Thursday, July 15, 2010

In Memory of Hank Cochran (1935-2010)




I was in the midst of preparing a post celebrating the upcoming birthday of one of my favorite country music songwriters when I heard the sad news that today we lost another of my favorites, Hank Cochran. So today's post is in tribute to a man I consider to be one of modern country music's finest songwriters. There will be a lot written in the next few days about the life and songs of Hank Cochran, so I won't bother to fill up space with my version of that here. I'll let the man's songs do the talking. Here is a healthy sampling of Hank Cochran songs from the early '60s through the early '70s, including some of his biggest hits, and some a little more out of the way. Some of the songs he wrote by himself, and others he wrote with other legendary songwriters of the era, like Harlan Howard and Willie Nelson. The first song was not actually written by him, but to him by Johnny Paycheck and Aubrey Mayhew, begging for a follow-up to "A-11" (also included here). Thanks for the great tunes, Hank. Peace be with you...

7 comments:

jim said...

Thanks, I did not know that he had written many of these. For example, I always just assumed that Merle wrote It's Not love, But It's Not Bad.

Don said...

This is such a great way to commemorate Hank Cochran's life as a songwriter. It is a remarkable collection of Hank's songs sung by a whole host of top country stars including himself. I appreciate the opportunity to become more clear on just which songs Hank Cochran did write.

What an impressive and intense collection of music.

Thanks for taking on this project.

BarrieB said...

Very nice.
Particularly the last track, which I had never heard before.

If you believe that no-one dies until nobody remembers them, then hank will live for many years to come.

Mellow said...

Well done post. Hank will be missed by many.

Regards

mrb394ever said...

This is a great tribute and I've been enjoying the automatic jukebox. Thank you!

You've included some wonderful Ray Price versions that seem to have eluded my collection. Can't seem to get divShare to download them (didn't have any trouble downloading some of the Cindy Walker). Is the setting different, or is it just an internet mystery??? (Al Gore, call your invention.)

Joaquin LeFleur said...

@mrb394ever - Glad you're enjoying the tunes! Give Al a try again and see if he's more responsive this time...

Thanks!

JLF

mrb394ever said...

Smooth DivShare tonight. I think I'll give YOU the credit and not Al Gore. Thank you!

This is a spectacular compendium you've put up. I'm going to have to plead guilty to not knowing how many great tunes came from Hank Cochran -- until now. I REALLY appreciate his talent and your work to make it more visible.