Said the Gramophone

Elastic Throat

Jerry Butler - "I'm A-Telling You"

Jerry Butler's not a-telling you anything you don't already know. The song's main refrain - "I'm a-tellin' you (whaaa)/I'm a-tellin' you" - sounds like a tautology, and the actual lyrics aren't much more informative. Butler presents a series of mundane gripes about the oppressiveness of capitalism, the work-a-day lifestyle, family responsibilities, etc., but manages to elevate these concerns from the prosaic to the epic. This is achieved in two ways: through Butler's theatrical, proto-soul vocals, which call to mind a deeper-voiced, less deep Sam Cooke; and, most of all, through guitar playing so sensitive, so unassumingly complementary, that you hardly notice it's there until someone asks you why you can't stop crying, why you won't answer the phone, why you haven't been to work in weeks, and you listen a little closer, discovering the answer: a skittering arpeggio on a quiet, warm guitar.

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