Dave was born in Chicago and his parents moved to Memphis while he was still very young. In Memphis he was raised on Country and old school Soul music. In the days when there were only AM radio stations he recalls listening to WDIA, whose broadcast area centered mainly on the Mississippi Delta. On WDIA they played the music Dave came to love; Blues, Soul, Motown and Stax artists, the likes of James Brown and Wilson Pickett, among others. On Sundays WDIA’s airwaves were full of Gospel and other black church music which were Dave’s first inspiration to pursue a career in music.
Noticing that an important and integral part of the music he loved was the beat, Dave started out wanting to be a drummer. He started playing the drums at age 12. Along with some school friends a band was formed who would play at local parties. Two things occurred to Dave quite early on, firstly that playing in a band was a great way for him to meet girls, and secondly that he wasn’t a very good drummer. This wasn’t too much of a problem because it turned out that the bass player wasn’t very good at playing bass either. They decided to swap instruments and the rest is history.
Dave has worked at almost every studio in Memphis, including Ardent, Stax, Sounds Unreel, Beautiful Sound, TMI, Kiva and Shoe. One of the last records he worked on for Stax was with Rick Dees, of ‘Disco Duck’ fame. Dave wrote and played bass on the two follow up songs.
In the 1970’s Andy Fraser (formerly with Free, and the writer of ‘All Right Now’) formed a band called The Sharks. Dave saw them perform in Memphis and his close friend Robert Johnson, knew some members of The Sharks. Johnson heard that they were auditioning for a bass player and suggested it to Dave. In the Fall of 1974 Dave sold all his belongings and bought a plane ticket to London to audition. He was hired over 200 other bass players and joined The Sharks’ line up. The first record he played on with the band was produced by John Entwistle (of The Who fame). John and Dave became good friends. The Sharks guitarist was Chris Spedding, who was one of the top session players on the London scene at the time. Some time later when the band recorded a track called ‘Music Breakout’ the record company (Island Records) decided they didn’t like it and the band broke up shortly afterwards.
Dave loved living in London, and had made many friends there and decided to stay. He played with a few local bands to pay the rent and eventually got a call from Spedding asking him to play on a solo record being recorded with producer Mickey Most. One of the tracks they recorded was the top 10 hit ‘Motorbiking’. Chris Spedding was working on a session at Abbey Road Studios and again asked Dave if he was interested in playing on it. That session lead to a very long association with Roy Harper, as well as with the Abbey Road Studios, where Dave continued to work for three years.
The first Roy Harper album that Dave worked on was ‘HQ’. Also featured on this album were Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin),David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and Bill Bruford (Yes & King Crimson). The album was produced by Peter Jenner.
Dave’s career has also seen him spend a good few years recording and touring with the great Albert King, who affectionately named him ‘Roundman’. Dave recalls that King would raise hell if a drummer couldn’t keep good time, - they didn’t call those guitars ‘Flying V’s for nothing! Dave says he will always remember the time he spent with and around Albert King and that he will be eternally grateful that King gave him an education that money couldn’t buy and shared so much of his life and so many of his thoughts, all of which have left a lasting impression.
One of the tracks on the player ‘Hadyn’s Opus’ was an idea by Keith Sykes and is a remake of one of Hadyn's compositions. Matt Blake played the violin parts on electric guitar. Dave played the cello parts on electric bass.
Dave Cochran has recorded and played with some great musicians, these include: Van Morrison. Doctor John. Mick Ronson. Albert King. Jerry Lee Lewis. Chuck Berry. Tony Joe White, Greg Morrow. Cozy Powell. Chad Cromwell. Phil Rambow. The Bar-Kays. Shawn Lane, Shirley Brown. Black Oak Arkansas. Vince Gill. David Alan Coe. Edgar Winter. Rick Derringer. John Prine. Billy Joe Shaver. Willie Nelson, Eddy Shaver. Warren Haynes. Greg Allman, Joe Walsh. John Kilzer. Rob Jungklas. Jimmy Davis and Junction. Johnny Thunders (RIP), Rodney Crowell. Keith Sykes. Blair Cunningham (Dave’s favorite drummer). Kenny Aronoff. Mitch Mitchell. Tim Hinkley. Terry Manning. Joe Hardy. Stevie Ray Vaughn. Bill Carter. Jimmy Vaughn. Greg Allman. The Cherilles. David Lee Murphy. Chuck Leavell. Pat Buchanan. Foreigner. Jimi Jamison and Survivor. Mickey Gilley. "Fingers Taylor". Pine Top Perkins. Sean Costello. Reverend Billy Wirtz. Lash Laroo. Ann Peebles. Johnny Diesel. Deborah Conway, music for Rush Limbaugh's show. Geno Washington. Carol Grimes. Henry McCullough. Paul Carrack. John Carbo and more.
