Rhythm and the Blues: A Life in American Music

The record producer describes his role presiding over the evolution in the modern music business, discussing his childhood and his work with Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Bob Dylan, and other artists. 15,000 first printing. First serial Rolling Stone.

Veteran record producer Wexler, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member who coined the term "rhythm and blues," spent the Depression as an adolescent in the Washington Heights section of New York City, hanging out in pool halls, hunting for rare records, hungering for excitement. Wexler took journalism courses at a college in Kansas but spent years as a window washer in Manhattan. After a stint in the wartime Army, he joined the staff of Billboard. In 1952 he became a partner in Ahmed Ertegun's Atlantic Records, recording such jazz, blues and folk greats as Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Solomon Burke, Joe Turner, Betty Carter, the Drifters, Etta James and Bob Dylan. This spirited memoir, written with freelancer Ritz, crackles with career highlights and swings breezily through five decades of record-making, focusing especially on the 1950s and 1960s. Readers will enjoy accounts of Wexler's seminal encounters with gifted musicians, but they may wish for deeper development of this hip-merchant's life story. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Wexler's account of how he talked his way into co-ownership of Atlantic Records and went on to produce some of the century's great pop music--all of which makes for some of the juiciest music history one could hope to find. As an insider's account of the golden age of rhythm and blues (a term Wexler coined), this memoir may be matched only by Atlantic founder Ahmet Ertegun's--if he chooses to write one. By turns regretful and boasting, Wexler offers a story that is above all a superlative read, with the sections describing his 1920's-30's Manhattan childhood as interesting as the more musically oriented later chapters. With help from Ritz (who's written bios of Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye), Wexler describes his years at Billboard magazine, his move to Atlantic, and his relationships with the Chess brothers, Alan Freed, Phil Spector, and many others. Colorfully colloquial and unflaggingly enthusiastic, Wexler makes important connections between various styles and artists--noting the influence of the blues, for example, on country balladeers--and shows what a complex cultural phenomenon the best pop has always been. Accounts of how he managed recording sessions with everyone from Ray Charles to Aretha Franklin to Bob Dylan reveal much about both music history and making. Although testimony from ex-wives, friends, and (surprisingly) enemies isn't always well integrated, and though some readers will be less sympathetic to the author's temper and excesses, Wexler's contribution to the music is unquestionable, and there's plenty of material here that only he could provide. Many anecdotes--including an amazing account of a recording date with Guitar Slim--may pass into legend. It's a shame no CD set was issued with the book. For scholars and R&B/pop aficianodos, a terrific read--in spite of and because of its idiosyncracies--and great fun for others as well. (Seventy-five photographs--not seen) (First serial to Rolling Stone) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Any fan of American popular music over the last four decades has heard the work of Jerry Wexler. As producer for such artists as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, and Dire Straits, Wexler never pandered to the latest craze in the music business but crafted adult-oriented records that sound as current today as they did when they were recorded. While anything but humble, Wexler does not gloss over his shortcomings. Bad business deals, personal feuds, and a troubled family life receive as much attention as his phenomenal success as producer and co-owner of Atlantic Records. The forces behind his love of music and will to succeed are vividly outlined in the section on his early years as a pot-smoking jazz hound in Depression-era New York. This lively book succeeds on many levels and belongs in every library where there is an interest in popular culture.
- Dan Bogey, Clearfield Cty. P.L. Federation, Curwensville, Pa.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.