by John Bush
The Ice Man Cometh, Jerry Butler's most successful LP, was the first full-album work from the production team Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff. It marks an excellent collaboration, the first time R&B production techniques reached a level of maturity and elegance capable of fully complementing one of the smoothest vocalists in soul history. The Top Ten singles &Hey, Western Union Man& and &Only the Strong Survive& weren't just popular radio hits, but great performances displaying how far the R&B/soul crowd had progressed from the novelty-laden '50s. Thanks to Butler and Gamble/Huff, the sound proved incredibly influential, both in the short term (Elvis Presley was definitely listening and cut a very similar &Only the Strong Survive& one year later) and the long term (Gamble and Huff's Philly Intl. label ruled the mid-'70s R&B world with the same sound). Here's where it coalesced.