BILLY BUTLER & THE FOUR ENCHANTERS, "LADY LOVE" C/W "FOUND TRUE LOVE," OKEH 4-7178 (REL. 8/1963)

Frank’s Jukebox keeps on keepin’ on, despite its diminished audience. Here’s post #1900, and a dandy Chicago soul record to mark the event.

Billy Butler (also the name of a Black soul-jazz guitarist and some chonky white baseball player) was the younger brother of Jerry Butler, the celebrated, elegant vocalist who made a string of great records for Chicago’s Vee-Jay label. Younger brother Billy followed in Jerry’s footsteps and tried his hardest to be his own performer, not the sibling of someone famous.

He hooked up with Okeh Records’ Chicago studios, where many fine soul and r&b recordings were made—one of the richest veins of Black music in the mid-1960s. The studio’s arrangers, producers and technicians were top-notch. Chicago had a wealth of recording talent on both sides of the microphone; Chess Records’ famous Michigan Avenue studio attracted talent and with other labels such as Mercury and the Leaner Brothers’ One-derful, Mar-V-Lus and M-Pac!, et al, there was plenty of work for audio technicians and musical arranger. There’s much cross-pollination in Chicago soul, with one arranger’s pet touch, such as Riley Hampton’s adoration of flutes, Johnny Pate’s hard-hitting horns and Curtis Mayfield’s signature brushed drums and strummed acoustic guitars, appearing over several labels.

The end goal was music to promote Black pride—the messages of the songs are often positive and uplifting; some lyrics address the hardships Black people endured, then and now. The overarching message is a down-to-earth version of we shall overcome. We’re gonna get through this, no matter what, people; it’s a message that’s necessary today.

Here’s the debut record by Billy Butler and his backup group, The Four Enchanters (soon shorted to The Chanters, as there were several Enchanters recording at the time; I thank them for sparing us further confusion).

“Lady Love” opens with the distinctive growling, blasting horns, a light, lilting Latin tempo; a cowbell sets the pace for the percussion. With the Enchanters, shrouded in reverb, croon behind him, Butler delivers this torrid story of a stunning woman who has turned his world upside-down and inside-out. “Why do you delay?” he asks this figure of wonder and adoration; he’s eager to go places with this scintillating friend. I do hope he achieved his objective; he’s undergone a bit of stress along the way.

Despite Cash Box's optimism, this rare single charted at #134 and failed to hit the r&b lists.

It's the rarest of Butler's Okeh singles.

 

“Found True Love,” co-written with Curtis Mayfield, is my favorite side. The Enchanters step out of the distant murk and it’s a pleasure to hear them on equal standing with Butler. This melodic story of a guy who…well, you can figure it out…achieves a taut drama, with impressive harmonies by The Enchanters. Mayfield’s guitar is always a plus, as are his chord changes, with soak this love story with tension and expression.

Hindsight being crystal-clear, this side is the obvious “A” to these ears. This stood a strong chance of getting on the r&b charts. It’s close enough to the sound of Mayfield’s group The Impressions without being imitative, and though the arrangement of “Lady Love” is more inventive, that of “Found…” is in service to the song and makes for a remarkable recording. Both sides are big favorites of soul collectors, but the general public has, I’d wager, never heard this single.

Butler had one major r&b hit, which we've played here recently (it reached #60 on the pop charts) and Okeh saw fit to issue a fab LP called The Right Track. I'll again plug the superb Kent Records collection The Right Tracks (Kent Soul CDKEND 280), which offers the complete Okeh discography, including eight unissued tracks. This 2007 CD is a worthy part of anyone's soul collection.

Tomorrow: Bobby Freeman with a super-fun 1958 Josie Records 45--loads of energy!