Country Artist Marijohn Wilkin

Wilkin won numerous awards over the years and was referred to as “The Den Mother of Music Row.” From 1955 she toured with Red Foley, and in 1956 her songs were recorded by Mitchell Torok and Wanda Jackson. In 1958, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and had major hits, written with John D. Loudermilk, for Stonewall Jackson (the number one Country hit “Waterloo”) and Jimmy C. Newman.

Wilkin also wrote “The Long Black Veil” for Lefty Frizzell (with Danny Dill), “Cut Across Shorty” for Eddie Cochran (with Wayne P. Walker), and “I Just Don’t Understand” which became a Pop hit for Ann-Margret and was covered by The Beatles. Although she was primarily a Country songwriter, her songs have been recorded by several Pop and Rock acts, including Rod Stewart and Mick Jagger.

Marijohn Wilkin may be most famous for “One Day at a Time”, often considered the biggest Gospel song of the 1970s. Wilkin wrote the song in 1973 with some assistance by her former protégé Kris Kristofferson. The song won a Dove Award from the Gospel Music Association in 1975. The song was a top 20 Country single for Marilyn Sellars in 1974 and hit No. 37 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Pop chart. It also launched a career as a Gospel recording artist for Wilkin, who released several albums on Word Records. A remake became a No. 1 Country hit for Cristy Lane in 1980 and has since been recorded more than 200 times. Even though written as a personal worship song, it has also been recognized as “One of the Top 50 Southern Gospel Songs.”

Johnny Duncan and Ed Bruce were among the many songwriters she helped get a foothold in the music business. Kris Kristofferson was in the army with one of her distant cousins, so he sent some of his work to her at Buckhorn, her publishing company. She became the first to publish his songs, notably “For the Good Times”. In 1970, it became a massive Pop and Country hit for Ray Price. Wilkin is credited for the discovery of Kristofferson and being the first person to give him work as a legitimate songwriter.

In 1975, Marijohn was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.