Ahmet Ertegun, 1923-2006

Today, some horrible news came down the transom. Ahmet Ertegun has died at 83, passing away due to a brain injury sustained from a fall he took backstage after a Rolling Stones concert as part of Bill Clinton's birthday party. While it can be argued that he had lived an incredibly full life, and that we knew that time would eventually take him from us, it doesn't make the news any easier to take. Like I mentioned previously, Ertegun was an honest-to-God hero of mine. I hope that someday I will be able to start my own record company; he actually did it, starting and running Atlantic virtually until the day he died.

By all means, if you want more info, read my previous post about him, along with the plethora of other great publications out there which have chronicled his life and times. But for me, the way that I think I can best pay tribute to him is to merely list what will probably be only a small portion of the major artists (and labels) which come to my mind which the world is a much better place because of his and Atlantic's foresight. Without further ado, Ahmet and Atlantic Records brought you...

Stick McGee -- Ruth Brown -- Big Joe Turner -- John Coltrane -- Charles Mingus -- LaVern Baker -- Ray Charles -- Bobby Darin -- Booker T. & The MG's -- EVERYONE on blue-era Stax (if it hadn't been for Atlantic, Stax wouldn't have carried on as long as they had after ending their relationship with Atlantic) -- Otis Redding -- Sam and Dave -- Eddie Floyd -- Aretha Franklin -- Wilson Pickett -- the Drifters -- Ben E. King -- Don Covay -- Phil Spector -- Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller -- Bang Records -- Neil Diamond -- Van Morrison -- Buffalo Springfield -- The Young Rascals -- Crosby Stills Nash and sometimes Young -- Yes -- Led Zeppelin -- Emerson, Lake, & Palmer -- King Crimson -- Roxy Music -- The Rolling Stones -- Cream -- Blind Faith -- Derek & The Dominos -- the Bee Gees -- Eric Clapton -- the solo careers of Pete Townshend and Stevie Nicks -- AC/DC -- Asylum Records -- Jackson Browne -- The Eagles -- the Allman Brothers -- Capricorn Records -- Foreigner -- Willie Nelson -- the Blues Brothers -- Genesis -- Phil Collins -- Peter Gabriel -- Bette Midler -- Roberta Flack -- Donny Hathaway -- LaBelle -- Modern Jazz Quartet -- Ratt -- Stone Temple Pilots -- Liz Phair -- Mammoth and Matador Records once had distribution deals via Atlantic -- Kid Rock -- Missy Elliott...

Thank you, Ahmet Ertegun. May you rest in peace, and may forever your legacy burn brightly.