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Artie Butler

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For the baseball player, see Art Butler.

Artie Butler
Birth nameArthur Butler
Born (1942-12-02) December 2, 1942 (age 81)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
GenresPopular music
Occupation(s)Composer, arranger, songwriter, session musician
InstrumentKeyboards
Years active1957–present
Websiteartiebutler.com

Arthur Butler (born December 2, 1942) is an American arranger, composer, songwriter, and session musician. In a long career, he has been involved in numerous hit records and other recordings, and has been awarded over 60 gold and platinum albums.

Life and career

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Butler was born in Brooklyn, New York,[1] and learned to play various instruments including piano, clarinet and drums as a child. He attended Erasmus Hall High School.[2] At the age of 13, he auditioned for Henry Glover of King Records, who offered him a contract as a result. His single, "Lock, Stock and Barrel", credited to Arthur Butler, was issued on the DeLuxe label in 1957, but was not successful.[1][3][4]

By the early 1960s he was working as an assistant at Bell Sound Studios in New York City, where he met songwriters and record producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. He began working for them in the Brill Building, initially as a pianist and then as an arranger. He contributed to records by The Drifters and others before, in 1964, arranging his first hit, "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" by The Jaynetts, on which he claims to have played all the instruments except guitar.[5] He co-wrote Alvin Robinson's "Down Home Girl" with Leiber (quickly covered in 1965 by The Rolling Stones), and later in 1964 joined the team working with songwriters Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. He arranged and contributed keyboards to several hits on Red Bird Records, including The Shangri-Las' "Leader of the Pack" and "Remember (Walking in the Sand)", The Dixie Cups' "Chapel of Love," and The Ad Libs' "The Boy from New York City." He also arranged Neil Diamond's early releases, including "Solitary Man" and "Cherry, Cherry," and Janis Ian's "Society's Child".[1][6]

In 1967 he moved to Los Angeles. The following year he started work for A&M Records, where he worked with jazz musicians including Herbie Hancock, and contributed keyboards on Joe Cocker's hit "Feelin' Alright".[1] He then went freelance, and suggested to Louis Armstrong that he should record the song "What a Wonderful World". Armstrong agreed, and Butler arranged and recorded the song with Armstrong despite the opposition of ABC Records President Larry Newton.[7] From the 1970s onwards, Butler arranged many commercially successful records, including Vicki Lawrence's "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia", Neil Sedaka's "Laughter in the Rain", Barry Manilow's "Copacabana", and Dionne Warwick's "I'll Never Love This Way Again".[1] In 1987 he co-wrote, with lyricist Phyllis Molinary, "Here's to Life", intended for and first performed by Peggy Lee,[8] but first recorded in 1990 by Shirley Horn and later by Barbra Streisand.[9] He has been awarded over 60 gold and platinum albums during his career.[10]

In the 1970s he began working on films, creating the scores for The Love Machine (1971), What's Up Doc? (1972), The Harrad Experiment (1973), the TV movie Wonder Woman (1974), For Pete's Sake (1974), Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins (1975), the Disney film The Rescuers (1977), Sextette (1978), Sultan and the Rock Star (1980), and O'Hara's Wife (1982). In 1992, he was nominated for an Emmy award for the CBS miniseries Sinatra. In 2004 he worked with Mike Stoller on a stage musical, Laughing Matters, which premiered in New York in 2006,[1] and in 2011 worked again with Stoller and lyricist Iris Rainer Dart on the musical The People in the Picture.[11]

Discography

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Albums and Soundtracks
Year Title Notes Label
1968 Have You Met Miss Jones? CTI Records [12]
1970 The Original Cleanhead With Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson BluesTime
1973 The Harrad Experiment Soundtrack for film by Ted Post Capitol Records [13]
2011 The People in the Picture Broadway production alongside Mike Stoller N/A
Singles and EPs
Year Title Notes Label
1963 Sweet September / Freedom With Alan Lorber 20th Century Fox Records [14]
1963 Theme From "The Cardinal" / Waltz for J. & M. 20th Century Fox Records [15]
1964 Thème Du Film "Le Cardinal" French release of his previous two records 20th Century Fox Records [16]
1967 Ode to Billie Joe / Soul Brother Produced by Ted Cooper Epic [17]
1968 Max's Brasilian What / Something Stupid CTI Records [12]
1971 Feelin' Alright / Alice In Wonderland Produced by Charles Stern Verve Records [18]
1971 The White Fox Produced by Neely Plumb Scepter Records [19]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Biography by Jason Ankeny at Allmusic.com. Retrieved May 12, 2013
  2. ^ Erasmus Hall High School, Famous Alumni Archived September 22, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 12, 2013
  3. ^ DeLuxe Records Discography. Retrieved May 12, 2013
  4. ^ "In the Beginning", ArtieButler.com. Retrieved May 12, 2013
  5. ^ "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" at ArtieButler.com. Retrieved May 12, 2013
  6. ^ "Society's Child" at ArtieButler.com. Retrieved May 12, 2013
  7. ^ Jack Doyle, “What A Wonderful World”, The Pop History Dig. Retrieved May 12, 2013
  8. ^ Feather, Leonard (March 12, 1987). "Peggy Lee: Balloons and a Big Break". Los Angeles Times. pt. VI, pg. 6. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  9. ^ Biography at ArtieButler.com. Retrieved May 12, 2013
  10. ^ Artie Butler home page. Retrieved May 12, 2013
  11. ^ Kenneth Jones, People in the Picture, With Donna Murphy Living Two Lives, Comes Into Focus on Broadway April 1, Playbill.com, 1 April 2011 Archived June 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 12, 2013
  12. ^ a b Pfenninger, Leslie J. "Artie Butler Discography | On A&M Records". www.onamrecords.com. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  13. ^ "Artie Butler – The Harrad Experiment (Original Soundtrack Recording)". Discogs. 869553. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  14. ^ "Artie Butler – Sweet September / Freedom". Discogs. 682893. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  15. ^ "Artie Butler – Theme From "The Cardinal" / Waltz For J. & M." Discogs. 1037507. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  16. ^ "Artie Butler Et Son Piano Romantique* – Thème Du Film "Le Cardinal"". Discogs. 13079241. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  17. ^ "Art Butler* – Ode To Billie Joe". Discogs. 688148. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  18. ^ "Artie Butler – Feelin' Alright / Alice In Wonderland". Discogs. 1318163. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  19. ^ "Artie Butler – The White Fox". Discogs. 1103771. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
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