Artie Butler

The hitmaking career of arranger and composer Artie Butler embraces the breadth of American popular music from the girl group sound to the disco era. A onetime protégé of the legendary songwriting team of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, his list of credits is staggering, spanning more than 100 chart blockbusters including the Drifters' "On Broadway," Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World," and Barry Manilow's "Copacabana." Born December 2, 1942, in Brooklyn, NY, as a child Butler poured over jazz magazines like Downbeat and Metronome, at various times studying piano, clarinet, and drums. At 13, he entered the New York City offices of King Records on a whim, auditioned for exec Henry Glover on a rehearsal piano and landed a record deal on the spot, releasing the R&B-inspired "Lock, Stock and Barrel" on the label's DeLuxe subsidiary in mid-1954. The single went nowhere, and after a brief return to teenage anonymity, Butler resurfaced when the pianist scheduled for a Lieber/Stoller session went AWOL. He remained a staple of their Brill Building studio crew for years to come, contributing to classic records including the Drifters' "Up on the Roof" and Ben E. King's "Gettin' to Me." In 1963 Butler earned his first assignment as an arranger, teaming with producer Abner Spector for the Jaynettes' supernatural girl group classic "Sally, Go Round the Roses." Later that same year, he signed on as a session keyboardist with the songwriting tandem of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, joining a studio crew that also featured Al Gorgoni on guitar and Buddy Saltzman on drums. Barry and Greenwich later joined forces with Lieber and Stoller to form Red Bird Records, and Butler appears on most of the label's blockbusters including the Shangri-Las' "Leader of the Pack," the Dixie Cups'...