Wexler with the Queen, from Rollingstone.com
The amazing producer has died, perhaps completing the death-coming-in-threes with Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes.
In the late '60s, as I began building my record collection in earnest, a lot of it was built on the broad back of Wexler. The local Woolworth's was dumping old mono recordings from the Atlantic catalog — since stereo was the new, dominant thing — and there I was, grabbing for about a buck apiece the likes of "Aretha Arrives." (Atlantic 8150. "Satisfaction," "You Are My Sunshine," "Never Let Me Go," "96 Tears," "Prove It," "Night Life," "That's Life," "I Wonder," "Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)," "Going Down Slow," "Baby, I Love You." Producer: Jerry Wexler.) I get chills just typing the song list. Wexler helped make the sounds that still rattle around in my head.
