Jerry Wexler

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Gerald "Jerry" Wexler (January 10, 1917 – August 15, 2008) was a music journalist turned music producer and was one of the key record industry players behind music from the 1950s to 1980s.

He coined the phrase "rhythm and blues" and was instrumental in the signing and/or production of several of the best acts of the day, including Ray Charles, the Allman Brothers, Chris Connor, Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, Wilson Pickett, Dire Straits, Dusty Springfield, and Bob Dylan.

In 1987, Wexler was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2017, he was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.

Early life

Wexler was born in The Bronx, New York City, as the son of a German Jewish father and a Polish Jewish mother; he grew up in Upper Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood. Despite graduating from George Washington High School at the age of 15, he dropped out of City College of New York after two semesters. Wexler was born in 1935 and attended Kansas State University, where he enrolled part-time for many years. Wexler, who served in the Army, became a good student, and he graduated from Kansas State with a B.A. In 1946, there was a journalist in journalism.

Personal life

Wexler has married three times. He married Shirley Kampf in 1941, and the couple had three children before divorcing: Lisa, Paul, and Anita (predeceased). Renee Pappas was his second wife. Jean Arnold, a playwright-novelist, was his third wife. On August 15, 2008, he died at his Sarasota, Florida, after suffering from congestive heart disease. Wexler, a documentary filmmaker who died several years earlier, replied, "More bass" is the word he wanted on his tombstone.

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Career

Wexler coined the phrase "rhythm and blues" during his time as an editor, reporter, and writer for Billboard Magazine. The magazine changed the Race Records chart to Rhythm & Blues Records in June 1949, at his suggestion. "Race" was a common term back then, and blacks used a self-referral system, according to Wexler. ... On the other hand, 'Race Records' didn't do well. ... I came up with a handle that I felt fit the music well: 'rhythm and blues,' "It was] a mark that was more appropriate to more enlightened times."

In 1953, Wexler became a partner in Atlantic Records. Ray Charles, the Drifters, and Ruth Brown were among the classic recordings to follow. He turned Atlantic Records into a major player in the music business with Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun.

Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin appeared on Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin in the 1960s and oversaw the creation of Dusty Springfield's critically acclaimed Dusty in Memphis and Lulu's New Routes albums. He also had a close association with Stax Records, and was a vocal promoter of the then-developing Muscle Shoals Sound system and launched Muscle Shoals Sound Studios and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. He was named President of the Year in 1967 for turning Aretha Franklin's career around. Franklin's Columbia recording deal came to an end in November 1966; at that time, she owes the company money because record sales did not meet expectations. Franklin was "the most influential singer in the country" by 1968, when he worked with Wexler and Atlantic. Atlantic's work in the first decade put the genre at the forefront of soul music.

On the recommendation of singer Dusty Springfield and based on what they heard of the band's guitarist Jimmy Page, who appeared with the Yardbirds, he and Ahmet Ertegun signed Led Zeppelin to Atlantic Records in 1968. Atlantic Records was purchased by Warner Bros. Records in 1968, with a large catalogue. Wexler went from Atlantic to Warner Records in 1975.

Wexler produced Bob Dylan's controversial first "born again" album, Slow Train Coming at Muscle Shoals in 1979; a song from the album, "Gotta Serve Somebody," received a Grammy Award in 1980. Wexler was unaware of the type of the merchandise that waited for him when he agreed to produce. "I wanted to do the album in Muscle Shoals, as Bob did, but we decided to prepare it in Los Angeles, where Bob lived." "I'd have wondered what the songs were about when I heard they were referred to: in the old corral, born-again Christians." ... [But] I like Bob's humour when he first met me, the Wandering Jew, to get the Jesus feel. You're dealing with a sixty-two-year-old confirmed Jewish atheist,' I said. I'm hopeful. "Let's just make an album," says the narrator.

Wexler met with UK pop star George Michael in 1983. The most popular out-take of these sessions would be a rare early version of "Careless Whisper," which was shot in Muscle Shoals.

Wexler was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. In the late 1990s, he retired from the music industry.

Wexler lived on David's Lane in East Hampton, New York, where he shared living space with a Chinese family who assisted him with daily activities and kept him company for the most part of the 1990s.

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