Legendary Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler, the "Godfather of Muscle Shoals Music," died today in Siesta Key, Fla., at the age of 91.

The music pioneer known as "Wex" guided the careers of Ray Charles, Solomon Burke, The Drifters, Ruth Brown and many other Atlantic acts before bringing the Wicked Wilson Pickett to FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals in 1966. Before that, Wexler and Atlantic had released Quin Ivy's production of the Percy Sledge classic "When a Man Loves a Woman," the first No. 1 hit to emerge from the Muscle Shoals studios.

"Muscle Shoals changed my life," Wexler told me in a 2001 interview. "Those bad funky white boys taught me how records really ought to be made."

In the wake of Pickett's success with "Land of 1,000 Dances" and "Mustang Sally," Wexler began sending more and more Atlantic acts to Muscle Shoals. Perhaps most famously, he brought Aretha Franklin to FAME in 1967 for the sessions that would produce her first two million-selling No. 1 hits, "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" and "Do Right Woman (Do Right Man)."

Two years later, Wexler helped the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section establish Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Sheffield. His later Muscle Shoals projects ranged from Dire Straits and Willie Nelson to Bob Dylan, and Donnie Fritts. He continued to make music in the Shoals off and on through 1993, when he produced the Etta James album The Right Time at Muscle Shoals Sound.

In his earlier career as a journalist for Billboard, Wexler coined the term "Rhythm and Blues" to replace "Race Music" on the magazine's charts. His autobiography, Rhythm and the Blues: A Life in American Music, was published in 1993. Immaculate Funk, a documentary covering Wexler's life and influence, was screened at the George Lindsey UNA Film Festival in 2000.

In 1999, my music writing partner Robert Palmer and I put together a large-scale, unprecedented symposium on Muscle Shoals music based on our newspaper series, Muscle Shoals Sounds: The Rhythm of the River. The day-long event -- co-sponsored by the UNA Entertainment Industry Center, Alabama Music Hall of Fame and the TimesDaily -- took place at the Performance Center.

The grand finale of that celebration was a panel discussion called "The Men Who Made the Music," bringing together Wexler, Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, publishing tycoon Buddy Killen and FAME founder Rick Hall. It was a glorious, eye-opening and unforgettable affair that marked Wexler's final visit to Muscle Shoals.

Three of those trailblazing legends are now gone. Sam died in 2003, and Buddy passed away in 2006. Fortunately, Rick is still going strong and still making world-class music in Muscle Shoals.

Wexler was inducted into both the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

His passion, spirit and vision will be greatly missed by all of us who appreciate great music.

With love and respect,

Terry Pace
pillaroffire@bellsouth.net

“Just listen to ‘I Never Loved a Man.’ Aretha was the only black person in the room. Yet there never was a funkier record made. That confounds every theory of racial purity in the book.”
– Jerry Wexler

Terry do you if any part of the symposium was recorded?



I was at the symposium for the entire event. I believe there were around 30 people on the panel for the entire day and I knew that it would be an historic event. Because of its significance, I decided to try to get as many autographs (of the people on the panel) on the same sheet of paper. on the same date. I was able to get 13. There were about 7 more that I would have really wanted to get but they got away before I was able to get theirs, Wexler was one that I was unable to get. Wexler latter wrote an letter to the editor about his visit.

The grand finale of that celebration was a panel discussion called "The Men Who Made the Music," is something that I will always remember.

Thanks for the kind words.

Robert and I had a blast working on the symposium and bringing together great musicmakers like James Joiner, Sue Richards, Bobby Denton, Hollis Dixon, Clarence Carter, Jimmy Hughes, Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham, Bill Blackburn, Mac McAnally, Walt Aldridge, Alecia Elliott, Gary Baker, the Swampers (Barry Beckett, Jimmy Johnson, Roger Hawkins and David Hood), Jerry Phillips, Mickey Buckins, Suzanne Bolton, Kevin Lamb, Rodney Hall and Bob Garfrerick for a once-in-a-lifetime event.

The big finale -- "The Men Who Made the Music" panel with Jerry Wexler, Sam Phillips, Buddy Killen and Rick Hall -- proved to be even more magnificent than we ever anticipated. There was such wonderful camaraderie and interplay between those four guys. They had as much or more fun together than we did.

I'm so glad we did it when we did. And yes, it was video recorded. There were plans at one point to release it, but they've been put on hold -- at least for the time being.

Terry Pace
echo62@bellsouth.net

"Don't behave. Be yourself." -- Sam Phillips

Thanks for posting, Terry.

Debra