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Rhythm And The Blues: A Life in American Music
Atlantic Records partner and producer, Wexler presided over the evolution of the modern music business and made prodigious contributions through to our cultural history. Wexler has worked with the entire range of American genius: Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and others. 75 photographs.
334 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 10, 2008
Jerry Wexler has the oddest, most abstruse vocabulary of anyone I've ever encountered in print. This book is worth reading just for his conflation of the erudite and the profane through language alone. Read it, too, though, because this is the man (along with Ahmet & Nesuhi Ertegun) who built the house (Atlantic Records) in which Aretha Franklin, Issac Hayes, Aerosmith, Ray Charles, Dusty Springfield, Otis Reading, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones... (and the list goes on for miles) turned out some of the best music ever produced. I re-read this book every few years. It's currently out of print. I hope they re-issue it. Read this book in conversation with the 2007 DVD, "Atlantic Records: The House that Ahmet Built." Jerry can tell some stories, man! God bless him and may he and Ahmet rest in peace.
January 4, 2017
Jerry Wexler gets my respect for so many reasons. To start, he coined the term Rhythm and Blues as a writer at Billboard magazine to replace the previous term in use: Race Records. The music he was involved in at Atlantic has always been some of my favorite. Aretha's masterpiece I Never Loved a Man (the Way that I Love You) blew me away as a kid and I still love to crank it up. The list of incredible music he was part of is too long for a review, but reading about it was fascinating and riveting. I was surprised how many times I had to look words up. I also enjoyed his ability to look back at his flaws, tantrums, and mistakes with genuine regret. He could have easily bragged about his amazing track record, but I found he gave plenty of credit to all the fabulous talents he worked with. I truly enjoyed this book!
September 9, 2018
Jerry Wexler was surely one of the last of a sadly vanishing breed… The great record men. Wexler is best known for his time with Atlantic records which he helped build into a powerhouse by signing or producing Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, the Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Dire Straits, Dusty Springfield, and Bob Dylan among others. In addition, he coined the term rhythm and blues so it’s appropriate that this should be the title of his autobiography. Jerry was a great storyteller and seems like a real character, his unique voice comes through loud and clear on every page of this narrative. Certainly one of the best Music Business biographies I've read.
January 18, 2023
The late Jerry Wexler (10 January 1917 – 15 August 2008) was not only one of the most legendary and influential producers ever, but also, among other things, an extraordinarily erudite individual with wide-ranging interests, a larger-than-life character, an accomplished raconteur, and one of the truly inspired (and inspirational) one-way motherfuckers of the last century. Very, very few non-musicians ever even listen to music with anything like the level of focus and discernment he did, much less have such a deep understanding of the music. In addition, his ability to understand and communicate with musicians (not to mention arrangers, recording engineers, etc.) was almost unmatched, except by those producers who were themselves musicians.
In entering the music business, Mr. Wexler took a fairly conventional route for those days (1940s & 1950s). He started out as an enthusiastic music lover, then after earning a B.A. in journalism from Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science (now Kansas State University), gained a foot-hold in the industry as a music journalist. In 1953 he joined the arguably even more brilliant Ahmet Ertegun (31 July 1923 – 14 December 2006), and eventually the latter's older brother Nesuhi Ertegun (26 November 1917 – 15 July 1989) as a partner in Atlantic Records. Under the leadership of these three men, Atlantic quickly became the leading label for hard-hitting but commercially successful R & B (mostly produced by either Wexler or Ahmet Ertegun), while also releasing a steady stream of cutting-edge jazz recordings (largely supervised by Nesuhi Ertegun). If you don't know at least the bare outline of Jerry Wexler's career, you should, even if only due to the fact that both Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin recorded their most well known, beloved and enduring music while working with him. So did Wilson Pickett, among many others. Mr. Wexler was also primarily responsible for signing Led Zeppelin to Atlantic, which was not only prescient but also possibly the most brilliant business decision he ever made. On the other hand, buying Duane Allman's contract from Rick Hall (and what came after) was right up there, too; not to mention helping the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section get their studio up and running. The whole Criteria Studios/Dixie Flyers episode didn't turn out as planned, but it was still a damned good idea; the late James Luther Dickinson and those cats could really tear it up on occasion. I actually would have liked a bit more detail on that part of the story, but whatever.
The book itself is top-of-the-line all the way around; in 1993 the publishing industry was largely still catering to people who loved books, and the contrast between that time and the present is sadly apparent. Not only does this book have a beautifully designed, attractive and eye-catching (though still tasteful) dust-jacket, but the book itself has been exquisitely edited as well. In addition, the proof-reading has clearly been thorough and competent- I did not catch a single error in the text, something that has unfortunately become nearly unheard of nowadays. To sum up, this is an attractive and fascinating memoir by one of the most important figures in the history of American popular music, and I recommend it without reservation...
