Books: What'd I Say: The Atlantic Story--50 Years Of Music

We could use up all the space here (and in the rest of this issue) simply listing the musicians--black and white, jazz and R. and B., rock and beyond--whom Ertegun discovered and set free as prime mover of Atlantic Records. Just as impressive is the tale of a son of the Turkish ambassador to the U.S. who fell in love with black music and co-founded a label that helped Ray Charles, Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin redefine American pop. The terrific photos in this handsome, 8-lb. tome induce a vivid synesthesia: looking at Ertegun's artists, you can hear, on the jukebox of your memory, the raw, transcendent music they created.

--By Richard Corliss