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Gerald Wexler (January 10, 1917 – August 15, 2008) was a Music journalism turned music producer, and was a major influence on American popular music from the 1950s through the 1980s. He coined the term "rhythm and blues", and was integral in signing and/or producing many of the biggest acts of the time, including Ray Charles, the Allman Brothers, Chris Connor, Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, Wilson Pickett, Dire Straits, Dusty Springfield and Bob Dylan. Wexler was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and in 2017 to the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.
Wexler became a partner in Atlantic Records in 1953. Ray Charles, the Drifters and Ruth Brown recorded classic recordings there. With Ahmet Ertegun and Nesuhi Ertegun, Wexler built Atlantic into a major force in the recording industry.
In the 1960s, he recorded Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin, and oversaw production of Dusty Springfield's highly acclaimed Dusty in Memphis and Lulu's New Routes albums. He also cultivated a tight relationship, and a distribution deal, with Stax Records founder Jim Stewart, was an enthusiastic proponent of the then-developing Muscle Shoals Sound and launched the fortunes of Muscle Shoals Sound Studios and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. In 1967 he was named Record Executive of the Year for turning Aretha Franklin's career around. In November 1966, Franklin's Columbia recording contract expired; at that time, she owed the company money because record sales had not met expectations. Working with Wexler and Atlantic, Franklin was "the most successful singer in the nation" by 1968. His work in this decade put Atlantic at the forefront of soul music.
In 1968, he and Ahmet Ertegun signed Led Zeppelin to Atlantic Records on the recommendation of singer Dusty Springfield who had worked with John Paul Jones and from what they knew of the band's guitarist, Jimmy Page, from his performances with the Yardbirds.Welch, Chris (1994) Led Zeppelin, London: Orion Books. , p. 31 With its strong catalog, Atlantic Records was purchased by Warner Bros. Records in 1968. Prior to the sale, Wexler persuaded Jim Stewart to sign a contract (that he didn't read), unknowingly giving Atlantic ownership of 97% of the Stax Records master recordings, without compensation. In 1975, Wexler moved from Atlantic to its parent Warner Records.
In 1979, Wexler produced Bob Dylan's controversial first "born again" album, Slow Train Coming (1993). 9780851127330, Guinness Publishing. ISBN 9780851127330 at Muscle Shoals; a single from that album, "Gotta Serve Somebody", won a Grammy Award in 1980. When Wexler agreed to produce, he was unaware of the nature of the material that awaited him. "Naturally, I wanted to do the album in Muscle Shoals—as Bob did—but we decided to prep it in L.A., where Bob lived," recalled Wexler. "That's when I learned what the songs were about: born-again Christians in the old corral... I like the irony of Bob coming to me, the Wandering Jew, to get the Jesus feel... But I had no idea he was on this born-again Christian trip until he started to evangelize me. I said, 'Bob, you're dealing with a sixty-two-year-old confirmed Jewish atheist. I'm hopeless. Let's just make an album.
In 1983, Wexler recorded with English singer and songwriter George Michael. The outcome of these sessions would prove to be an early version of "Careless Whisper", recorded in Muscle Shoals. In 1987, Wexler was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He retired from the music business in the late 1990s.
For most of the 1990s, Wexler lived on David's Lane in East Hampton, New York where he shared living space with a Chinese people family who aided him with daily functions and kept him company.
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