AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Marc Cohn

Artist:Marc Cohn
Song:Walking In Memphis
Album:Marc Cohn





Here's a song that proves that fame is fleeting in the music business. Walking In Memphis was a top 20 hit in 1991. The album Marc Cohn was certified Platinum and Cohn won the 1992 Best New Artist Grammy. Then Cohn seemed to fall off the face of the earth. The reality is he's not a mainstream pop artist and Walking In Memphis was a fluke hit. No, Marc Cohn is not from Memphis. He was born July 5, 1959 in Cleveland and was a big Van Morrison fan as a child. As a teen, he played with a local cover band. He moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA and work the coffeehouse circuit. Then he moved to New York City to be with his fiancee and formed a cover band called Supreme Court. They played at Caroline Kennedy's wedding. But Cohn left to work on his songwriting. A demo got him a record deal at Atlantic Records. Walking In Memphis reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cohn's 1991 debut album was certified Platinum. Cohn says the song is about spiritual awakening. I think folks liked the Memphis imagery in the video and the Elvis, Graceland and Al Green references in the song. Cher covered Walking In Memphis and charted in England and Lonestar's cover was a top ten country hit. Cohn also won the 1992 Best New Artist Grammy. Cohn recorded two more albums for Atlantic but nothing could repeat the success of Walking In Memphis. There is a Marc Cohn comp but I think most will only be interested in the original 1991 CD. He met ABC News journalist Elizabeth Vargas in 1999 and they're married with two kids. Cohn was shot in the head in a 2005 carjacking in Denver but fortunately was not seriously injured. Of course Cohn still tours and returned to recording in 2007 with Decca. His latest CD Listening Booth 1970 is a CD of covers of songs released in 1970. It's on the Time Life label Saguaro Road with Warner distribution. The album had a Barnes & Noble edition and reached #28 on the Billboard Hot 200. That's a pretty good comeback. Here's the video for Walking In Memphis by Marc Cohn.