GUESTBOOK

Hi Artie, Saw your performance at the Joe Williams Memorial Concert in Las Vegas last week and I had to contact you to tell you how blown away my wife and I were by your performance. You are a very talented performer as well as a fine composer and arranger. You had the audience eating out of the palm of your hand. What a great career you have enjoyed Artie. How well deserved it is too. You are very gifted and from what I understand a well respected man in your industry. Do keep arranging and composing and making audiences laugh. You seem to be real good at all three of these. Ned Coopersmith | San Diego, CA

Hi Mr. Butler, My name is Marty Schwartz, I am Helen Ferrucci’s grandson. I remember when you gave my grandmother your dog named Sitar. I also remember riding in your Rolls Royce with Grandma, Sitar and your other dog Oboe. I just wanted to stop by your website to say hello. Take care

Hi Artie, “Here’s To Life” is my favorite song. Every time we hear it, my wife and I just seem to feel better about life. It is really one of the best songs we have ever heard. Thanks for bringing a little beauty into a world that is lacking so much of it these days.Paul Provanzano | Rome, NY

Hi Artie Butler,Here’s To Life, and here’s to you … the man who gave us that great song. It really touches everyone who hears it. Please .. please do give us more of your great talent. Alice Trayner | Sugarbush, VT

Hello Mr. Butler, Applause to you for that most incredible song of yours “Here’s To Life.” You have no idea what that song has meant to me over the past few years of my life. It has helped me through some real trying moments, but I made it thanks to my inner strength that I was able to find through the magic and the absolute purity of your song. I lost the best friend I ever had in life, my husband of thirty eight years. It has been quite a transition for me. I do not even know if you are a religious person or not Mr. Butler, but I do know that God touched you when you composed this gem. What a gift you have. Best regards to you and thanks again.Francine Dirossa | Seattle, WA

Hey Artie, Came across your very cool site and just had to let you know what a great musician you are. Everything from “Feelin’ Al-Right” by my man Joe Cocker to Gladys Knight and “Neither One Of Us.” You have been taking care of business for a long time. I also really like your “What A Wonderful World” record with Louis Armstrong. That’s a killer. Keep on rockin’ my man. If you find your way to the Atlanta area, you’ve got a great fan here Artie. I can usually be found bangin’ on a keyboard somewhere, but not as good as you buddy .. and that’s for s..t sure. Tommy Hardine & The Rhythm Machine | Atlanta, GA

Hello Artie, I really love your song “Here’s To Life.” It is one of those special songs that comes along once in a great while. I do hope you are aware of the impact it has on people. It is very emotional. I first heard it about eight years ago by Shirley Horn. I cried for a week. I just found your site and decided to write to you. I really like your body of work. I have a lot of respect for the quality you have kept in it. Very musical all of the time. I am impressed. Please give us some more songs. Our world needs to slow down and think about itself a little. You may be the guy to show it how. Respectfully,Christian Moyer |Palo Alto, CA

HEY ARTIE………YOU WERE ALWAYS THE “COOL” GUY THAT MY DAD BROUGHT AROUND THE HOUSE (HE WAS A STUDIO MUSICIAN)…..BUT UNTIL JUST TONIGHT…I NEVER REALIZED YOU ARRANGED AND WROTE SO MANY OF THE COOL SONGS ON YOUR SITE!!!!…..I JUST THOUGHT YOU WERE COOL BECAUSE U BROUGHT US NATHAN’S HOT DOGS FROM NEW YORK (BEFORE THEY WERE OUT HERE IN CALIF)….AND A KAZILLION PIES….U ARRANGED SOME OF MY ALL TIME FAV SONGS!!!!!………..GOTTA LOVE IT……….KEEP IT GOING!

Hi Artie, What a fan I am of the Joe Cocker record of ” Feelin’ Al’Right’ and of Artie Butler too. It has got to be one of the all time greatest Rock & Roll records ever Artie. That piano playing of yours just rocks. I am a drummer in a band here in Dallas, and we play bars on weekends and some parties also. Let me tell you that when we play “Feelin’ Al-Right” it’s OK, but it ain’t no Artie Butler. I’m inviting you to come play with us anytime Artie. It would be a real honor and a treat for us to have the real deal Artie Butler bang out that piano part as only he can. I’m sure we would pack any place if I knew you were coming. Seriously, if you are in Dallas, you’ve got an open invitation Artie. We would be honored beyond belief to have you here.Ron Pruit Dallas, Texas

Hi Artie…I was born in 1955, and have been a fan of your work since I was a boy in the 60s. There’s something about an Artie Butler arrangement that just has your signature all over it, and I LOVE that sound. I only wish I could find a complete list of your credits (or at least a lengthier list than the highlights posted on your web site). I can think of dozens of your credits, but through your site, I learned of even more. “He did THAT?” “That was Artie Butler?” Thank you so much for the pleasure you have given me for over 40 years. Those records STILL give me pleasure. Austin, Texas USA

OK there Artie, I do believe that “Here’s To Life” will in time go down in history as one of the great songs. It very simply says what we all need to say, and in the most simple and beautfiful understated way. Thanks so much for writing it, and for giving it to all of us. It’s a treasure indeed.William FullerRye, NY

