That an African American man played a massive and pivotal role in three seminal musical forms seemingly dominated by Caucasian artists – folk rock, prog rock, and proto-punk – is one of the most tragically untold stories in popular music's history.
Despite his life being cut short by a heart attack at age 47 in Los Angeles, Mr. Wilson acted as midwife for the major musical movements above, as well as free jazz. In doing so, he was the secret force that launched two of the biggest superstars of the rock era: Bob Dylan and Paul Simon.
A towering 6-foot-4, Wilson grew up in racially segregated Waco, Texas.
After graduating cum laude from Harvard University, Wilson started Transition Records in 1955. At the age of 24, Wilson produced and released the debut albums of two of the biggest names ever in jazz: bandleader and Afrofuturism pioneer Sun Ra, and pianist Cecil Taylor. During that period, he even scrapped an early session by John Coltrane.
Following Transition, after its bankruptcy two years later, Wilson became the first Black staff producer ever at Columbia Records (now Sony Music). While at Columbia, Wilson produced Bob Dylan's breakthrough album The Times They Are a-Changin'. Wilson went on to produce both of Dylan's two follow-up albums: Another Side of Bob Dylan and Bringing It All Back Home. Perhaps most critically, Wilson produced the Dylan song that changed the course of rock music, "Like a Rolling Stone," with its merger of folk and rock. As quoted in Dylan's Biograph box set, Wilson's take on how Dylan went electric is compelling: "I didn't even particularly like folk music. I'd been recording Sun Ra and Coltrane, and I thought folk music was for the dumb guys. This guy, Dylan, played like the dumb guys, but then these words came out. I was flabbergasted. I said to [his manager] Albert Grossman, 'If you put some background to this, you might have a white Ray Charles with a message.'"
