Jerry Butler - Need To Belong (1963/2022)

Released in 1963, Jerry Butler's Need to Belong takes its title from the Curtis Mayfield-authored song that leads it off there's one other track written by Butler's friend and former Impressions stablemate, but the rest is comprised of largely successful soul stylings of pop numbers by the likes of Burt Bacharach, Henry Mancini, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe, and the "I Want Candy" team of Gottehrer, Goldstein, and Feldman the latter's "Giving Up on Love" is probably the best song on the album, a sweaty, tear-drenched ballad that shows Butler singing with an almost operatic intensity and focus. That's only one of the highlights, however, on a generally outstanding record the version of "Moon River" might be this reviewer's favorite rendition of that song, with a superior accompaniment that mixes soul and pop elements around Butler's inimitable singing. The Don Covay co-authored "You Can Run (But You Can't Hide)" also gets a soaring treatment, to an arrangement mixing small band, orchestra, and chorus, and is worth the price of admission by itself.