Bostworld

“Introducing The Ice Man’s Band” is an album of instrumentals by Jerry “The Ice Man” Butler’s rhythm section. Released in 1972, its selections range from Butler hits (”Never Give You Up,” “Mr. Dream Merchant,” “Only The Strong Survive”) to soul pop (”People Make The World Go Around,” “I Wanna Be Where You Are”), and a funky jam of the Beatles’ “Come Together” thrown in for the crossover crowd. Though not lacking in “country soul,” the simple, slick four-piece arrangements reveal a jazzy light touch reflective of The Ice Man’s mainstream appeal. The accent here is on sideman chops, with lots of tasty improvisation and extended solos. A group of female backup singers contribute “oohs,” “aahhs” and the occasional chorus. The cats in the band — Robert Bowles on guitar, Reginald Burke on keyboards, Wayne Douglas on bass and Ira Gates on drums — all went on to distinguished studio careers. In fact, you may even find them on many of your own albums from the seventies.

God bless the internet, where great records like this are easily found nowadays. But you know, I fished this record out of the back of a dank, musty (evaporative cooled) warehouse years ago, back when there were a lot more second-hand record shops in town. Sure, I prefer to scour the thrift stores of my area, and I still run across fabulous finds for a quarter. But sometimes, you don’t feel like doing all that driving and would be just as happy browsing the overpriced plastic-bagged selections at a funky “collectors” store. Even though most of the stuff is marked above “book price,” you could still find great bargains snuck in between the (*yawn*) Beatles and Elvis first editions offered at triple-digit prices.

We’ve still got a couple of these shops in town still, but they’re pretty much picked over and function mostly as a trap for suckers. I even go to them occasionally if I’m desperate enough. I’ve even been known to pay their outlandish prices in a moment of weakness. The place where I picked up “Ice Man’s Band” is long gone — that is, it operates these days out of a PO Box and a rudimentary web site. The legend at the top of its home page pretty much says it all: “Please send us your wants, we will check and reply within 3 business days, sorry no lists are available.” Gone are the days when I could waste an entire afternoon among the vast “Various Artists” bins. And there ain’t nothing in Phoenix that comes anywhere close to this!


Download “Introducing The Ice Man’s Band” today!