July 15, 2010

By By Joe Edwards, Associated Press

Hank Cochran, a consummate songwriter who composed a string of country hits including "Make the World Go Away" for Eddy Arnold, has died. He was 74.

Martha E. Moore, his publicist, said Cochran died Thursday morning at his home in Hendersonville north of Nashville.

He had been in declining health in recent years, and suffered an aortic aneurysm in March. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two years ago.

He co-wrote the following No. 1 hits: Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces"; George Strait's "Ocean Front Property"; and "Set 'em Up Joe" by Vern Gosdin.

He also wrote the No. 1 hits: "Don't You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me" by Ronnie Milsap; "He's Got You" by Cline and Loretta Lynn; "I Want to Go With You" by Arnold; and "That's All That Matters to Me" by Mickey Gilley.

This pleading sentiment was expressed in 1965 in "Make the World Go Away":

"Make the world go away.
"And get it off my shoulders.
"Say the things you used to say
"And make the world go away."

Moore said Cochran's close friends Billy Ray Cyrus, Jamey Johnson and Buddy Cannon visited him Wednesday night and they sang songs together.

Survivors include his wife, three sons and a daughter. A private memorial service will be held later. His ex-wife is Grand Ole Opry singer Jeannie Seely.

Cochran was born in Isola, Miss., and worked the New Mexico oilfields as a young man. He was a member of the Nashville Songwriters Association International Hall of Fame and the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame.

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