Mary Martin Died

The way I heard it Rick Danko sent a tape of his band to Mary Martin.  She thought they would be good for Bob Dylan and passed the tape along to him.  Dylan didn't go for them, but Martin persisted.  She ultimately set up a face to face with Dylan, Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm.  Dylan liked them and offered the two a place in his band, but Helm insisted that he had to take the whole group.  Dylan relented and the rest is pop music history.

Talent can only get you so far.  Artist need somebody to champion them.  Someone to tell people that you got to hear so and so.  Think Jimi Hendrix and Chas Chandler or even Elvis and Colonel Parker.  Mary Martin was one of the best at her job.

Is it that hard to imagine there's was more than one person with the name Mary Martin?  I'm referencing the one who convinced Bob Dylan to take on Ronnie Hawkin's backup band as his own.

Mary Martin convinced fellow Canadian Leonard Cohen to not go to Nashville and instead stay in NYC.  She then introduced his songs to Judy Collins who then recorded several and Cohen then went on to sign with John Hammond at Columbia records.  Much later in his career Mr. Cohen was defrauded by his long term business manager, someone not named Mary Martin.

Why some people want to denigrate an influential, loved and respected individual on their death is beyond my comprehension.  It says something about them, not about Mary Martin.