Ken Nelson

In late 2001, when the inductees to the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville were announced, one name from the past stood out: Ken Nelson. His selection, coming perhaps 20 years later than it should have (but not too late for the 91-year-old Nelson to enjoy it), corrected an oversight and acknowledged the career contribution of one of the most talented executives in the history of country music. Ken Nelson was never as visible as, say, Steve Sholes at RCA Victor, or Don Law at Columbia Records -- with the possible exception of Merle Haggard, he never had a Johnny Cash-proportioned, much less an Elvis Presley-sized signing to his credit. Rather, he oversaw the whole process of putting Capitol Records on the map in postwar country music, and was responsible for producing such performers as Merle Travis, Hank Thompson, Jean Shepard, Merle Haggard, Roy Clark, Buck Owens, and Freddie Hart, and also for signing dozens more artists to the label.

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