Country Composer, Performer Hank Cochran Dies – ABC News

NASHVILLE , Tennessee Reuters – Hank Cochran, who wrote a cascade of country music hits, died on Thursday at his home near Nashville, according to his family. He was 74.The cause of death was pancreatic cancer, his family said.

Cochran gave Willie Nelson his first break in Nashville, persuading his employer, Pamper Music, to hire Nelson. When Cochran was offered a recording deal by Liberty Records, he successfully lobbied for Nelson to be signed too.

Cochran turned out hits for Eddy Arnold including “Make the World Go Away,” Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces,” and George Jones’s; “You Comb Her Hair.”

Cochran also wrote Loretta Lynn’s “Why Can’t He Be You?” and Merle Haggard’s “It’s Not Love,” as well as songs for Grammy-winner Burl Ives.

via Country Composer, Performer Hank Cochran Dies – ABC News.