View Full Version : RIP Jerry Wexler - Genius of Atlantic Records
Blitzzzzz
08-15-2008, 09:50 PM
RIP Jerry Wexler, the genius of Atlantic Records. See the SF Chronicle obit at:
http://tinyurl.com/64gxdf:cool:
husb_2ndliner
08-15-2008, 10:45 PM
NYT obit at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/16/arts/music/16wexler.html
ajl_mo
08-21-2008, 12:14 AM
Take a look at Jerry's Wiki page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Wexler) to see how much of an influence he had on what you listen to from Aretha to Zeppelin.
Also a very nice interview was re-broadcast on Fresh Air (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93693817) the other day
While I can't ever forgive him for what he did to Stax Records, he was a giant in the music industry. Popular music, as we know it, wouldn't have been the same without Jerry Wexler.
For the record, it was Ahmet Ertegun that lead the rock movement at Atlantic in the 60's and 70's. Wexler couldn't relate to Yes.
glinda
08-21-2008, 09:23 AM
He produced so many of my favs. And from that Fresh Air interview (probly still available at npr.org) I learned that some of the magic cames because he let them do it their own way - more improvised than pre-arranged. Thanks, Jerry.
Uncle Slayton
08-21-2008, 11:27 AM
Jerry Wexler gathered the artists/contracts for Atlantic (many of whom don't have fond memories of him), and was great at seeing potential in undiscovered talent. But the real genius at Atlantic was Tom Dowd. See Tom Dowd & The Language Of Music for one of the most fasinating docs on any part of the music industry. He makes the comment that he always worked for a flat fee and that helped him to remain friends with the artists he worked with over the years. In the interviews with the artists, you can tell how much he was liked and respected. Particularly, in the scene with Ray Charles, you can tell that Ray genuinely likes Dowd as an old friend.
Wiki info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Dowd_and_the_Language_of_Music