Tag: Betty Everett

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

…

Betty Everett – The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss)

Betty really belts out this song. The song peaked at #6 in the Billboard 100 and #34 in the UK in 1964. I have heard this song most of my life but never knew who sang it.

This was written by Rudy Clark, whose credits include “Good Lovin'” and “Got My Mind Set On You.” Like “The Shoop Shoop Song,” the original artist didn’t fare very well on those, but cover versions were very successful “Good Lovin'” was first released by The Olympics in 1965, but it was The Young Rascals 1966 cover that went to #1. “Got My Mind Set On You” was originally by James Ray in 1962, but George Harrison’s 1987 cover was the hit, also going to #1.

Everett was reluctant to record this song at first and was urged by Calvin Carter, her producer to do so. She felt that the song would flop.

From Songfacts

How can you tell if a guy loves you? His eyes can deceive, and you certainly can’t trust what he says, so the only way to for sure is with his kiss, which acts as a kind of truth serum for love, according to this song.

Merry Clayton, a onetime Raelette who can be heard on the Rolling Stones song “Gimme Shelter,” was the first to release this song, issuing it in 1963. Ramona King from the doo-wop group The Fairlanes was the next to release it, but it wasn’t until Everett’s 1964 cover that the song finally hit.

The song has spanned decades with more successful cover versions. In 1975, Linda Lewis reached #107 US; James Taylor’s younger sister, Kate Taylor, hit #49 US in 1977; Cher took it to #33 US in 1991. Her version also hit #1 in the UK.

The song received its name on account of backup vocals that sing, “shoop shoop shoop…” These gibberish words are heard every time the line, “If you wanna know if he loves you so,” is sung.

Everett’s version stood out in large part because of the xylophone solo – something you don’t hear very often in a pop song.

This was Everett’s third single and her first Top 40 hit. Her first failed to chart and her second single (“You’re No Good,” later covered by Linda Ronstadt) climbed only to #51 on the Hot 100. Everett recorded for Vee Jay Records, a Motown competitor.

The backup vocals were provided by a local female group from Chicago called the Opals.

Cher recorded her version for the 1990 film Mermaids, which she starred in along with 
Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci. Both Cher’s version and Everett’s version are featured in the film, but Cher’s is the only version featured on the soundtrack. >>

Cher’s version was produced by Peter Asher, a longtime Beatles associate who produced most of James Taylor’s and Linda Ronstadt’s hits. In a Songfacts interview with Asher, he explained: “The song was already chosen. They were going to sing it in the movie anyway and they just wanted a proper record version for the end titles.

That one I cut without Cher’s input entirely. I just did it the way I thought she should do it. I had one conversation with Cher about the key, and that was it. And then she showed up and it was all done. She liked it, luckily.”

Salt-N-Pepa got their shoop on in 1993 for their song “Shoop.” In 1995, Whitney Houston appropriated the Shoop for her song “Exhale (Shoop Shoop),” which was a massive hit from the movie Waiting To Exhale.

Linda Rondstadt sometimes performed this song, and sang it on an episode of The Muppets, with Kermit the Frog the object of her affection.

Betty Everett – The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss)

Does he love me, I want to know
How can I tell if he loves me so

(is it in his eyes) Oh no, you’ll be deceived
(is it in his eyes) Oh no, he’ll make believe
If you want to know if he loves you so
It’s in his kiss (that’s where it is, oh yeah)

(or is it in his face) Oh no, it’s just his charm
(in his one embrace) Oh no, that’s just his arm
If you want to know if he loves you so
It’s in his kiss (that’s where it is)
Oh oh, it’s in his kiss (that’s where it is)

Oh oh oh, kiss him and squeeze him tight
And find out what you want to know
If it’s love, if it really is
It’s there in his kiss

(how ’bout the way he acts) Oh no, that’s not the way
And you’re not listenin’ to all I say
If you want to know if he loves you so
It’s in his kiss (that’s where it is)
Oh yeah, it’s in his kiss (that’s where it is)

Whoa oh oh, kiss him and squeeze him tight
And find out what you want to know
If it’s love, if it really is
It’s there in his kiss

(how ’bout the way he acts) Oh no, that’s not the way
And you’re not listenin’ to all I say
If you want to know if he loves you so
It’s in his kiss (that’s where it is)
Oh yeah, it’s in his kiss (that’s where it is)
Oh oh, it’s in his kiss (that’s where it is)