Jerry “The Iceman” Butler was anything but cold Thursday afternoon as he mingled with MSU faculty and staff outside 191 Communication Arts and Sciences Building.
The 61-year-old rhythm and blues icon, best known for the song “Moon River,” spoke of his accomplishments with warmth, wearing a dark suit and a wide smile.
In 1958, Butler formed a group called the Impressions with R&B legend Curtis Mayfield.
“In 1959, I went solo,” he said. “I’ve had several gold records and been nominated for three Grammys - didn’t win any, but I was nominated for them anyway.”
Though he may not have any Grammys, Butler does have many other awards under his belt, including a Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award and a Clio Award for writing and producing a 1970 commercial.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and wrote a book, “Only the Strong Survive: Memoirs of a Soul Survivor,” that was published in 2000 by Indiana University Press.
Currently, Butler is serving a fourth term as a commissioner for Illinois’ Cook County, a position he said requires much of the same skills as the music industry.
“In music you are selling a musical creative idea,” he said. “A lot of the way you sell that is by doing interviews. In politics you are selling a philosophical concept, and you do it the same way.”
Later in the afternoon, Butler gave a lecture to students in Telecommunication 275.
“We’re gonna talk mostly about me, because that’s what I know the most about,” he said with a grin.
Butler was brought to MSU as part of the Office of the Provost’s Visiting Minority Professors program.
Lawrence Redd, assistant to the dean for minority affairs and special projects in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, said it was an easy decision to invite Butler to campus.
“When it comes to R&B, he’s a bona fide legend who can speak elegantly about R&B, its role in diversity and its role in popular culture,” he said. “He was one of the people I featured in my book, (Rock is Rhythm and Blues: The Effect of Mass Media). This makes it come full circle.”
Redd’s enthusiasm was echoed by ethnomusicology Assistant Professor Isaac Kalumbu, who came early to meet Butler.
“I’m a student of the genre, and I am a fan of the music,” he said. “There is not a better experience than to hear somebody that was an active participant in a major social and cultural movement - such as R&B and soul during the civil rights movement - share their experience in person.”
