Search - Jerry Butler :: The Best of Jerry Butler - The Millenium Collection

LEGENDARY ICON OF SONG~BRAVO JERRY!

Bradly Briggs | TOLUCA LAKE, CALIFORNIA | 03/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If Jerry Butler only had one hit and it was "For Your Precious Love", he would be a Soul Legend!! But this master had classic's like "Moon River", "He Will Break Your Heart", "Let It Be Me" (a truly brilliant duet with the late and great Betty Everett),and countless other classic hits such as the ones in this tasty sampler! Talk about overlooked classic's, I would most definitely put Jerry Butler at the head of that list and when anyone who love's great singing gets into this collection they will feel the same way!! Grammy and Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame let's get it together!!!!! This is a master and this collection of classic's such as "Only The Strong Survive", "Moody Woman", "I Dig You Baby", the mesmerizing "Mr. Dream Merchant", the soulful "Lost", and the masterful "Hey, Western Union Man", all make Jerry Butler one of the greatest ever!! Get this and for sure you will seek out other great works from this Legend!! Look at all of the "out of stocks" on this great singer and act fast!!!! Smoldering glorious tones and deeply passionate emotion made this wonderous talent a once in a lifetime experience!! Bravo Jerry!!!!"

Barely Touches The Surface

Bradly Briggs | 09/16/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"When these 20th Century The Millennium Collection series first began hitting the market they were ideal purchases to throw into the CD players that were also beginning to replace cassette decks in cars. But when it came to singers of the magnitude of Jerry Butler, an 11-track release labeled "the best of" simply could not even come close to filling the bill.



After all, not counting his years with The Impressions, the man posted 57 R&B hit singles, 38 of which also made the Billboard Pop Hot 100. What you get here are 8 of the 10 he posted from 1967 to 1969, one from late 1971 (the duet with Brenda Lee Eager), and one from late 1972. And in each case they left out something that fared even better on the charts.



For example, in the 1967-69 period they omit Are You Happy (# 9 R&B/# 39 Hot 100 in late 1968/early 1969) and Don't Let Love Hang You Up (# 12 R&B/# 44 Hot 100), while including Lost (# 15 R&B/# 62 Hot 100 in early 1968) and I Dig You Baby (# 8 R&B/# 60 Hot 100 in early 1967). Also missing is He Will Break Your Heart, a # 1 R&B for SEVEN weeks in late 1960 as well as # 7 Hot 100, and Let It Be Me, a duet with Betty Everett that made it to # 5 Hot 100/R&B in the fall of 1964. Why not one of these in place of A Brand New Me, which was NOT among Jerry Butler's best, In fact, it never charted.



Not that the songs included here are vastly inferior in any way, They certainly are not. But it seems to me that, if you are going to limit the selections to 11 you may as well include the best 11. Even so, the sound quality is excellent, and with the insert you get 3 pages of background notes written by freelance writer and erstwhile sports journalist Stu Hackel, along with a few more nice photos of Jerry."