Born 106 Years Ago Today in the Lone Star State, the “Den Mother of Music Row” Who Got Kris Kristofferson His First Hit

On this day (July 14) in 1920, Marijohn Melson was born in Kemp, Texas. History remembers her best as Marijohn Wilkin, the “Den Mother of Music Row.” While she was a touring musician and recording artist, she is best remembered as a songwriter. Moreover, she helped some of country music’s foremost songsmiths launch their careers in Nashville. Among those who established themselves with Wilkin’s help are Kris Kristofferson, Ed Bruce, and Johnny Duncan.

Melson grew up singing and playing piano, but almost didn’t enter the music world as an adult. She was offered a contract with a Hollywood film studio, but turned it down. Instead, she chose to attend college. After graduating, she moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and became a music teacher. While teaching, she also wrote songs.

Melson married her first husband, who died in World War II, before moving to Tulsa. In 1946, she married her second husband and had one son, Bucky, before the marriage ended. Four years later, she married Art Wilkin.

According to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Wilkin’s career began to take off in the mid-1950s. Bucky landed a job playing guitar on the Ozark Jubilee, and she placed some of her songs in the show. Additionally, she toured with Red Foley between 1955 and 1958. Then, she moved to Nashville.

Marijohn Wilkin Goes to Music City

After moving to Nashville, Marijohn Wilkin signed with Cedarwood Publishing, where she almost immediately penned a pair of country classics. She penned “The Long Black Veil” with Danny Dill. Lefty Frizzell took the song to No. 6 in 1959. Wilkin and John D. Loudermilk co-penned “Waterloo,” which became a five-week No. 1 for Stonewall Jackson that summer.

Over the next few years, her compositions became hits for Jimmy Dean, Ann-Margret, and Carl Smith. Johnny Cash, Porter Wagoner, the Beatles, Mel Tillis, and Jerry Lee Lewis, and others also cut her songs.

Music Row’s Den Mother

According to AllMusic, Marijohn Wilkin established her publishing company, Buckhorn Music, in the mid-1960s. She signed songwriters like Johnny Duncan, Ed Bruce, and Kris Kristofferson.

Duncan wrote several hits for Charley Pride, including “She’s Too Good to Be True” and “Once Again.” Bruce is best known for writing “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” which was a hit for Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. He also penned “Texas (When I Die)” and “The Man That Turned My Mama On,” which were hits for Tanya Tucker.

Kristofferson was connected to Wilkin through one of her cousins, whom he served with in the Army. As a result, Buckhorn was the first to publish his songs. Notably, Wilkin’s firm published “For the Good Times,” which became a major crossover hit for Ray Price in 1970.

Marijohn Wilkin’s Gospel Turn

Marijohn Wilkin’s mental health deteriorated after her third marriage ended in the mid-1960s. Then, religion helped pull her out of the depression that nearly ended her life. She spent the rest of her career focused on writing and recording gospel music.

In 1974, she and Kris Kristofferson co-wrote “One Day at a Time.” Marilyn Sellars took it to No. 19 on the country chart that year. Six years later, in 1980, Cristy Lane made it a No. 1 country hit.

[RELATED: The Meaning Behind the Song: “Long Black Veil,” Lefty Frizzell]

“One Day at a Time” has been recorded by hundreds of artists and is considered the biggest gospel song of the 1970s. It also won the Dove Award for Song of the Year.

Marijohn Wilkin died in 2006 at the age of 86, leaving behind a lasting legacy. Kristofferson remembered her as ”…a tough, intelligent, and funny woman making it in a man’s world.”

Featured Image by Al Clayton/Getty Images

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