Jerry Utter, sang with the Destinations

BACK in the 1960s, Philadelphia had many impromptu singing groups, kids who would cut school and harmonize on the corners, at El stations and anywhere else they could find an audience.

One of the groups was started on the streets of Kensington by youngsters who cut class at Edison High School and got together to sing R&B, doo-wop, whatever moved them.

Jerry Utter was just 12 when he started harmonizing with the older kids who started the group.

The boys took the name Destinations and for the next 40-some years, through the ups and downs of the music business, constant changes in personnel, hope and discouragement, they persisted.

The boys became men, their voices changed, but they sang on, made a few records, and entertained at clubs and on stages in Philly and up and down the East Coast.

Jerome J. Utter, who also over the years owned a bar in Kensington and a masonry business, died of cancer Friday. He was 61 and was living in Jenkintown but lived most of his life in Kensington.

Jerry was a tall, skinny white kid singing mostly black music in a unique bass vocal style.

"He was a black dude trapped in a white man's body," said his daughter Geri Lynn Utter-Godfrey. "He was a little crazy."

But because of his deep voice, he could do a fine rendition of "Old Man River," a song normally reserved for a deep-voiced black man portraying a dock worker on the Mississippi.

Jerry was always the leader and organizer of the various incarnations of the Destinations. When singers would leave, he would search out substitutes, and had little trouble finding them.

"Other singers really respected him," his daughter said. "They were excited to sing with him."

The Destinations performed wherever they could get a gig and attracted the attention of record companies.

Their first recording was with Ando Records and featured the song "I Can't Leave You," which got some airtime. They also signed with Cameo Records, a situation that didn't turn out well.

As Robert Bosco, local writer and music historian, tells it, Jerry reworked a song that originally was recorded by a female group in Chicago and called "Tell Him," into a new version called "Tell Her."

The record got nowhere, but Cameo Records passed it on to Patti Drew and her sisters, who recorded it at a slower tempo and it became a hit.

Jerry got no credit for his work on the song, and declined to get involved in any legal action.

"They were young," his daughter said. "He should have involved his parents and gotten a lawyer, but he was a cocky young kid."

"They copied my music note for note, didn't give me any credit and - boom! - it's a hit," Jerry told Bosco in an interview. "Our version sounds pretty great even today, 30-some years later."

It was in the mid-'60s that Jerry joined with Al "Froggy" Byer, Eddie Wilson, "Pinky" Fiore and Rene Mulholland as the Destinations. They not only sang on the streets, but at parties and burger joints.

"We ruled those . . . burger stops," Jerry told Bosco. "That's how we built our loyal following. Other groups would show up to contest us, but after a while they got tired of us kicking their asses and left those stopovers for us."

At one point, the Destinations became a full band with 15 pieces, and toured the East Coast.

Jerry was the driving force. Even though he had 70 percent hearing loss in his left ear (which kept him out of the military), he had perfect pitch. He was a perfectionist who got the best out of his musicians.

He was also a snappy dresser, favoring red and black shoes, always polished to a fine gloss; red pinstripe satin trousers, red silk tie and black shirt. He insisted that his band members be equally well-turned-out.

"He wouldn't tolerate sloppy dressing," his daughter said.

Jerry Blavat, the Philly music legend, often had Jerry Utter sing at his club Memories in Margate. Jerry would also show up at Lighthouse Point, where Blavat did his radio show in Wildwood.

"I always made a big fuss over him," Blavat said. "He was a good guy. He never had a big hit; he was just a neighborhood kid. It was a wonderful time to grow up."

A final single cut was "I Can't Leave You" for Ando Records, a song "which nowadays has emerged as a staple for such local outlets as WVLT in Vineland, WRDV in Hatboro and WOGL in Philadelphia," Bob Bosco said.

Jerry Utter was born in Philadelphia to Robert Thomas Utter and the former Marguerite Zimmerman. From 1993 to 2000, he owned the bar Utter Nonsense at D and Somerset, a lively place that appealed to neighborhood characters. He ran his masonry business from 1984 to 1999.

He was a big Eagles fan.

"He would scream at the television," his daughter said, "but even when they were losing, he would say, 'They'll come back.' "

Besides his daughter, he is survived by his former wife, Jeanne Utter Morini; three other daughters, Denise Briant, Brittany Utter and Dominique Harkins; a son, Robert; four sisters, Jeanette and Judy Welsh, Denise Cardonick and Roxann Iacovelli; and two grandchildren.

Services: Viewing at 7 tonight at the Fluehr and Sons funeral home, Cottman Avenue and Rollins Street. A musical tribute will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the North Penn VFW Post, 2519 Jenkintown Road, Glenside.