Free Traveling Soul by Todd Mayfield Page B

returned to the studio to record two more songs, including another of Curtis’s compositions, “At the County Fair,” on which he sang lead for the first time.
    A few days later, official copies of “For Your Precious Love” arrived from the pressing plant, and Eddie drove the group to the Vee-Jay office in his Cadillac. This was the most important moment. Signing a contract, recording in a professional studio, and getting on the radio marked huge milestones, but nothing said success like seeing your name on the label of a record. That was something tangible, something permanent and undeniable.
    They tore open the boxes, passed around the records, and gazed at them the way a father looks upon his firstborn child. As they read the label, the room fell silent. Under the song title, it read “Jerry Butler” in huge letters. Beneath that, in tiny typeface, it read, “and the Impressions.” Without consulting the group, Vee-Jay had decided to put Jerry out front as the star that would outshine the nameless, faceless “and the Impressions.” The sting set in immediately. Jerry said:
    I knew that Curtis, Sam, Arthur and Richard didn’t like it one bit. Each of their faces was twisted into a half smile that did nothing to hide their hurt and envy. I finally spoke. “You’ll have to reprint the label so it reads ‘The Impressions.’ If you don’t, we’re going to have dissension in the group before we ever get started.” Sam and Arthur mumbled in agreement. Curtis and Richard just kept staring at the record and shaking their heads. Eddie was nervous. He hadn’t known about it either. Still, he remained silent. He later told us that, at the time, he thought it unwise for us to be raising questions at that meeting, when we were so close to getting things off the ground.
    Eddie had good reason to worry. Abner wasn’t about to take directions from a no-name kid whose career rested in his industry-savvy hands.When he replied to Jerry’s request, he spoke matter-of-factly, a hint of anger coloring his words. He explained how much it would cost to reprint fifty thousand labels and why the company chose to feature Jerry on the label. It would help them get more airplay, Abner said. Besides, Vee-Jay knew more about promotion than they did, and the company only had their best interests in mind. He promised Vee-Jay would not do anything to break them up. They simply couldn’t reprint the labels, and even if they could, it would take two or three weeks before they could get the record out. “By the time he got through talking, we were feeling sorry for feeling sorry,” Jerry said. “Abner was like that. He was one of those guys who could sell you the Brooklyn Bridge and then buy it back five minutes later for half the price.” Abner’s speech worked for the moment, but tensions remained just below the surface. “The rift over the phrase ‘Jerry Butler and the Impressions,’ and later ‘The Original Impressions,’ was irreparable, and would remain even after forty years,” Jerry said.
    For Vee-Jay, the decision was pure business. Every label worth its salt had long realized that once a group had a hit, the company could multiply its money by separating the lead singer and creating two acts. It happened to Dee Clark and the Kool Gents, Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters, James Brown and the Famous Flames, and Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. After separating the front man from the group, the story usually ended the same—the lead singer soared to fame if he was good (and lucky) while his former band put out a few tepid records and faded into obscurity.
    The Impressions didn’t know that then. None of them expected such a thing to happen. They had made it this far together, and they intended to succeed or fail together. “You can understand all these fellows having worked and sacrificed evenly in trying to