There have been few voices in soul music as stately and gorgeous as the baritone of Jerry Butler. His cool, proud, measured croon (which earned him the nickname 'Ice Man') could raise even mediocre material to the level of high art. Fortunately, he has often worked with superb writers and producers. Most notably, he cut his early sides with Curtis Mayfield (his 1958 debut, "For Your Precious Love," was recorded with the Impressions), and he worked with Kenny Gable and Leon Huff in the late 60's, a relationship that yielded his best work and laid the musical foundation for the Gamble & Huff's own label, Philadelphia International. The songs Jerry Butler recorded with Gamble & Huff - "Mr. Dream Merchant," "Only The Strong Survive," "Western Union Man," and "Moody Woman" among them - are a monumental achievement.

Collecting the essential songs of Jerry Butler is a tricky proposition. Despite accumulating over nearly 40 Top 100 hits, Butler isn't afforded the same respect as, say, Sam Cooke or Otis Redding. Consequently, his music is seldom aired today, and his catalog is littered with chintzy budget compilations and - even worse - now-deleted high-quality reissues. Plus, Butler recorded for a variety of labels (Vee Jay and Mercury being the two most important); to date, no comprehensive, career-spanning set has been compiled. Nevertheless, The Best Of Jerry Butler (Rhino, 1987) is the one-stop-shopping choice - a broad-though-cursory selection from most of the labels for which Butler recorded, spanning 1958 through 1969 (and, of course, it is no longer available).

However, a variety of other packages will, in tandem, provide a much deeper and more satisfying experience. Numerous collections from England - where classic soul is held in high regard - have covered Butler's early recordings for Vee Jay; these include The Iceman (Charley, 1999) and The Sweetest Soul (RPM, 2001). Most are fine, but the trick will be actually finding them. And, Collectables Records has completed a series featuring two of Butler's Vee Jay albums on one disc; for the stalwart Butler fanatic, these cannot be recommended enough. All four CD's (comprising eight LP's) are included in The Jerry Butler Collection, a boxed set which also includes The Best Of Betty Everett, spotlighting Butler's frequent duet partner on Vee Jay.

The monstrously huge Universal Music Group now owns the Mercury Records catalog, and it was during Butler's tenure on that label (1966-1973) that he made his indelible mark on rhythm & blues while working with Gamble & Huff. Only once has Universal delved deeply into this rich legacy, with Iceman: The Mercury Years, a genuinely important 1992 reissue that they summarily deleted just a few years hence. Though Iceman has become scarce, any number of briefer, cheaper alternatives (including The Very Best Of Jerry Butler, 1992) are usually floating around the market. More recently, Universal dropped The Philadelphia Sessions (2002), a single CD comprising two complete albums (The Ice Man Cometh and Ice On Ice) plus bonus tracks. [top of page]