Art & Creativity Quote by Jerry Wexler

Wexler’s compliment lands like a benediction from the high priest of Atlantic Records, but it’s also a quiet act of gatekeeping. Calling it “real music” isn’t just praise; it’s a border patrol. In one stroke he blesses Kelley as authentic and, by implication, casts plenty of contemporary sound as counterfeit - overproduced, trend-chasing, detached from the lineage he helped canonize.

The phrase “respect for the righteous roots” carries the moral charge that’s always hovered around American popular music, especially the Black traditions Wexler spent a career packaging, promoting, and, yes, profiting from. “Righteous” frames the roots as sacred, not merely historical: blues, gospel, R&B as an ethical inheritance you must handle carefully. That makes Kelley’s record not just enjoyable but correct. He isn’t only hearing taste; he’s hearing proper alignment with a tradition.

Then comes the aesthetic ideal: “no frills, down to the bone and intense.” Wexler is sketching a whole philosophy of performance - anti-gloss, anti-theatrical, anti-fashion. It’s the classic producer’s fetish for the supposedly unmediated take, where you can hear the room, the breath, the strain. “Outstanding” isn’t about range or tricks; it’s about restraint and pressure, the sense that the singer is serving the song instead of decorating it.

Underneath the warmth is a veteran’s anxiety: that “real music” can disappear under the noise of novelty. Wexler’s endorsement tries to pin Kelley to the lineage and keep that lineage legible.