As a nice, thick extra layer of icing on this particular cake, I was amazed to discover, after receiving my (secondhand) copy, that it contained a promotional card signed by the author!
In entering the music business, Mr. Wexler took a fairly conventional route for those days (1940s & 1950s). He started out as an enthusiastic music lover, then after earning a B.A. in journalism from Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science (now Kansas State University), gained a foot-hold in the industry as a music journalist. In 1953 he joined the arguably even more brilliant Ahmet Ertegun (31 July 1923 – 14 December 2006), and eventually the latter's older brother Nesuhi Ertegun (26 November 1917 – 15 July 1989) as a partner in Atlantic Records. Under the leadership of these three men, Atlantic quickly became the leading label for hard-hitting but commercially successful R & B (mostly produced by either Wexler or Ahmet Ertegun), while also releasing a steady stream of cutting-edge jazz recordings (largely supervised by Nesuhi Ertegun). If you don't know at least the bare outline of Jerry Wexler's career, you should, even if only due to the fact that both Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin recorded their most well known, beloved and enduring music while working with him. So did Wilson Pickett, among many others. Mr. Wexler was also primarily responsible for signing Led Zeppelin to Atlantic, which was not only prescient but also possibly the most brilliant business decision he ever made. On the other hand, buying Duane Allman's contract from Rick Hall (and what came after) was right up there, too; not to mention helping the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section get their studio up and running. The whole Criteria Studios/Dixie Flyers episode didn't turn out as planned, but it was still a damned good idea; the late James Luther Dickinson and those cats could really tear it up on occasion. I actually would have liked a bit more detail on that part of the story, but whatever.
The book itself is top-of-the-line all the way around; in 1993 the publishing industry was largely still catering to people who loved books, and the contrast between that time and the present is sadly apparent. Not only does this book have a beautifully designed, attractive and eye-catching (though still tasteful) dust-jacket, but the book itself has been exquisitely edited as well. In addition, the proof-reading has clearly been thorough and competent- I did not catch a single error in the text, something that has unfortunately become nearly unheard of nowadays. To sum up, this is an attractive and fascinating memoir by one of the most important figures in the history of American popular music, and I recommend it without reservation...
As a nice, thick extra layer of icing on this particular cake, I was amazed to discover, after receiving my (secondhand) copy, that it contained a promotional card signed by the author!
August 21, 2008
I'm re-reading this autobiography 15 years after it was first published, coincidentally, sadly, the week Jerry Wexler passed away at 91.
The great record producer of everyone from Aretha Franklin to Ray Charles to Bob Dylan to Wilson Pickett (and hundreds more) Jerry is one of my prime professional role models and I'm inspired to hear his stories as often as I can. He follows the credo of "Does it have heart? Make it!"
If you work with talented people, read this book. It'll help.
The great record producer of everyone from Aretha Franklin to Ray Charles to Bob Dylan to Wilson Pickett (and hundreds more) Jerry is one of my prime professional role models and I'm inspired to hear his stories as often as I can. He follows the credo of "Does it have heart? Make it!"
If you work with talented people, read this book. It'll help.
August 8, 2026
Jerry Wexler was famous for producing a wide variety of musical acts in a nearly forty year career in the music business. He spent 22 years as one of the founders of Atlantic records and broadened their range with studio recordings in Memphis, Muscle Shoals and Miami. He was a leading promoter and producer of a music that he coined the term for, black recordings had been referred to as Race Records until Jerry Wexler came up with the term Rhythm & Blues, a genre of music that reamins a part of American musical culture today. He began as a writer for Billboard and a producer with BMI before gaining the opportunity to join with Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertugun in founding Atlantic. The book details many artists along the way including his discovery Louis Jordan who would become the "King of the Jukebox" delivering such classics as Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens, Saturday Night Fish Fry and Beans and Cornbread, songs that would influence the Right Reverand Ray Charles who Wexler would also go on to produce. Wexler also brought Percy Mayfield to Atlantic and his songs would be a huge influence on the Searchers and the Drifters. Jerry Wexler details his early life growing up as a poor Jewish kid in NYC whose father was a window washer. He tells stories of hanging out in juke joints, pool halls and delicatessens soaking up the music of the thirties and forties. He would find himself at Kansas State University and be influenced by the jazz and blues recordings coming from Kansas City including Red Allen whose Meet Me In The Moonlight would be primer for the bebop sound long before the era and Oran "Hot Lips" Page whose renditions of Fattening Frogs for Snakes and Lafayette on Vocalion Records were staples of the era.
