Person

Cochran, Hank

1935-2010

Sickly as a child, American country songwriter and singer Hank Cochran was sent to an orphanage in Memphis after his parents divorced when he was nine. He ran away repeatedly until he was sent to live with his grandparents in Greenville, Mississippi. At the age of 12, he and his uncle, Otis Cochran, hitchhiked to work in the oilfields in Oklahoma and New Mexico; en route, Uncle Otis taught him to play the guitar. Hank returned to Mississippi but at age 16 he was off hitching-hiking again, this time to pick olives in California. There he encountered another Cochran (Eddie - no relation) and the two formed a rockabilly duo they called the “Cochran Brothers” during the 1950s; they opened for Elvis at one point. In 1960 he began song writing in earnest in Nashville. Through the 1960s and 1970s he sang and wrote country music, including top hits sung by stars like Ray Price, Eddy Arnold and Burl Ives. His “She’s Got You” launched Patsy Cline’s career reaching No. 1 (country) and No. 14 (Hot 100). It was thanks to Cochran that young Willie Nelson got his start: Cochran, who was working at the Pamper Music Publishing Company in Nashville and singing at night at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, was struck by Nelson’s talent, and persuaded Pamper to take him on. Cochran’s songs collected 29 top ten ratings in 30 years and 40 Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) awards. As a singer himself, Cochran made the Billboard Country Music Charts seven times, his most successful being No. 20 for “Sally Was a Good Old Girl.” He has been honored by the Walkway of Stars (1967), the Nashville Songwriters’ Hall of Fame (1974), the Mississippi Music Hall of Fame (2003), and posthumously, the Country Music Hall of Fame.