Music Industry Veteran Marty Gamblin Passes

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Marty Gamblin. Photo: Courtesy of the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Center (The MAX)

Beloved music industry executive Marty Gamblin passed away on Wednesday (Oct. 9). He was 80.

Gamblin spent more than 40 years in the music business, during which time he worked closely with famed songwriter/performer Jim Weatherly and Glen Campbell’s publishing firm, where he influenced the career of Alan Jackson and more.

A native of Philadelphia, Mississippi, Gamblin started his career in high school and junior college booking R&B groups at local venues. He attended Mississippi State University and left to work as as a tour manager, promoter and booking agent at Vivace Music, where Weatherly was a client.

Gamblin moved to Nashville in the late ’70s to open Weatherly’s publishing company, Rip Keca Music. Artists including Ray Price, Charley Pride, Bob Luman and many more recorded Weatherly’s songs during Gamblin’s tenure, but his biggest hit came with Gladys Knight & the Pips’ recording of “Midnight Train to Georgia.” The tune hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the 1974 Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus.

Gamblin became the President of Glen Campbell Music Group in 1982, where he would manage the careers of Alan Jackson, Bryan White, Dorothy Moore, Pearl River and Ruby Lovette. The company notched 16 No. 1 hits in his 20-year tenure through his representation of their writers’ catalogs, including Jackson’s “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” and “Chattahoochee,” Jimmy Webb’s Grammy-winning “Highwayman” Randy Travis’ “It’ Just a Matter of Time.”

Gamblin used his expertise to pay it forward. He was a member of the advisory board at Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business and served as a guest lecturer in the Recording Industry Management department at MTSU.

Gamblin returned to Mississippi in 2003 to work for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and was inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame in 2006. He became the founding executive director of the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Center (The MAX), a museum that highlights the state’s contributions to art and entertainment, and transitioned to a consultant role for The MAX Hall of Fame/Walk of Fame in 2019.

Gamblin also served as a consultant for Marty Stuart’s Congress of Country Music. He was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Country Music Trail in 2019.

He is survived by wife Cherie and sons Josh and Caleb.

A visitation will take place at 563 East Main Street in Philadelphia, Mississippi starting at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday (Oct. 13). A funeral service will follow at 3:30 p.m.

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