Mary Martin, Veteran Artist Manager & A&R Executive, Passes

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Mary Martin. Photo: Kay Williams, courtesy of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Music industry veteran Mary Martin has passed away on Thursday night (July 4) at Alive Hospice. The news was posted on social media and shared by The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

“Time and again, Mary Martin spotted great talents and elevated their careers,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the CMHOFM. “Early on, she connected Bob Dylan to her friends the Hawks, who became the Band. She managed Leonard Cohen in his first musical outings, then guided the budding solo careers of Van Morrison, Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill. At Warner Bros., she signed future Country Music Hall of Fame member Emmylou Harris, at RCA she helped sign and develop Clint Black and Lorrie Morgan, and she encouraged a young Keith Urban to move from Australia to Nashville. Mary’s unerring feel for songs and performers was legendary, and she was a fierce ally for the artists she represented.”

Born in 1939 in Toronto, Canada, Martin began her career in New York in 1962 as executive assistant to artist manager Albert Grossman, who guided the careers of Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Peter, Paul & Mary and others. She went out on her own four years later, and managed the early career of Leonard Cohen and then Van Morrison.

In 1972, she joined Warner Bros. Records in New York, where she signed Emmylou Harris, Leon Redbone and The Marshall Tucker Band. Moving to Los Angeles at the end of the ’70s, she returned to artist management, working with Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill. She also gave production assistance to Crowell for artists he produced like Rosanne Cash, Sissy Spacek, Guy Clark and Albert Lee, and initiated the fan clubs and oversaw the creation of a successful merchandising venture for both artists during this time.

Martin moved to Nashville in 1985 and became Vice President of RCA Records, where she worked with Gill, Clint Black, Paul Overstreet, Aaron Tippin and Lorrie Morgan.

She became the Executive Director of ECO (Earth Communications Office) in 1991, overseeing fundraising and other activities for the nonprofit. She consulted with the A&R department of Asylum Records from ’94 – ’96 before joining Mercury Records as Vice President in 1999. Martin won a Grammy in 2002 for her work on the Hank Williams tribute album Timeless, which featured Dylan, Johnny Cash, Keith Richards, Tom Petty and others.

SOURCE inducted Martin into its Hall of Fame in 2007. She was honored at the Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum in 2009. Martin inspired generations of music industry professionals, especially women.

Memorial services have not yet been announced.

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