Lawrence Cohn

Education

Cohn was educated as a lawyer and became Vice-President of Columbia Broadcasting System/Epic Records and later head of Playboy Records and Music.

Career

One of his responsibilities at Columbia Broadcasting System was to co-supervise the Country Music Division. He wrote Movietone Presents the Twentieth Century (New York: Saint Martin"s Press, 1976) and edited Nothing But The Blues: The Music and the Musicians (New York: Abbeville Press, 1993). He was also selected as one of the "100 Most Important People In The Music Business." Brooklyn Academy of Music, 1991

During his tenure at both Columbia Broadcasting System & Playboy, he was responsible in various ways for the Discovery/Signing/Producing/Career Decisions of many artists including but not limited to: Billy Joel, Willie Nelson, REO Speedwagon, Cheap Trick, Edgar Winter, White Trash, Johnny Winter, Fleetwood Mac, Shuggie Otis, Johnny Otis, Sugarcane Harris, The Johnny Otis Show, Ivory Joe Hunter, Agnetha/ Björn/ Benny/ Anni-Frid, Jo Ann Kelly, Brenda Patterson, Sam Phillips, Wayne Cochran & the Central Committee Riders, Lead Belly, Otis Blackwell, Gene Austin, Rufus, Max Weinberg, Poco, Tammy Wynette, Charlie Rich, Jim & Jesse, Bob Luman, David Houston, Jim Messina, Terry Reid, Mashmakan, Gary Busey, Redbone, CHASE. Cohn spent several years in Paris, France as the head of a Magazine & Book Publishing Company.

Amongst them, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers-Deems Taylor Award, BMI-Ralph Gleason Award and the Blues Foundations"s "Hall of Fame" designation.

Achievements

• He has eight Grammy Award nominations and won Grammy Award for Best Historical Album in 1991 for the "Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings" project In the same year he also received the W. C. Handy Award for his work on Robert Johnson and was honored with a Special Distinction Award by the Blues Foundation for his "Contribution to the Blues." Moreover, Sony Music provided him with their first President"s Award, for his work on Robert Johnson. He is a "three category" Blues Foundation winner as well as being a vernacular music collector of note and a founding member of the near-legendary "Blues Mafia," a group considered by many as a major impetus regarding the renewed interest in Traditional American Music! His book, "Nothing But The Blues: The Music and the Musicians," received numerous awards. He has received numerous awards and citations for his work, including France"s "Academie Charles Gross: Grand Prix Du Disque.".