Legendary producer Jerry Wexler, who helped shape the rhythm and blues sound, and gave the genre its name, has died at home in Florida on Friday, aged 91. He had been suffering with congenital heart disease for two years.
Wexler worked with numerous great artists in his career, including Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Led Zepplin, Otis Redding and The Rolling Stones. The horn section on Wilson Pickett's 'In The Midnight Hour', was apparently inspired by Wexler's rhythmless dancing.
His first job in the music industry was as a writer for Billboard in the 1940s. It was there he coined the term 'rhythm and blues' for the magazine's charts, replacing the term, 'race records' that had been used until that point. While working at Billboard, he met Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic Records. The pair became lifelong friends and when, in 1953, Ertegun's business partner left the company to join the army, Wexler stepped in as the label's co-director.
In 1987, Wexler was added to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. He said at the time: "No one really knew how to make a record when I started. You simply went into the studio, turned on the mike and said, 'Play'".