Musical Roots

Jerry Wexler


The man who gave rhythm and blues it’s name, Jerry Wexler, died earlier this year, August 15, at his home in Florida of heart failure at the age of 91. How many lives Wexler must have touched in his many years as a very successful music producer, propelling the careers of Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Picket and countless more is remarkable. Wexler was one of the great music business pioneers of the 20th century.
Born Gerald Wexler in The Bronx, New York to Jewish parents, he grew up during the depression in Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan. His youth was marked by late nights at poolrooms, until the mid-1930s when he was distracted by a music called jazz. Wexler became part of a loosely knit group of record collectors and streetwise intellectuals, praising trumpeter Henry "Red" Allen and quoting Dutch Philosopher Baruch Spinoza. Many members of this circle eventually became captains of the music industry: John Hammond and George Avakian at Columbia Records, Milt Gabler and Bob Thiele at Decca, Alfred Lion and Frank Wolff at Blue Note, and Wexler's future partners at Atlantic, Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun. Jerry Wexler became somewhat of a paradox. A hopelessly devoted music fan and a tireless businessman with a ruthless mean streak and a volatile temper.
His start in the music industry began as a writer for Billboard magazine where he was largely responsible for changing the name of the black-music charts from “Race Records” to “Rhythm & Blues”. Years later he would join Atlantic Records founders Ahmet & Nesuhi Ertegun and began producing Atlantic’s major R&B artist of the time at all night recording sessions. In hindsight, Wexler’s efforts were historic in their scope and impact on popular music, he was instrumental in bringing black music to the mainstream and in helping build race relations at the same time. Wexler would go on to become a partner in Atlantic by Ahmet, a gesture Wexler never forgot. “In a way, he handed me a life” Wexler would say after Ertegun’s death in 2006.
While recording “Dusty In Memphis”, Dusty Springfield’s hallmark album in Memphis, Wexler discovered Stax Records and developed a distribution deal that brought to Atlantic the brightest stars of Southern soul: Rufus & Carla Thomas, Booker T. & The MG’s & Otis Redding. At Stax, and in a few studios in nearby Muscle Shoals, Wexler learned a new way of making records: more organic and improvised than the pressured, pre-written approach typical of New York City studios. He was soon bringing Atlantic artists south to record; Wilson Pickett, Don Covay and Sam & Dave were among the many to benefit from Wexler's change of venue.
The stage was set for what today stands as Wexler's greatest single triumph. In 1966, he signed a singer whose Columbia Records contract had lapsed, and whose potential had yet to be realized. Wexler asked Aretha Franklin to drop the Judy Garland cabaret act, play the piano herself and focus on her natural, church-trained way of singing. Before one could spell "Respect," a legend was born.
He was also responsible for signing such bands as Led Zeppelin, Cream & The Bee Gees, he would go on to produce such greats as Bob Dylan, Ronnie Hawkins, Carlos Santana, The Staple Singers, Dire Straits and George Michael. “Jerry left his stamp on a lot of great music. He had a commercial ear as well as a critical ear”, says Jim Henke of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. In 1987 Hall Of Fame recognized Jerry Wexler’s contributions to American music by inducting him as a non-performer
Jerry Wexler moved to Sarasota, Florida in the late 1990’s cancelled his Billboard subscription and retired from the music industry.

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Twenty Essential Jerry Wexler Productions

A few years back, Jerry Wexler burned a CD for friends of the songs he was the most proud of from his half-century career in music.

Here's the playlist:

1. Professor Longhair, "Tipitina" (1953)
2. Ray Charles, "I Got a Woman" (1954)
3. Big Joe Turner, "Shake, Rattle and Roll" (1954)
4. LaVern Baker, "Tweedlee Dee" (1954)
5. Champion Jack Dupree, "Junker's Blues" (1958)
6. The Drifters, "There Goes My Baby" (1959)
7. Ray Charles, "What I'd Say" (1959)
8. Solomon Burke, "If You Need Me" (1963)
9. Booker T. & the MG's, "Green Onions" (1962)
10. Wilson Pickett, "In the Midnight Hour" (1965)
11. Aretha Franklin, "Respect" (1967)
12. Dusty Springfield, "Son of a Preacher Man" (1969)
13. Dr. John, "Iko Iko" (1972)
14. Doug Sahm, "(Is Anybody Going to) San Antone" (1973)
15. Willie Nelson, "Bloody Mary Morning" (1974)
16. The Sanford/Townsend Band, "Smoke From a Distant Fire" (1977)
17. James Booker, "Winin' Boy Blues" (1978)
18. Etta James, "Take It to the Limit" (1978)
19. Dire Straits, "Lady Writer" (1979)
20. Bob Dylan, "Gotta Serve Somebody" (1979)