The Butler

Butler were an all-Maori rock band. All four members were originally from Rotorua/New Zealand, but the band actually formed in Christchurch in 1970. In 1973 they recorded a self-titled album for Pye. It was released on the Family label and from it came one single, "Green River"/"Especially For You".

From all accounts, George Butler was indeed a "wild child." But he found time between the youthful shenanigans that inspired his mom to bestow his descriptive nickname to learn some harp basics at age 12.
George remained active throughout the 60's and from 1966 he performed mainly in Houston and New Orleans. He worked extensively with the late Cousin Joe Pleasant and Roosevelt Sykes in New Orleans and the great Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins in Houston. George appears as a sideman on a number of sides with Lightnin' Hopkins, the best known of which being the album on the Jewel label entitled "Talking Some Sense". He was next signed to a contract by the Mercury label; in fact George observes, "The record companies always wanted me to sign an exclusive contract, and their people always met me with a paper their hand." George did an album for the Mercury label entitled "Keep On Doing What You're Doing"…

Amidst a new album bursting with hope, joy, romance and inspiration, including eleven songs penned or co-penned by the artist, it’s the Johnny Nash cover “I Can See Clearly Now” that Jonathan Butler elected to record on the So Strong album, his 15th solo collection, that speaks volumes about his outlook after a tumultuous year wrought with immense personal loss, pain and suffering.

A vocalist and guitarist that writes and produces most of his own music, Jonathan Butler has had successes over his twenty-five year recording career in pop, R&B, smooth jazz and adult formats. Self-produced, the songs on The Worship Project reflect the heart of a man who feels that he is in the best place he has been in personally in over a decade. The album is incredibly soulful and the messages are deeply spiritual. Butler's nylon guitar, smooth piano and jazzy vocals intertwine with shuffling percussion rhythms to create this 12-song gospel marvel.

Following abortive collaborations with David McAlmont and Richard Ashcroft, ex- Suede guitarist Bernard Butler finally heeded his wife's advice and took centre stage for his solo debut. Not surprisingly, wide-eyed positivism is the presiding sentiment here–so much so, that, at times, People Move On seems to be about little more than itself. Save for that melodically slight Top 10 hit "Stay" though, it's hard to raise much objection in the face of such sustained inspiration. Highlights? Well, "You Just Know" will be better known to football fans as the plaintively catchy riff used during the 1998-9 season on Match Of The Day. "Change Of Heart" crashes along some beautiful George Harrison-style playing. Best of all though are "Autograph" and "Woman I Know"–not least for the way their gothic grandeur exposes the limitations of Butler's old band.

On Jonathan Butler's N2K Encoded Music debut, Do You Love Me, he continues his jack-of-two-trades approach, balancing R&B-based vocal tunes with easy, acoustic guitar-based instrumentals. While it's a friendly enough listen, Butler here doesn't display a powerful enough mastery of either format. His guttural, heartfelt vocal style – reminiscent of Jon Secada – can make even the most Lionel Richie-esque lyric seem deeper than it is (even a new song with a title like "The Way You Look Tonight"), but few of the adult-oriented vocal tunes here are as memorable or hooky as his best-known hit, "Sarah Sarah." "Do You Love Me?," for instance, should be a deep, emotional moment, but comes off as a pleasant, easily dismissed conversation. Fortunately, "You Don't Belong to Me" has more lyrical bite, nicely underscored with a percussive guitar line underneath his angry tone. Butler should put more of that pointed energy into his play-it-safe instrumentals, which generally gallop along smoothly without building much steam. The best one can do with this sort of album is like Butler a lot.