Editing Atlantic Records (section)

===Jerry Wexler===
In February 1953, Herb Abramson was drafted into the U.S. Army.<ref name="New Grove">{{cite book |last1=Rye |first1=Howard |editor1-last=Kernfeld |editor1-first=Barry |title=The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz |date=2002 |publisher=Grove's Dictionaries |location=New York |isbn=1-56159-284-6 |page=90 |volume=1 |edition=2nd }}</ref> He moved to Germany, where he served in the Army Dental Corps,<ref name="broven66">Broven 2009, p. 66.</ref> although he retained his post as president of Atlantic on full pay.<ref name="Atlantic Records Story"/> Ertegun hired ''Billboard'' reporter [[Jerry Wexler]] in June 1953.<ref name="broven66"/> Wexler is credited with coining the term "[[rhythm & blues]]" to replace "[[race music]]".<ref name=wexlernyt>{{cite news |author=Leo Sacks |title=The Soul of Jerry Wexler |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7D7163BF93AA1575BC0A965958260 |date=August 29, 1993 |page=1 |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 28, 2007}}</ref> He was appointed vice-president and purchased 13% of the company's stock.<ref name="Atlantic Records Story"/> Wexler and Ertegun formed a close partnership which, in collaboration with Tom Dowd, produced thirty R&B hits.

Wexler's success for Atlantic was the result of going outside jazz to sign acts who combined jazz, blues, and rhythm and blues, such as Ray Charles, Joe Turner, and Aretha Franklin.<ref name="New Grove" /> Ertegun and Wexler realized many R&B recordings by black musicians were being covered by white performers, often with greater chart success.<ref>Wade & Picardie 1990, pp. 43–44.</ref> [[LaVern Baker]] had a No. 4 R&B hit with "[[Tweedlee Dee]]", but a rival version by [[Georgia Gibbs]] went to No. 2 on the pop chart. Big Joe Turner's April 1954 song "[[Shake, Rattle and Roll]]" was a No. 1 R&B hit, but it only reached No. 22 on the pop chart. [[Bill Haley & His Comets]]'s version reached No. 7, selling over one million copies and becoming the bestselling song of the year for Decca. In July 1954, Wexler and Ertegun wrote a prescient article for ''[[Cash Box]]'' devoted to what they called "cat music"; the same month, Atlantic had its first major "crossover" hit on the ''Billboard'' pop chart when the "[[Sh-Boom]]" by The Chords reached No. 5<ref name="broven66"/> (although [[The Crew-Cuts]]' version went to No. 1). Atlantic missed an important signing in 1955 when [[Sun Records|Sun]] owner [[Sam Phillips]] sold [[Elvis Presley]]'s recording contract in a bidding war between labels. Atlantic offered $25,000 which, Ertegun later noted, "was all the money we had then".<ref name="wade99">Wade & Picardie 1990, p. 99.</ref> But they were outbid by [[RCA Records|RCA]]'s offer of $45,000. In 1990 Ertegun remarked, "The president of RCA at the time had been extensively quoted in ''Variety'' damning R&B music as immoral. He soon stopped when RCA signed Elvis Presley".<ref name="wade99"/>