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…