Jerry Wexler would go on to record Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett and Joe Turner and he gives us amazing stories of these legendary artists. He devotes two entire chapters to his eight year career of recording the glorious music of Aretha Franklin and he also describes the ups and downs of her career along the way. He gives us examples of some mistakes along the way like recording Willie Nelson a little too early and Electric Flag a little too late. He details his personal family issues honestly, with deep pathos and understaning including his daughter's talent and drug addiction and eventual death from AIDS and her courage in her last year. The stories of Bobby Darin, Dusty Springfield and Donny Hathaway, all of whom had uneven careers, are delivered with honesty and a full understanding of their talent and their mistakes. Wexler also delivers some interesting background on how black artists travelling in the south with white musicians often couldn't find a place to eat and had to pack their food along for the ride. He pays tribute to the groundbreaking soul act of Booker T. and the MGs which featured two black musicians, band leader and keyboard player Booker T. Jones and drummer Al Jackson and two white musicians, bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn and guitarist Steve Cropper who would break ground for diverse acts and pave the way for many mixed race bands and studios in the process. He provides a genuine appreciation for his engineers, studio men and producers such as Bert Berns, Tom Dowd and Arif Quincy Jones.
His chapter on Malcolm Rebbennack, a. k. a. Dr. John is a musical history lesson. His description of this musical genius is uncanny. He calls him the blackest white man in the world which is quite apt. Growing up in New Orleans he was the only white member of the black muicians local. He was raised in the back alleys and bayous of New Orleans and he absorbed the music of the region. His vocals resembled Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Percy Mayfield and Charles Brown and his piano style mirrored James Booker, Roosevelt Sykes, Al Johnson and Professor Longhair. This gumbo created a legendary sound that Jerry Wexler delivers a fine ode to.
And he also gives us moments of true sorrow such as the passing of the giant he had been recording, Otis Redding. Thousands mourned at his funeral and Jerry Wexler delivered the eulogy.
"Otis was a natural prince. When you were with him he communicated love and a tremedous faith in human possibilities, a promise that great and happy events were coming. He was loved the world over. This year he was chosen by the British trade publications as the number one male singer in the world, replacing Elvis Presley."
He then would go on to mention those who had come to pay tribute: Steve Cropper, Al Jackson, Duck Dunn, Issac Hayes, David Porter, Eddie Floyd, William Bell, Carlos and Rufus Thomas, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Joe Tex, Solomon Burke, Don Covay, and Arthur Conley to whom, Otis was a mentor, hero and second father.
"Out of his character and dedication he bought his beautiful ranch in Macon to make his home and base his operations when he could have chosen any other place in the world. h ghought it the obligation of educated and talented blacks to remain in their native South to help open the doors of opportunities for their race. Respect for his roots is another quality of the man whose composition Respect has become an anthem of hope for people everywhere. Respect is something Otis achieved. Otis sang Respect when I come home, and Otis has come home."
True words by one of the finest producers in American music history and this is his memoir that tells it like it was as a man who helped bring black music from its country roots into a world cultural form. Jerry Wexler was a keenly perceptive music promoter and producer and this memoir is a well delivered story of his life and his passion for the music he helped create. And he covered so much ground along the way. A truly remarkable life, well told.
Jerry Wexler would go on to record Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett and Joe Turner and he gives us amazing stories of these legendary artists. He devotes two entire chapters to his eight year career of recording the glorious music of Aretha Franklin and he also describes the ups and downs of her career along the way. He gives us examples of some mistakes along the way like recording Willie Nelson a little too early and Electric Flag a little too late. He details his personal family issues honestly, with deep pathos and understaning including his daughter's talent and drug addiction and eventual death from AIDS and her courage in her last year. The stories of Bobby Darin, Dusty Springfield and Donny Hathaway, all of whom had uneven careers, are delivered with honesty and a full understanding of their talent and their mistakes. Wexler also delivers some interesting background on how black artists travelling in the south with white musicians often couldn't find a place to eat and had to pack their food along for the ride. He pays tribute to the groundbreaking soul act of Booker T. and the MGs which featured two black musicians, band leader and keyboard player Booker T. Jones and drummer Al Jackson and two white musicians, bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn and guitarist Steve Cropper who would break ground for diverse acts and pave the way for many mixed race bands and studios in the process. He provides a genuine appreciation for his engineers, studio men and producers such as Bert Berns, Tom Dowd and Arif Quincy Jones.
His chapter on Malcolm Rebbennack, a. k. a. Dr. John is a musical history lesson. His description of this musical genius is uncanny. He calls him the blackest white man in the world which is quite apt. Growing up in New Orleans he was the only white member of the black muicians local. He was raised in the back alleys and bayous of New Orleans and he absorbed the music of the region. His vocals resembled Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Percy Mayfield and Charles Brown and his piano style mirrored James Booker, Roosevelt Sykes, Al Johnson and Professor Longhair. This gumbo created a legendary sound that Jerry Wexler delivers a fine ode to.
And he also gives us moments of true sorrow such as the passing of the giant he had been recording, Otis Redding. Thousands mourned at his funeral and Jerry Wexler delivered the eulogy.
