On This Day in 1970, We Lost the Man Responsible for Making Nashville the Hub of Country Music and Who Worked With Ernest Tubb and Kitty Wells

On this day (April 1) in 1970, Paul Cohen died in Bryan, Texas, after being diagnosed with cancer. Nashville, Tennessee, and country music likely wouldn’t be what they are today without Cohen’s input. His choices helped create a thriving recording industry in what is now Music City. He also discovered and signed up-and-coming artists like Webb Pierce, Kitty Wells, Patsy Cline, and Brenda Lee.

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Cohen’s long and illustrious career in the recording industry began in the late 1920s at Columbia Records. Less than a decade later, Decca Records opened its American branch, helmed by Jack and Dave Kapp, who were hometown friends of Cohen’s. As a result, he moved to Decca in 1934. He relocated from Chicago to Cincinnati and took over the label’s Midwestern division. There, he found and signed new artists and helped market their releases.

[RELATED: How Ernest Tubb Connected with the Widow of His Hero, Jimmie Rodgers, to Change Country Music History]

During World War II, Cohen became the head of Decca’s country music production. The new position came with another move. This time, he moved to New York, where many early country records were made.

Paul Cohen Takes Decca to Nashville

Castle Studio, the first commercial recording studio in Nashville, opened in 1946. Before then, Tennessee-based artists traveled to either Cincinnati or New York to record. Red Foley and Ernest Tubb were two of the biggest country stars on Decca. They were both members of the Grand Ole Opry and, as a result, had to make the trek north to record.

Travel became tiresome and expensive. As a result, Paul Cohen decided to start recording the label’s country records at the Castle. Decca’s roster was packed with country stars, including Patsy Cline, Kitty Wells, Webb Pierce, Jimmie Davis, and many more.

According to the Country Music Hall of Fame, Cohen came to Nashville for two or three weeks at a time to oversee recording sessions. These trips south were incredibly busy. As a result, he tapped a pair of local musicians–Owen Bradley and Beasley Smith–to help him line up those sessions.

In 1958, Cohen left Decca’s country music department to oversee the label’s Coral imprint. Bradley took his place at the helm of the Nashville operation. He was one of the architects of the Nashville Sound production style, which ruled the airwaves and charts for decades to come.

Cohen’s Later Career

Paul Cohen spent roughly six years with Coral before he left. In 1964, he signed on with Kapp Records, helmed by Dave Kapp, as the head of the label’s Nashville-based country division.

Cohen left Kapp four years later and took his final executive position as the head of ABC Records’ Nashville division. In 1969, he received a cancer diagnosis and retired.

It’s hard to imagine what the country music industry would look like today if not for Cohen’s contributions.

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