A week ago I didn’t own a Wayne Cochran album, and I had no idea what I was missing. I picked up Wayne Cochran – Wayne Cochran!, released by Chess in 1967, Sunday at the Austin Record Convention, splitting the cost with my boyfriend because it was one of the more expensive records we got that day, and now my life is easily at least 10 percent better.
If you think you’re too cool to own a Wayne Cochran album, I’ll counter that thinking that way makes you not cool enough to own a Wayne Cochran album.
With his palatial, pale pompadour on the cover, next to his name, exclaimed, you get a sense for Cochran’s swagger. A white soul singer out of Georgia, he made buddies with Otis and Elvis alike (resulting in one of my favorite photos ever), doing his thing, and personally, I love him for all of it.
If you come across a good-looking copy of this record, I’d urge you to pick it up. Not just for the novelty value — listening to Wayne makes for a solid good time. And if you’re lucky enough to have an amazing partner who goes halfsies on your record buying with you and makes it their personal mission to help you achieve the collection of your shared dreams, well count your lucky stars, and then ask them to buy you this album.
