Jackie Lee Cochran

Jackie Lee Cochran (February 5, 1934, Dalton, Georgia – March 15, 1998, Burbank, California) was an American rockabilly musician, known as Jack the Cat.

Cochran had a twin brother who died at the age of two. He began playing guitar at age six. His father was sentenced to 30 years in prison for murder, and as a result Cochran spent much of his youth living with relatives in Louisiana, Meridian, Mississippi, and with his grandmother in Gadsden, Alabama.

Cochran first began performing on the local music scene in Gadsden, which displeased his grandmother, who wanted him to join the military. She convinced him to enlist in the Air Force, where he was stationed in San Antonio. He traveled each weekend to Abilene to play on Slim Willet's radio show. This brought him to the attention of the managers of the Big D Jamboree, who had him perform on this program as well. He was then transferred to Selma, Alabama, where he founded the country group The Flying C Ranch Boys. This group performed in local bars and restaurants, as well as on radio station WBAM. He was dismissed from the Air Force in 1955, and following this he became a member of Jimmy Swan's band in Hattiesburg. In the mid-1950s he appeared on Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree in Los Angeles. He began playing rockabilly shortly after hearing Elvis Presley.

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