R.I.P. Jerry Wexler

Jerry Wexler used to say that when he started producing, nobody knew how to make a record. They'd just turn on the recorder and say, "Play." His work with Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Duane Allman, and others over the years at Atlantic Records, frequently in concert with the brilliant recording engineer Tom Dowd, showed how it should be done. He was certainly responsible for many of the records that we think of today as essential developments in soul and r&b.

Jerry's daughter Lisa was a classmate of mine, and some of the artists her dad worked with would occasionally show up to visit her. So occasionally, we'd see Dr. John or some other Atlantic star wandering across campus with Lisa. I always thought that said a lot about Jerry's relationship with the artists on Atlantic – they were all family, in one way or another.