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He had mega hits like "Only The Strong Survive," "Western Union Man" and "He Don't Love You (Like I Love You,") originally called "He Will Break Your Heart."
But he never tours, he rarely makes headlines and you almost never hear his music on Oldies stations. Yet Jerry Butler is still around. But you may not believe what he's been doing all these years since the hits stopped coming.
Jerry Butler: Soul Survivor
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aflem wrote:
He had mega hits like "Only The Strong Survive," "Western Union Man" and "He Don't Love You (Like I Love You,") originally called "He Will Break Your Heart."
But he never tours, he rarely makes headlines and you almost never hear his music on Oldies stations. Yet Jerry Butler is still around. But you may not believe what he's been doing all these years since the hits stopped coming.
Jerry Butler: Soul Survivor
This story is a bit of an oldie. Jerry has long since retired from public office.
Last edited by Roman (August 20, 2021 12:32 pm)
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You guys are right. It is dated, from 2011. I didn't see that. Why it turned up in my current past-24-hours news feed I have no idea. Still, it's fascinating to see how someone with so much talent could go from making records and singing with soulful greats to spending the rest of his career behind a desk in Chicago.
I had no idea that's what happened to him. As long as he was happy. But I have to wonder if he really was.
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I can relate to what happened here. I've had the same kind of thing happen in news feeds, and over the years I've had a tendency to go right past the date and into the article. As someone who likes to pass along news articles myself, I now try to make sure that I check for the date first.
As for Butler, I became aware of him having become a Cook County Commissioner many years ago, and my impression has been that he was happy with his new career. The article mentions that his recording career waned in the 1980s, and maybe his first choice would have been to continue recording if that hadn't been the case. But he charted on the Hot 100 from 1958 to 1977, and then on the R&B charts for another six years. That's a really good run, and I think it's also impressive that his career as a county commissioner ended up being even longer.
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Doesn't matter if it is dated. Jerry Butler is one of those under-rated artists. My fav by Mr. Butler: Mr. Dream Merchant. Super hit that he co-authored with Gamble & Huff. Great R&B which IMHO is NOT dated.
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Jerry did such a splendid job MC'ing several of the PBS specials. He was so elegant.