Jerry Wexler dies...
Isaac, now Jerry; sad week.
Here's the fantastic letter Wexler wrote to the New York Times a few years back...
To the Editor:
Kudos to Jody Rosen for his article on the current state of pop and R & B singing [''The State of American Singing as Heard on 'I-I-I-I-I-I-Idol,' '' May 18], especially his take on the gratuitous and confected melisma so much in vogue these days. His references to the truth- and soul-fueled note turns and bendings by Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin were especially perceptive.
Time and again I have found that flagrantly artificial attempts at melisma are either a substitute for real fire and passion or a cover-up for not knowing the melody. I have encountered this frequently in the studio and coined the term ''oversouling'' to bring the offending performer back to reality. Please, learn the song first, and then sing it from the heart.
JERRY WEXLER
Sarasota, Fla.
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Thanks for that
Sad indeed.
Also many thanks for including the letter which hits the nail squarely on the head. Both 'Oversouling' and 'Artificial melisma' will be getting heavy usage when I next argue with my daughter that, far from being a good, or even adequate singer, Mariah Carey actually can't sing at all.
Mariah Carey is to singing...
what Sting is to modesty.
The song, not the singer
That is two huge losses in one week. Jerry Wexler was so passionate - and shrewd - about what he did. That letter to the New York Times sums up what I've struggled to express for years. We really needed Isaac and Jerry to run evening classes for these depressing R'n'B singers we're left with.
Jerry
Well that is sad news indeed. He's been part of my musical adventures since I was a kid and I have an awful lot to thank him for. Death, like a crap Radio 2 playlist is inevitable but when it comes to a person such as Jerry Wexler, it still shocks me.
A giant has fallen.
One of music's...
... greats.
Look here for just some of the stuff he was involved in:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postrock/2008/08/rip_jerry_wexler.html
There passes a true giant of the music industry...
we owe him a lot. Thanks for the sounds, Jerry... you were THE MAN.
I'd often heard his name
and only when i saw the mini-obit on the BBC website did i draw breath and think "Now THAT'S what i call Music".
As for his comments re "oversouling", I only hope that it's provided in his will that the text of his letter to the NY Times should be inscribed in the walls of every recording studio on the planet!
Sad?
The great Jerry Wexler was 91, not 51. If I die at that age the survivors will be letting off fireworks. Ninety-one? That's a result.
A great man
Very sad, but a good innings. A major loss, and a sad day for Memphians; what with today being the anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley.
Memphis?
I think Wexler was strictly Fifth Avenue.
Well, yes
But he did some good work in Memphis. Hope you enjoyed your holiday.