The Last Sultan

In 2006, at 83 years old, the businessman with a passion for music who was as comfortable wheeling and dealing in French as he was joking around with Kid Rock died after falling backstage at a Rolling Stones concert. Greenfield—who has written exemplary biographies of Bill Graham and Jerry Garcia—draws on extensive interviews with Ahmet Ertegun's widow, the musicians who worked with him, and his many friends and traces Ertegun's emigration from Turkey at age two, growing love of jazz and early acquisition of around 20,000 78s, first partnership with Herb Abramson and the formation of Atlantic Records, often contentious relationship with David Geffen (founder of Asylum Records), and deep friendships with everyone from Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin to Keith Richards and Eric Clapton. VERDICT Greenfield's definitive biography gracefully sums up the life of a man who, in record mogul Jerry Wexler's words, "had eyes to make records." A must for every collection, this enchanting book captures the life and work of a seminal figure without whom the business of making records would not have had its lasting impact. [See Prepub Alert, 5/23/11.]—Henry L. Carrigan Jr., Evanston, IL