"Only the Strong Survive" is Jerry Butler's best performer of his 39 singles, released from 1958 to 1977, that reached the Billboard Hot 100. Despite his smooth delivery on any number of great songs, he reached the top 10 just twice: "He Will Brek Your Heart" (1960) and "Let It Be Me" (a duet with Betty Everett in 1964).
In other chart action
Blood, Sweat & Tears made its first appearance on the Hot 100 with the first of 3 consecutive top 10 singles, all of which reach #2, all of which spent 13 weeks on the chart. Talk about consistency!
Steppenwolf's "Rock Me" became their third top 10 hit in a row. With their remaining 10 singles, they cracked the top 30 just once.
Glen Campbell had his second straight top 10 hit with "Galveston", and one-hit wonder and bubblegum studio group Crazy Elephant polluted the AM airwaves during their blessedly short incarnation.
Related articles:
Jerry Butler: Soul Survivor. (Chicago Reader, 4/7/2011)
There was a time, back in the late 60s, when Butler was one of the biggest stars in soul music, a creative collaborator to icons including Curtis Mayfield and Otis Redding in an era that also found Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Diana Ross and the Supremes, and the Temptations at or near the peak of their careers. Yet today Butler is more of a connoisseur's choice, not heard on the radio, even on oldies and dusties stations, as often as those other artists. The man fellow Cook County commissioner Larry Suffredin calls "one of the most modest people you'll ever see in public life" is more likely to deflect inquiries about his career in show business with his self-deprecating sense of humor.Soul Singer Jerry Butler, Still Strong, Still Surviving. (KPBS, 8/18/2011)
Butler grew up on the North side of Chicago in the 1950s. He and Curtis Mayfield started singing together in church. Butler says a lot of soul and R&B musicians come up that way. He explains with a chuckle, "The first place you can go and perform is in a church and someone’s gonna say 'Amen' whether you’re good or bad."
Butler and Mayfield formed the doo-wop group The Impressions and they made a splash with a song Butler wrote as a poem at the age of 16. "For Your Precious Love" was a surprise hit in 1958. "In the days of rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll, everything was pretty much juked up so the kids could dance and all," says Butler.
Related posts:
August 1968
"I Say a Little Prayer" by Aretha Franklin
"In-a-gadda-da-vida: by Iron Butterfly
"Piece of My Heart" by Brother and the Holding Company
September 1968
"Fire!" by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
"Hey Jude" by the Beatles
"All Along the Watchtower" by the Jimi Hendrix Experience
"Bang-shang-a-lang" by the Archies
October 1968
"White Room" by Cream
"Ride My See-Saw" by the Moody Blues
"Love Child" by Diana Ross and the Supremes
"Abraham, Martin & John" by Dion
November 1968
"For Once in my Life" by Stevie Wonder
"Hang 'em High" by Booker T. & the MG's
"Hooked on a Feeling" by B. J. Thomas
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye
"Everyday People" by Sly and the Family Stone
December 1968
"Going Up The Country" by Canned Heat
"Crimson and Clover" by Tommy James and the Shondells
"Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" by Bob Seger
"Touch Me" by the Doors
January 1969
"Build Me Up Buttercup" by the Foundations
"Games People Play" by Joe South
"I Got a Line on You" by Spirit
"Proud Mary" by Credence Clearwater Revival
February 1969
"Do Your Thing" by the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
"Time of the Season" by the Zombies
"Hot Smoke and Sasafrass" by Bubble Puppy
"The Letter" by the Arbors
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