Don Law was born in
Leytonstone,
London, the son of Frederick Law and his wife Marion (née Ludbrook). As a young man he sang with the
London Choral Society, before emigrating to the US in 1924. After ARC was taken over by
Columbia Records, Law moved to
New York City to take charge of the company's recordings for children. However, he soon returned to country music, and in 1945 took charge of all Columbia's recordings east of Texas, with Satherley taking responsibility for those to the west. After Satherley's retirement in 1952, Law took over national responsibility for Columbia's country music division, initially recording mainly at
Jim Beck's
studio in Dallas. He recruited singers
Carl Smith,
Lefty Frizzell,
Little Jimmy Dickens, Johnny Horton, Marty Robbins and Johnny Cash, to the label, and, after Beck's death in 1956, recorded mainly at
Bradley Studios Studio B (the Quonset hut studio) in
Nashville, which later became Columbia's Studio B. Law's productions in the late 1950s and early 1960s included Johnny Horton's "
The Battle of New Orleans", Marty Robbins' "
El Paso", and
Jimmy Dean's "
Big Bad John", all of which topped the US
pop chart and helped bring country music to a wider audience. He also produced most of Johnny Cash's recordings during the period. According to Law's induction notice at the
Country Music Hall of Fame, "along with
Chet Atkins at
RCA, Owen Bradley at
Decca, and
Ken Nelson at
Capitol, Law was instrumental in re-establishing country's commercial viability during the so-called
Nashville Sound era" from about 1957. Law took mandatory retirement from Columbia Records in 1967, but set up an independent production company, Don Law Productions, and continued to have some success with singers including
Henson Cargill. In 1970, Law produced the double platinum album
For The Good Times by
Ray Price. Law retired completely in the late 1970s. ==In popular culture==