• Nov. 27, 2017

Wayne Cochran, who wrote a classic love-and-loss pop song while still in his early 20s, then morphed into an energetic rhythm-and-blues singer with a devoted following and an outrageous pompadour before finding a new purpose in a Christian ministry near Miami, died on Nov. 21 in Miramar, Fla. He was 78.

His son, Christopher Cochran, said the cause was cancer.

Mr. Cochran was a relative unknown trying to make it as a singer in Georgia in 1961 when he wrote and recorded “Last Kiss,” a heart-wrencher about a fatal car wreck.

“Well, where, oh where can my baby be?” it starts. “The Lord took her away from me.”

Mr. Cochran’s initial recording did not make much of an impact, but a 1964 cover by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers became a national hit. The song — which Christopher Cochran said was inspired by a real traffic fatality, though not one that his father was involved in — has proved durable. A Canadian group named Wednesday had a modest hit with it in the 1970s, and Pearl Jam did even better with a version recorded in 1998.

Mr. Cochran, though, veered away from teenage pop and into soul and R&B, developing a high-energy stage act with a band he called the C. C. Riders (the initials stood for Cochran Circuit). With his hair in a pompadour of epic dimensions, he put on a propulsive show that earned him the nickname the White Knight of Soul. He drew comparisons to James Brown.

James Brown set the standard for dynamic live performance in American music. Inspired by preachers in the Black church, Brown started out singing in gospel quartets. As the "Godfather of Soul," he transmuted gospel into secular music centered in the emotional conduit of the soul singer. As "the hardest working man in show business," Brown turned ballads into virtuosic theatrical turns—falling hard on his knees, busting into splits and half spins, popping the mike to the floor and back, each move ratcheting up the song’s emotional intensity. As "Soul Brother No. 1," Brown acted as a cultural leader, writing hit songs calling for Black pride. As a progenitor of funk music, Brown with his band created a stripped-down, rhythmically driven aesthetic that has influenced world music from reggae to Afrobeat. Much of popular music since the 1960s comes through James Brown’s moves and grooves. Hip-hop is unimaginable without him.

In my opinion, the song was better than the sit-com that spawned it. And, it had staying power, making it to the top of the pop charts. There is something transcendent being expressed here. As Thomas Wolfe said: “you can’t go home again,” Maybe not, but it’s something we all long for, and in this joyful three minute tune John Sebastian ties a ribbon around that sentiment. You left home with a desire to see the world and make your fortune; you’ve been beaten down and turned around, and find yourself back where you started from. But, son, we never left, and we’ll welcome you with open arms (and, some gentle teasing). It’s so good to have you back.

My first ever concert, at age 13, ten years earlier, was the Lovin’ Spoonful at Princeton New Jersey. The good-time jug band music of John Sebastian has always been a warming presence in my life. His inclusion at Woodstock was no accident; he is one of the all-time greats. What a coup it was for Hollywood to get him to compose a jaunty theme song for a goofy, yet heart warming show about “sweat-hogs” - those ne’er do well high school students that had to be quarantined in their own remedial class. When approach by the producer to consider the assignment, he composed it in one night, and when asked how he did it so fast, he owned up to the fact that he had been a sweat hog himself. I believe that it was that identification which inspired John Sebastian to go beyond “jaunty” to an honest evocation of romantic universality. I’m not crying; you’re crying.

FROM THE "WILD, WILD WEST" DEPARTMENT:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be on the ballot in Florida, his campaign announced Friday, after he secured a nomination from the obscure “Reform Party”—as his campaign deploys an aggressive and laborious strategy to secure his place on ballots in all 50 states.
The Reform Party, founded by former independent presidential candidate Ross Perot, voted Thursday to officially nominate Kennedy for its ticket in Florida, Kennedy’s campaign said.

In addition to Florida, Kennedy and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, will also appear on the ballot in Utah, Michigan, California, Delaware, Oklahoma, Texas and Hawaii, his campaign said, adding that it’s collected enough signatures to also appear on the ballots in New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, Idaho, Nebraska, Iowa, New Jersey and Ohio.

While Kennedy hasn’t secured ballot access in enough states to secure the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the presidential election, his presence on the ballot in just one of the six swing states (Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia and Wisconsin) that are expected to decide the 2024 election could be enough to sway the outcome as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are consistently polling within single digits of each other.

Without the backing of an official political party, Kennedy is required to petition for ballot access in most states, though he’s attempted a workaround in several states by soliciting nominations from lesser-known political parties, including the Natural Law Party of Michigan and the American Independent Party in California.
Kennedy’s campaign has also filed lawsuits challenging ballot access rules in several states, including Utah and Maine, and his campaign has admittedly delayed filing petitions until the last minute to avoid challenges from the Democratic Party, his campaign spokesperson Stefanie Spear told the New York Times.