Marc Cohn’s Demo Version of ‘Walking in Memphis’

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Marc Cohn (via his Facebook page)

The self-titled album from Marc Cohn that resulted in numerous significant achievements celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 2016 and the singer-songwriter isn’t letting the occasion go by without some well-deserved fanfare via live performances (see below). And Best Classic Bands commemorated the accomplishment with an Exclusive for our readers.

The singer has released a collection called Careful What You Dream: Lost Songs And Rarities (see ordering link below).

Earlier last year, when contemplating the significance of the upcoming anniversary, Cohn and his longtime co-producer and engineer Ben Wisch dug through the vaults looking for old demos, specifically the original demo of “Walking in Memphis.” While they did indeed find that, they also discovered 13 other songs that had been long forgotten. These demos and early recordings capture a time in Marc’s life when almost everything about his career was still undefined.

Exclusive: Cohn has shared an early demo version with his band (featuring an alternate outro) of his 1991 hit single with Best Classic Bands readers.

Back to that earlier point about the significant achievements. “Walking in Memphis” was promoted by Atlantic Records to album rock, adult contemporary and Top 40 radio. It ultimately reached #13 on the Hot 100 chart, an incredible achievement given the song’s unlikely topic of a man feeling the gospel spirit (“Ma’am I am tonight!”) in the city known for Elvis, Al Green and W.C. Handy, all of whom are name-checked.

Watch the original music video

25 years ago: The 1991 self-titled debut LP

The single’s success led to three Grammy Award nominations; Cohn won for Best New Artist. “The timing for Marc’s album couldn’t have been better for us,” says Best Classic Bands‘ founder Greg Brodsky, who oversaw Atlantic’s marketing efforts for the album. “We were hitting on all cylinders with acts like Genesis, INXS, Debbie Gibson, and more. But Marc filled a very important void for the label at that time: a male singer-songwriter.”

Careful What You Dream: Lost Songs And Rarities contains 13 tracks plus a bonus disc called Evolution of a Record which includes four early demos of “Walking in Memphis” (including our Exclusive) as well as fan favorite “True Companion.” The album begins with “Maestro” and that instantly familiar Cohn piano. “Cohn Heads” will love it.

Check out the new/old song, “Nowhere Fast.” That’s the voice of the 30-ish Marc Cohn and not the one who turned 58 on July 5, 2017.

Cohn has tour dates scheduled well into 2018, including some this year with Michael McDonald. Click here for tickets; if sold-out, try here. Expect a new album soon.