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1. Professor Longhair, "Tipitina" (1953)
Wexler met Professor Longhair — the father of New Orleans funk — on his first Atlantic road trip. He was surprised to find the piano man light on material, so he asked Fess to sing something like the 8-bar blues "Tee Nah Nah." The made-to-order invention is now a New Orleans anthem and "has lived on in the liturgy," wrote Wexler.
2. Ray Charles, "I Got a Woman" (1954)
Wexler once said that all he did with Charles in the studio was
"turn on the lights" and get out of the way. With "I Got a Woman,"
Wex and Ahmet Ertegun booked Charles time in an Atlanta radio
station, and the budding soul genius emerged with the first example
of what would become his signature style: this thinly disguised
gospel melody praising a crosstown booty call.
3. Big Joe Turner, "Shake, Rattle and Roll"
(1954)
Sex — slyly suggested or overtly celebrated — became an
Atlantic trademark with tunes like this evergreen. "One of my
favorite images of erotic poetry," Wexler wrote of the line —
"You wear those dresses/The sun comes shining through." Penned by
staff writer Jesse Stone, that's Wexler and Ertegun belting out the
song's refrain.
4. LaVern Baker, "Tweedlee Dee" (1954)
"I lost my maiden with LaVern Baker, speaking musically of course,"
Wexler wrote of the first artist he produced with no help This was
a #14 hit; white pop singer Georgia Gibb's cleaned-up version made
#1. So Wexler came up with a gimmick: before boarding a plane,
Baker insured herself and made Gibbs the beneficiary. "If my plane
crashes you'll need this more than I do," she explained.
5. Champion Jack Dupree, "Junker's Blues"
(1958)
This hard look at drug addiction from another New Orleans piano
professor was boldly honest for its time. "Back then it took
chutzpah to call the album Blues from the Gutter," Wexler said.
"The only music we recorded was the music that we liked."
6. The Drifters, "There Goes My Baby"
(1959)
Nobody is right all the time: Wexler hated this Lieber and Stoller
production, waiting a year before releasing it (it went straight to
#1). But more importantly, Wexler had recognized the potential in
the L.A. songwriting team. In '57, he lured them to Atlantic as the
industry's first independent A&R men.
7. Ray Charles, "What I'd Say" (1959)
Charles left Atlantic this Top 10 — one of the great example
of soulful call and response — just as he jumped to the very
large ABC Records (one more hit followed, titled ironically, "I'm
Moving On.") Charles's departure never sat right with Wexler. "My
feeling is we never really had a shot to get into the bidding."
8. Solomon Burke, "If You Need Me" (1963)
Co-produced by Wexler with protege Bert Berns. It was one of
Burke's most successful hits, and the label's most needed. "Solomon
came along when the British Invasion was gearing up. Burke carried
Atlantic by selling a shitload of records — and they were
terrific."
9. Booker T. & the MG's, "Green Onions"
(1962)
In New York, Wexler "was out of inspiration." In a small Memphis
studio, he got his groove back. Atlantic began distributing Stax
recordings to the world, laying the foundation for the rise of
Sixties soul. The first major yield was this simple but
deep-and-funky blues by Stax's biracial house band.
10. Wilson Pickett, "In the Midnight Hour"
(1965)
Wexler's first production down south with an Atlantic artist. Wex
himself suggested the rhythmic pause that helped make this a
monster, busting a move in the studio to show what he meant. "The
delayed backbeat thing . . . we used that on a lot of records,"
Stax guitarist Steve Cropper said.
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11. Aretha Franklin, "Respect" (1967)
Ebony magazine called turbulent mid-1967 "the summer of 'Retha, Rap and Revolt!" Wexler's greatest triumph was to simply urge Franklin to let her natural, gospel-soaked voice do its thing. Before 1968 ended, she had scored 12 Top 40 songs for Atlantic, including this #1 that did service as a Civil Rights anthem.
12. Dusty Springfield, "Son of a Preacher Man"
(1969)
Springfield was intimidated by the studio band during the recording
of Dusty in Memphis — "I never got a note out of her during
the Memphis sessions". Back in NYC, with tracks blasting in
headphones — she preferred not to hear herself — she
sang with "perfect intonation, every note correct."
13. Dr. John, "Iko Iko" (1972)
"New Orleans is portable, if you have the musicians," Wexler once
said. A chat between the producer and piano man Dr. John during an
L.A. session inspired Gumbo, a glorious musical overview of the
Crescent City, from barrelhouse blues to Mardi Gras street chants
— like this number.
14. Doug Sahm, "(Is Anybody Going to) San
Antone" (1973)
Wexler loved Doug Sahm, and Sahm loved Texas. Wexler produced the
singer and multi-instrumentalist's valentine to his home state,
joining him with an eclectic bunch that included Bob Dylan and
performed tunes by Lone Star music legends Bob Wills, T. Bone
Walker, Willie Nelson, and this Charlie Pride classic.
15. Willie Nelson, "Bloody Mary Morning"
(1974)
Wexler's last hurrah while on Atlantic's payroll were two Willie
Nelson albums: Shotgun Willie, recorded in NYC, and its followup in
Alabama. " They said Muscle Shoals was too R&B for Willie. I
said Willie was too R&B for Nashville." Phases and Stages
included this farewell to a failed romance.
16. The Sanford/Townsend Band, "Smoke From a
Distant Fire" (1977)
Wexler's first taste of success as a freelance producer was this
Top 10 hit by the singer/songwriting team Ed Sanford and John
Townsend. "The song had a beautiful Doobie Brothers feeling —
hard-driving but seamless and smooth." It also marked the first of
many collaborations with producer Barry Beckett.
17. James Booker, "Winin' Boy Blues"
(1978)
Producing the soundtrack to Pretty Baby — the New
Orleans-based film that sparked the career of12-year old Brooke
Shields — Wexler recreated the earliest days of jazz. It was
a true labor of love; he hired a ragtime orchestra and local piano
legend James Booker, who performed this Jelly Roll Morton
number.
18. Etta James, "Take It to the Limit"
(1978)
Wexler wrote, "like Aretha, Etta is a church in herself." James
considers this her best album, a brilliant example of Wexler's
ability match singer and songs — "Sugar on the Floor", "Piece
of My Heart", Alice Cooper's "Only Women Bleed" — and this
Eagles ballad re-imagined as a gospel anthem with full choir.
19. Dire Straits, "Lady Writer" (1979)
Only nine months after Dire Strait's explosive debut, Wexler and
Beckett produced their followup in the Bahamas, including this
uptempo hit. "Barry and I were able to help the rockers get a
bluesy edge," Wexler bragged. "Dire Straits was an example of how
funky Englishmen can be when they pay attention."
20. Bob Dylan, "Gotta Serve Somebody"
(1979)
Having bumped into Wexler for years, Dylan asked him to craft his
first born-again album. "He starts playing all these tunes and it's
wall to wall Jesus . . . what am I going to do?" Wexler took him to
Muscle Shoals, and Dylan grabbed a Grammy with this breakout
single.