The Legend and the Pen

Cochran’s success continues to this day. An upcoming Patsy Cline tribute CD will see classic Cochran material rendered by Trisha Yearwood, Reba McEntire, Lee Ann Womack and neo-jazz star Norah Jones. A new Cochran song, “She’ll Be Back,” is also included on Womack’s latest CD. At an age when many would be happy to rest on their laurels and enjoy retirement, Hank Cochran clings stubbornly to the present, reading Billboard and writing daily, cultivating relationships with new artists while remembering his favorites from the past. (He still communicates with Eddy Arnold.) Cochran’s momento-strewn Hendersonville home teems with activity; cronies of all ages come and go—songwriters, pickers, performers. It’s not unusual for newcomers to be asked to sign a guest book and have their picture taken by Cochran’s photographer wife, Suzi.

With all that’s going on in his life, Cochran remains most excited by the projects that are most immediate to hand. Especially intriguing is the recently completed Livin’ for a Song, an album that’s aptly subtitled A Songwriter’s Autobiography. Released on Cochran’s own Gifted Few Records label, and co-produced with Jim Vest, the CD is a 14-song testament to Cochran’s legacy—part mission statement, part chronicle, part celebration, part living will. On “The Pen,” a track that’s primarily a recitation and perhaps the most revealing number on the album, Cochran ponders passing the torch, as well as what it means to “live for a song.”

Well, I might as well give you this old guitar

It’s been a helluva ride for me out of Hell so far

Can you write it with your heart in Heaven and your feet in sin?

No, you can’t

Find somebody else to pick up the pen.

Where is the Love?

10 people who should be in the Country Music Hall of Fame but aren’t

1. The A-Team More than anyone, this studio rhythm section—guitarists Grady Martin, Harold Bradley and Hank Garland, bassist Bob Moore, drummer Buddy Harman and pianist Floyd Cramer—created modern country music.

2. The Stanley Brothers Bluegrass may never again be this soulful.

3. Ernest V. Stoneman The Father of Country Music?

4. Jimmy Martin Co-inventor, with Bill Monroe, of the “high-lonesome sound.”

5. Billy Sherrill The producer behind George and Tammy’s best.

6. Connie Smith How great she art.

7. DeFord Bailey Is this one 40 years overdue now, or just 30?

8. Jerry Lee Lewis A monster of rockabilly—and a killer honky-tonker, to boot.

9. Jean Shepard Hey, you tell her she has to play second fiddle again.

10. Mel Tillis The best songwriter not already inducted? The best singer-songwriter?

—David Cantwell