Jerry Butler – He Will Break Your Heart

I could place Jerry Butler on the turntable and drift away in a cloud full of soul. He was nicknamed “The Ice Man” for his cool, smooth delivery. He wasn’t a flashy guy, didn’t move like James Brown or shout like Wilson Pickett, but when he sang, like EF Hutton, everyone listened.

He grew up in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green projects, and like so many soul legends, it began in the church with gospel music. By the late 1950s, he teamed up with a young Curtis Mayfield to form The Impressions. Their 1958 single, For Your Precious Love was a template for modern soul, which he co-wrote with Arthur and Richard Brooks. It had a gospel foundation dressed up as a pop song. Jerry left the group in 1960, but his partnership with Mayfield would remain throughout his career.

His songs would be covered by everyone from Aretha to Otis Redding. He would also eventually become a Chicago politician. Few artists could claim hit records on Vee-Jay, Mercury, Motown, and Philadelphia International, while also serving as a Cook County Commissioner for over 30 years. The man’s career stretched across six decades.

This song was written by Jerry Butler, Calvin Carter, and Curtis Mayfield. Butler’s voice is calm, and he gives it effortlessly.. The song peaked at #7 on the Billboard 100, #1 on the R&B charts, and #9 in Canada in 1960. 

This song didn’t just stop with Butler. The song took on a second life in 1975 when Tony Orlando & Dawn covered it under the longer title “He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You).” That version actually hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Orlando may have had a bigger hit out of it, but Butler had the soul. 

I’m including a bonus song…Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby, a duet with Betty Everett in 1964. They also had a #5 song together called Let It Be Me. According to Discogs, he released a total of 161 singles and EPs throughout his career, which lasted until 1983. Mr Butler passed away in February of this year at the age of 85 years old. 

He Will Break Your Heart

He don’t love you like I love you
If he did, he wouldn’t break your heart
He don’t love you like I love you
He’s tryin’ to tear us apart

Fare thee well, I know you’re leavin’ (I know you’re leavin’)
For the new love that you’ve found
The handsome guy that you’ve been dating, whoa
I got a feelin’ he’s gonna put you down, ’cause

He don’t love you like I love you
If he did, he wouldn’t break your heart
He don’t love you like I love you
He’s tryin’ to tear us apart

He uses all the great quotations
Says the things I wish I could say
Whoa, but he’s had so many rehearsals
Girl, to him it’s just another play
But wait
When the final act is over
And you’re left standing all alone
When he takes his bow and makes his exit
Girl, I’ll be there to take you home

He don’t love you (and he never will) like I love you
If he did, he wouldn’t break your heart
Oh, he don’t love you, girl, like I love you
He’s tryin’ to tear us apart

Whoa, he don’t love you

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

32 thoughts on “Jerry Butler – He Will Break Your Heart”

  2. I’d only heard the Dawn version before. Jerry has a great voice indeed and put a very soul-ful spin on it (or perhaps the more correct way to say it is that Tony O put a real pop spin on the soul song, since his was the cover version that came later)

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  3. Pingback: Jerry Butler – He Will Break Your Heart – MobsterTiger

    1. Thats what I got from him…like he could have rolled out of bed and sang whatever on a dime….it was like second nature. Plus…who has that cool of a nick name?

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      1. I guess the Impressions couldnt hold both him and Curtis. i take it they still stayed close because Mayfield still wrote songs for him. I was lucky to find people like Jerry on my music trip. Guys like the Boss, Van were always dropping these names and covering their songs. I had a friend who was a big Sam Cook and Otis guy I mean this was back when heavy rock was the staple and this friend who was really rough around the edges (Singer in his own band and good) would start singing their tunes out of the blue and they sounded great.

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      2. Yea I have found some artists that way from other artists mentioning them and off I go.
        Your friend wasn’t stuck with one style I don’t guess…good to see those hard rock kinda guys like the other as well.

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      1. I like his style for sure. Another guy in the same vein is Johnny Hartman. He cut an album with John Coltrane and it’s a beauty. Obviously more jazz but accessible. The Perry como club without that kind of music. Even though Perry did make a lot of people mellow.

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  6. I heard the Tony and Dawn version first, but I knew it was a remake. I heard the original when I started collecting old R&B compilations. Butler certainly does have the soul. Great voice.

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      2. No I didn’t! I would have posted him if I would have known. Many bloggers go by that and I wish I would have today.

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  7. I didn’t know and love both of these songs. The name Jerry Butler rang a bell, but I couldn’t recall the context and also had not heard any of his solo songs. Then I saw in your post Butler he was part of The Impressions. Since I covered Curtis Mayfield before that’s where I first saw his name. I’ve also sampled a couple of additional songs Butler performed – my kind of “old-fashioned” soul, and I mean this in a good way!

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    1. Man…this music hits me just right. No matter the mood I’m in…I always can listen to soul. I didn’t know much about him either until I wrote this.

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  11. Max, you have a typo, with “Berry” instead of “Betty.”

    I’ve heard “Let it Be Me” by Nancy Sinatra and also by Glen Campbell, but never by Jerry and Betty before. My most beloved tune by Jerry is, “Message to Martha.” He sings it just right. I don’t know how “cool” it is as I hear a world of hurt in this one.

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