"Otis was a natural prince. When you were with him he communicated love and a tremedous faith in human possibilities, a promise that great and happy events were coming. He was loved the world over. This year he was chosen by the British trade publications as the number one male singer in the world, replacing Elvis Presley."
He then would go on to mention those who had come to pay tribute: Steve Cropper, Al Jackson, Duck Dunn, Issac Hayes, David Porter, Eddie Floyd, William Bell, Carlos and Rufus Thomas, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Joe Tex, Solomon Burke, Don Covay, and Arthur Conley to whom, Otis was a mentor, hero and second father.
"Out of his character and dedication he bought his beautiful ranch in Macon to make his home and base his operations when he could have chosen any other place in the world. h ghought it the obligation of educated and talented blacks to remain in their native South to help open the doors of opportunities for their race. Respect for his roots is another quality of the man whose composition Respect has become an anthem of hope for people everywhere. Respect is something Otis achieved. Otis sang Respect when I come home, and Otis has come home."
True words by one of the finest producers in American music history and this is his memoir that tells it like it was as a man who helped bring black music from its country roots into a world cultural form. Jerry Wexler was a keenly perceptive music promoter and producer and this memoir is a well delivered story of his life and his passion for the music he helped create. And he covered so much ground along the way. A truly remarkable life, well told.
October 2, 2012
Very well written. Easy to Read. If you like music this is a good book to read about Jerry Wexler and the start of Atlantic Records, plus the star of many singers and musicians including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and many more.
November 1, 2017
absolutely essential read for any rhythm & blues fan
November 13, 2017
Author is a very erudite autodidact who lived an interesting life.
January 21, 2025
Rhythm & Blues: A Life in American Music is an expansive memoir spanning half a century of the music industry's most transformative era. Jerry Wexler's journey begins in the 1940s as a Billboard Magazine writer and extends through the 1980s, culminating in a brief association with George Michael. As Ahmet Ertegun's partner at Atlantic Records, Wexler was instrumental in discovering, promoting, and producing artists who laid the foundation for modern popular music.
His influence on rhythm and blues is particularly profound, having shaped the careers of legends like Otis Redding, King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, and Steve Cropper. In the 1970s, Wexler's production prowess extended beyond R&B when he helmed Bob Dylan's "Slow Train Coming" album, bringing in Dire Straits' lead Mark Knopfler, and the band's drummer, Pick Withers, to contribute to what became a hit record. While the memoir delves into personal challenges, including his troubled marriages, its true strength lies in illuminating the inner workings of the music business. Rather than indulging in industry gossip, Wexler offers deep insights into the professional collaborations and conflicts that defined the era. The narrative centers on his passion for black-based rhythm and blues, weaving a rich history of Atlantic Records—the legendary label that would later become home to the Rolling Stones. Recommended for fans of Black artist rhythm and blues and the 20th Century music industry.
His influence on rhythm and blues is particularly profound, having shaped the careers of legends like Otis Redding, King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, and Steve Cropper. In the 1970s, Wexler's production prowess extended beyond R&B when he helmed Bob Dylan's "Slow Train Coming" album, bringing in Dire Straits' lead Mark Knopfler, and the band's drummer, Pick Withers, to contribute to what became a hit record. While the memoir delves into personal challenges, including his troubled marriages, its true strength lies in illuminating the inner workings of the music business. Rather than indulging in industry gossip, Wexler offers deep insights into the professional collaborations and conflicts that defined the era. The narrative centers on his passion for black-based rhythm and blues, weaving a rich history of Atlantic Records—the legendary label that would later become home to the Rolling Stones. Recommended for fans of Black artist rhythm and blues and the 20th Century music industry.
June 1, 2020
One of the greatest record men
Loved reading this autobiography of one of the greatest record men alongside producers like Ahmet Ertegun and Berry Gordy. If you love r&b history read this book.
Loved reading this autobiography of one of the greatest record men alongside producers like Ahmet Ertegun and Berry Gordy. If you love r&b history read this book.
October 4, 2024
Raw, honest and beautiful.
I am really glad to have read this excellent book by Jerry Wexler. It is extraordinarily honest and reflective, wonderful and heartbreaking. If you want entertaining history about the greatest era of music, then this is the book.
I am really glad to have read this excellent book by Jerry Wexler. It is extraordinarily honest and reflective, wonderful and heartbreaking. If you want entertaining history about the greatest era of music, then this is the book.
December 31, 2025
A giant in the recording industry, particularly his work at Atlantic Records. He worked with Ray Charles, Bobby Darin, Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Dr. John, Willie Nelson among others. This is his story. A great music biography.
January 7, 2021
Weller was major figure in the music I loved from the 50s and 60s .A good interesting book, with insights of artists and songs .
January 1, 2024
Wexler takes credit for everything other than sliced bread.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews