and helped propel African American popular music to a new level of general appeal. He was credited as “one of the architects of R&B ” by Ebony magazine. Known as “The Iceman, ” Jerry Butler perfected a smooth, delicate baritone that has captivated music fans of many different backgrounds over his five decades of performing and recording.
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