As a music journalist, he coined the term "rhythm and blues." As a towering executive, he broke Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Led Zeppelin and more. Jerry Wexler died on Friday in Florida at age 91, a lifer who changed the game.
But that game is still afoot, as majors and indies fight over copyright for control of the future.
"Songs always have to have a source," Wexler told the Associated Press in 2001, recalling a recording strategy he shared with partner Ahmet Ertegun, another legendary executive who helped turn Atlantic Records in a titan. "This is not to say that there is not great originality."
That creative tension has played itself out further in the courts, as it did when Wexler and Ertegun faced copyright infringement lawsuits
from Willie Dixon, Sonny Boy Williamson and other blues artists whoselyrics found their way into Zeppelin's upgraded anthems. It was acurious turnaround for Wexler, who had gone to the source in the '50sand '60s and found icons like Ray and Franklin waiting to be promoted.
By taking what was once called "race music" into the mainstream, Wexlerhelped shape the cultural landscape of the United States.
But even heknew that there was no such thing as a pure original, just amazingcopies of the same cool ideas. It's no accident that Aretha andWexler's first platinum effort was 1972's Amazing Grace, a series of gospel covers. It is perhaps destiny.
this audio or video is no longer availableSo rest in peace, Jerry Wexler. The great debate still rages, withdecreasing billions on the table. Hopefully, we'll have copyfight figured out before 3000.
Photo: AP File
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