Jerry Wexler

Jerry Wexler (January 10, 1917 – August 15, 2008) was an American music journalist, producer, and industry executive renowned for coining the term "rhythm and blues" in 1949 while working at Billboard magazine, where he replaced the derogatory "race records" chart designation to better reflect the evolving Black music scene. Born in the Bronx, New York City, to a Jewish family, Wexler developed an early passion for jazz through visits to Harlem clubs in the 1930s, later studying journalism at Kansas State University after serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. His career bridged journalism and production, shaping the sound of R&B, soul, and beyond as a pivotal figure at Atlantic Records from 1953 to the mid-1970s.

As a producer at Atlantic, Wexler collaborated closely with founders Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, transforming the independent label into a powerhouse by signing and helming sessions for groundbreaking artists such as Ray Charles, whose 1959 hit "What'd I Say" fused gospel, blues, and pop under Wexler's guidance. He produced iconic tracks for The Drifters, Big Joe Turner, and Wilson Pickett, including Pickett's 1965 collaboration "In the Midnight Hour" recorded at Stax Studios. Wexler's hands-on approach extended to revitalizing Aretha Franklin's career in 1967 at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, yielding her breakthrough album I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You and hits like "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," which earned multiple Grammys and cemented soul's commercial dominance.

Gerald Wexler was born on January 10, 1917, in the Bronx borough of New York City, the older of two sons to Jewish immigrant parents Harry and Elsa Spitz Wexler. His father, who had emigrated from Poland around 1912, worked as a window trimmer and washer in a modest, working-class household, while his mother, of German Jewish heritage, was ambitious and encouraged intellectual pursuits, often sharing literature and classical music at home.

The family moved to the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan during Wexler's childhood, placing him in a diverse, immigrant-rich urban environment that buzzed with cultural influences. This setting, with its mix of Jewish, Irish, and other communities, shaped his early worldview amid the challenges of the Great Depression, where he occasionally swam in the Hudson River during summers.