1973: Doug Sahm/Jerry Wexler Edition

Doug Sahm & Bob Dylan: Wallflower [purchase]

Doug Sahm: Ain't That Loving You* [purchase]

Doug Sahm: Me And Paul [purchase]

Doug Sahm: Blue Horizon* [purchase]

"I worked with a lot of musicians over the years and had been very fortunate. There was something about Doug, though, that really intrigued me. The fact that he could not only play just about every style of Texas music, but play it with so much soul and intensity was something that always amazed me. I never got tired of listening to him pull out song after song and just pour it on."
--Jerry Wexler on Doug Sahm

"Jerry Wexler always used to tell me how he could holler and scream with the promotion people, but if their hearts weren't into it, they just weren't into it. Now Atlantic is a small part of the Warner monster and Wexler can't do that soulful thing with all his new people anymore. It's like a new era had dawned: the new people go the new way. And Wexler resigned, bless his heart."
--Doug Sahm on Jerry Wexler

This post is dedicated to the memory of Jerry Wexler, who died yesterday morning at the age of 91. I've often said that if I could be any person in history, Wex would be that guy. He worked with Ray Charles at his peak, worked with Aretha at her peak, got Memphis out of Dusty Springfield, was the brains behind Derek And The Dominos (and other assorted love songs), was at Atlantic during that label's prime, coined the term "rhythm & blues" while working at Billboard, ran sessions at Cosimo Matassa's New Orleans studio in the mid-'50s, saw every western swing and bebop innovator in the heyday of both genres, midwifed Willie Nelson's move from Nashville outsider to Austin visionary, and was the mastermind behind two of Doug Sahm's best albums, both released in 1973. Hell, Doug and Wex actually convinced Bob Dylan to be in the band. Here's a sampler platter of their collective genius, two from Doug Sahm And Band and two from Texas Tornado. You lived a full life, Jerry. RIP.

For another great read on Wexler's career ... by way of Wilson Pickett's "Soul Dance Number Three" single ... please visit The B-Side.

*Two of the songs I posted originally weren't actually recorded under Jerry Wexler's supervision. Ever the stickler, I replaced those two songs ("Someday" and "Juan Mendoza"), with two other tracks from the Texas Tornado LP, both featuring Wex behind the boards.