Marc Cohn Wrote Memphis Before He Had a Record Deal

Marc Cohn was working as a session singer in New York in 1985 when he visited Memphis, hoping the trip might break a bout of writer's block. It did more than that. He later called “Walking in Memphis” 100 percent autobiographical, a song about a Jewish lover of gospel music and about a spiritual awakening, the kind of trip after which you are different when you leave.

His early life was marked by loss. Born in Cleveland in 1959, he lost his mother when he was two and his father when he was thirteen, and was raised by his stepmother, Ruth. As a child he became obsessed with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison and the Band. He taught himself guitar and began writing songs in junior high school, and at Oberlin College he taught himself piano.

After moving to UCLA he played Los Angeles coffeehouses, worked as a songwriter and session musician, and performed in a cover band called the Supreme Court. He even played at Caroline Kennedy's wedding in 1986. When he played piano on Tracy Chapman's second album, Crossroads, the experience led to his contract with Atlantic Records.

His self-titled debut came out in February 1991 on the strength of “Walking in Memphis”, which reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Vocal at the 1992 Grammys. It was certified gold within a year and platinum in 1996. “Silver Thunderbird” and “True Companion” also charted, and Cohn won the 1992 Grammy for Best New Artist. The Rainy Season followed in 1993 with guests David Crosby, Graham Nash and Bonnie Raitt. In 2005 he was shot in the head in an attempted carjacking, an event that later informed “Dance Back from the Grave” on Join the Parade. The story shows a songwriter whose best-known song grew from real experience, and who kept writing from real life.