By 1960, the label had hired some pop acts, such as Bobby Darin. Still, it was mainly known for first-rate r&b.
The next big development for Ertegun and company was landing Solomon Burke. Burke was a former child radio preacher with a new approach to vocal phrasing and dynamics and the total abandon of gospel fervor. His first records for Atlantic such as "Just Out Of Reach," "Cry To Me," and "If You Need Me, Call Me" were the beginnings of what is properly called soul music.
Atlantic became America's premier soul-music label. Its roster included Ben E. King, Joe Tex, Wilson Pickett, the post-McPhatter and post-King Drifters, and Barbara Lewis. Wexler secured a distribution deal with Stax Records in Memphis and took artists there and to Muscle Shoals, Alabama to record. He scored a major coup when he signed Aretha Franklin in 1966. She supplied the label with best-selling records for years to come.
Jazz and rock made up an increasing portion of Atlantic's business as the sixties unfolded. Acts ranging from Mose Allison to Cream to Freddie Hubbard to the Velvet Underground recorded for Atlantic and its subsidiaries.
Eventually Wexler left to become an independent producer. In that capacity, he has worked with the likes of Bob Dylan and Etta James in subsequent decades.
Ertegun is still an executive in a music industry that looks starkly different from the one in which he started. In mid-century America, a new breed of entrepreneurs with a love of that rockin' beat put it in the hands of the American public on tiny record labels with big visions. Fifty years later, those labels are almost all defunct or swallowed up by behemoth-sized organizations with visions that sometimes seem infinitesimal.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Barney Quick's R&B History topic, please visit the Discussions page.