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Ray Edward Cochran
was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota on October 3, 1938 to Frank and
Alice Cochran who were originally from Oklahoma City. He had four
older brothers and sisters: Gloria, Bill, Bob and Patty. The
Great Depression forced the Cochrans to move north to Minnesota.
Eddie was the only one in the family really interested in music.
At the age of 12, he wanted to join the school band as a drummer but
opted for the trombone when he discovered he would have to take
piano lessons in order to play the drums!
His
musical career had another twist when the director of the school
orchestra informed the family that Eddie didn’t have the “lip” for
the trombone and suggested the clarinet instead. When he saw what
the clarinet looked like, he refused to consider it stating that he
would quit the orchestra if he could not play what he wanted. So,
as his mother recalls, he asked his brother Bob to show him some
chords on Bills old Kay guitar that was not played very often at the
time. “Then he got a chord book and seemed to just naturally take
it from there”.
In 1951, the Cochrans decided to follow the golden trail to
California to join Bill that had already moved there after a hitch
in the service. Two cars totally packed up, Eddie would not part
with his guitar. “For pity’s sake Eddie, with all the other odds
and ends we have to carry, that guitar isn’t the prized possession
in this household, you know”. “Possession, Mom? This guitar is my
best friend!”
In Bell Gardens,
California, the new kid on the block focused his attentions on the
guitar to compensate for the lack of companionship. In September
1951, he met Conrad “Connie” Smith. Connie shared the same musical
interests as Eddie and played the upright bass in the school
orchestra. He was also competent on the steel guitar and the
mandolin. In late 1953, they formed a trio with another student on
lead guitar. They often practiced in a rehearsal room in the back
of a local music store (The Bell Garden Music Center) which owner
Bert Keither was very interested in Eddie’s music and would later
sell him his legendary sunburst Gretsch guitar. The trio started
playing at parties, amateur gigs, supermarket openings and other
local affairs that would help them gain experience, not to mention a
few extra bucks!
After graduating
from junior high school in 1954, Eddie actually enrolled in high
school but spent all of his time hanging out with local musicians
and jamming wherever he could, trying to realize his dream of
quitting school and earning his living as a musician.
The great country
picker Chet Atkins was one of Eddie’s favorites and mastering his
complex bass-melody picking style with lightning speed helped build
Eddie’s incredible dexterity and versatility. Eddie was also very
bright and his natural curiosity drove him to research and
experiment new sounds and techniques. His mother claims that
everything came easily to him, that he was an honor student, and
that there wasn’t anything he couldn’t play after hearing it once or
twice. All of his associates confirm this last point; Chuck Foreman
jammed with him in the early days: “When I met Eddie he couldn’t
have been more than 15-16 years old, and we were listening to a lot
of jazz in those days. I remember we had old Johnny Smith Royal
Roost 78 rpm records; Smith was playing a lot of triads and this
really fascinated Eddie. He’d say ‘I wonder how in the hell is he
doing that” and in no time at all, he was playing it. Eddie was
very aware, very astute, he retained things. He was playing a lot
of Chet Atkins, Joe Maphis – he could duplicate all those Maphis
high speed licks note-for-note very easily". |
