I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES— an exhibition entitled Farm to Table: Art, Food, and Identity in the Age of Impressionism— with works by Rosa Bonheur, Gustave Courbet, Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, and Camille Pissarro bringing together those themes in late 19th-century France — is at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee through May 4th.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #1 is this ESPN article on two major league baseball teams playing in minor league stadiums this coming season (for very different reasons) yet which both point to the problems of owners not financing stadiums as they did in yesteryear … instead, having to convince taxpayers to.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Aggie the Cat— who was was feared dead, two months after going missing during the Palisades wildfire in Los Angeles left her family's home in ashes — but was located and expected to be released from the hospital soon.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #2 is this essay in Salon by Amanda Marcotte, comparing the pleas by Mar a Lago for MAGA voters to sacrifice now (for future riches) … to the televangelists echoing the prosperity Gospel.
FRIDAY's CHILD is a Pennsylvania kitteh freed from inside a car engine by firefighters, now being cared for by a local Humane Society.
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz.
YOUNGER-OLDER BROTHERS?— Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and the soon-to-be chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz.
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… upon learning of the death last month of soul singer Jerry Butler (at age eighty-five) I was unaware he was still alive, as I’d not heard of him in years. Turns out that — while he never abandoned live performing — he had also dedicated himself to Chicago politics the past few decades. And as someone who performed for seven decades and released 50 albums (incorporating different styles) he deserves a proper send-off.
His family was part of the great migration from Mississippi to Chicago in the early 1940’s and sang in his church choir. One of the other kids in that choir was Curtis Mayfield (three years younger) and he and Jerry became part of a secular band, which later was re-named The Impressions in 1957.
The following year, a ballad whose lyrics Jerry Butler wrote (as a sixteen year-old) — For Your Precious Love (which can be heard at this link) — became not only a #3 R&B hit (as well as a #11 pop charts hit) but which was later named by Rolling Stone as #335 in its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
Jerry left the Impressions afterwards to begin a solo career, and after a performance in Philadelphia (when he continued singing through a power disruption) he was given the nickname Iceman by a local DJ for his coolness in performing. He had several hits over the next several years, including He Will Break Your Heart (#7 in 1960), a cover of Moon River (#11 in 1961), and a duet w/Betty Everett covering Let It be Me (#5 in 1964).
The last two songs illustrated his ability to sing pop music (of all styles) made famous by others, yet still make it his own.
He later joined up with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff in Philadelphia, with further hits such as Hey Western Union Man— a somewhat uncommon uptempo song for him — and Only the Strong Survive (#16 and #4, respectively, in 1968). When Gamble & Huff formed their own label in 1971, he chose not to sign with them (reportedly regretting the decision later) yet continued to have success on the R&B charts: with two #6 songs in 1972: a cover of the O’Jays One Night Affair and a duet with Brenda Lee Eager of the Carpenters’ Close to You.
Beginning in the 1980’s he entered Chicago politics: becoming a Cook County commissioner and later a city alderman, not leaving public office until 2018 … though he found time to perform weekend music shows.
Jerry Butler died last month at the age of eighty-five and leaves a strong legacy. He was inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2015 and — as a member of The Impressions — into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. He served as a past chairman of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation and was the host of several PBS music specials (not limited to soul music). His songs were covered by many bands, with his 1960 song He Will Break Your Heart being released fifteen years later (under a new title He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You) by Tony Orlando and Dawn — that reached #1 in 1975.
While this song is most often associated with Otis Redding (who made it famous) — Jerry Butler co-wrote it and deserves his due with this recording. Not to mention that it garnered royalties that Butler claimed outstripped all his other earnings put together.