Wow, I loved your website and being able to listen to some of my most favorite songs and artists. Even more, your written memories about Joe Williams stirred me. Just a few years ago, I cried when I read that he died. I cried again as I read your recollections of him and his last words to you. Please let me know the name of the album where he and George Shearing performed your “Here’s to Life” — what a song, what a song…. I saw him do that tune on Johnny Carson one night and his performance never left my mind. I’m so glad that you’re “hungry still”. You helped make this a more beautiful and thoughtful world Artie Butler. Thank you.|Columbia, South Carolina

Hi Artie, I just want to play the piano like you do on “Feelin’ Al-Right” by Joe Cocker. Is that asking too much? After all these years, I still go “CRAZY” when I hear it. Artie your piano playing has destroyed more bars than you want to know. (only fooling my man) I went to a party last night and the CD came on and I made them play it three times. Keep rockin’ on that piano there Artie. It inspires me still.Paul Leeds Durham, NC

Hi Artie, Though I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting you, I feel as though we’ve met because of the way your music has been such a part of my life. I grew up listening to many of the records you made. I always wanted to be a musician and songwriter, but life has plans for us all. During the sixties I got a little crazy like lots of people and never followed my passion for music like you did. Although I became a successful businesswomen and a mother of two great children, I often think back to the fun times when the music was so special in my life. It’s amazing how so many of the records you and your group of peers made still stay with us all. I mean my God you played that incredible piano solo on Joe Cocker’s “Feelin’-Alright.” That in itself makes me go crazy. That is one of the best Rock & Roll records ever made Artie. How many ceilings did I dance on to that one till two AM? (Well that’s another story). About ten or twelve years ago I started to get into Jazz also, and discovered an entire world of music that I had only heard little bits and pieces of through the years. Then recently I started dating a lawyer who turned me on to Shirley Horn. Then I discovered “Here’s To Life” and found out Artie Butler was the composer. Artie I just have to tell you that that song is the song I would love to have written could I have written one at all. It says everything we need to say as human beings in a most beautiful and sensitive way. In looking at your website I see your long list of achievements, credits and gold records. However this song is in an artistic place all it’s own. You must feel real proud. I am sure that you have touched many people with it. I for one really know the inner place of the creative soul that writes a song like that. I knew many years ago that you were a big talent. Like fine wine, you got so much better. I get the feeling there is much more in you that you have yet to give us all. Hurry up Artie. We really need it.Carole Leigh Baderman | New York, N.Y.

Mr. Butler, I am so happy that I found out how to contact you. A friend helped me find your website. My husband of twenty-nine years died two years ago. He was my best friend in life. We were childhood sweethearts. A few months ago at a dinner party I heard “Here’s To Life” playing on a CD for the first time. To say that I was taken by your song would not be sufficient. I was overwhelmed by it. I went out and bought the Shirley Horn CD the very next day. May I please tell you how much your song means to me, and what it has brought to me during this most difficult period in my life? I have times of real emptiness as you can imagine, and your song brings me a feeling of hope and inner peace. I know that life goes on, but “Here’s To Life” has just been such an emotional support for me. I really felt the need to contact you and thank you. We have never met, but from the bottom of my heart I thank you for giving me, and the rest of the world this most sensitive and heartfelt song. You should feel real happy and proud that you have written a song that will stand the test of time, and will be around as long as there is a need for beauty and honesty in music. Here’s To Life – Here’s To Love – and Here’s to you … Artie Butler. Laura Wechsler New York, N.Y

Hello Artie, When hearing about the passing of the great vocalist Shirley Horn recently, I felt I had to contact you to tell you how much your tune “Here’s To Life’ has brought to the world. It is such a gift to us all. When I listen to her CD of it, I find myself in a better place. It makes me think of how good it is to be alive.It’s one of those very special songs that come along once in a long time. Good music gets to my emotions, and you really write good music my friend. You have a deep soul. Please do share more of it with us. You really have that gift. London, England

Hi there Artie, Can I start by saying that “Here’s To Life” is one of the most special songs ever written? It is just beautiful. It comes from that place in the human soul that only a very select few writers have inside of them Artie. You are one of them. I listen to that song when I feel good, or when I need to feel good. That’s what your music does for me. Please do continue to give the world more of what you have inside of you. It’s so needed today.New York, N.Y

…have been touched, moved and inspired by your music, up to the innermost core of my heart. Thank you for being a part of my life and thank you for your acknowledgement of the talent that surrounds you. |Chicago, Illinois

I love your music Artie. Keep crankin’ it out. It’s great stuff. I play piano & keyboards as well as a little arranging. I grew up in the 70’s and loved so many of the records that you made with Barry Manilow, Mark Lindsay & Paul Revere & The Raiders, Gladys Knight & The Pips etc. However Joe Cocker’s “Feelin’ Al-Right” is my favorite one. Artie if I could play the piano like you did on that record, I would die a very happy man. I still listen to that record today, and it just makes me crazy how good it feels. Good luck to you ArtieTampa, Florida

Hello Artie, I just bought a copy of “Here’s To Life” by Shirley Horn. It is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard in my life. I knew of your work back in the early days of Red Bird Records and Leiber and Stoller. I was a disc jockey at one time. You have had a great run in the music business Artie, and you have worked with many of the greats. In fact you have become one yourself. We did actually meet about twenty five years ago in England when you were traveling with and conducting for Neil Sedaka. I remember I told you then what a talent I thought you were. Great talent like yours keeps going on my friend. What a song. Good luck to you.Bob Linder | Port Washington, N.Y.