Wayne Cogswell

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Wayne Cogswell (born September 12, 1937 ) is an American rockabilly and rock 'n' roll musician and songwriter. Cogswell wrote hits for stars like Chet Atkins , Skeeter Davis and Floyd Cramer in the late 1950s and early 1960s .

Life

In 1954, Wayne Cogswell, who was then married and had five children, moved to Memphis , Tennessee , looking for musician jobs. In the meantime he had adopted the stage name "Wayne Powers". In Memphis, Cogswell first worked as a salesman for vacuum washers and in the same year met Ray Harris , who was looking for a guitarist . Cogswell joined Harris' band and for the next four years the two played together. Cogswell recorded with Harris at Sun Records in Memphis and was the co-writer of several Harris songs ( Come On Little Mama , Where'd You Stay Last Nite , Foolish Heart ).

When Ray Harris left Sun in 1958 and started the Hi Records label , Cogswell stayed with Sun. He now got the opportunity to record a few songs for Sun himself, of which My Love Song and Point of View were released under his stage name "Wayne Powers" on Sun's sub-label Phillips International . It would be his only recordings for Sun, however. Instead, Cogswell worked for Sun as a studio musician and alongside Jack Clement and Bill Justis as another "right hand man" for Sam Phillips , the owner of the label. His notable work includes supervising Mikki Milan's session during which Milan recorded Somehow Without You .

In the early 1960s, Cogswell began to focus more on writing songs. For Chet Atkins he wrote the hits Teensville , The Slop and Rainbows End as well as Skeeter Davis' Someday Someday . In 1964, Cogswell had its greatest commercial success. Al Hirt made the song Night Theme, written with Ray Peterson, a hit that was covered by many other artists. Cogswell recorded the song himself with Peterson under the pseudonym The Mark Two on his own label WYE Records and in 1967 on Roulette Records . He also composed songs as Wayne Powers and Winston Cogswill.

In the present, Cogswell is still performing.

Discography

year title Label #
1958 My Love Song / Point of View Phillips Int. 3523
196? Night Theme / Confusion WYE 5-1001
1967 Night Theme / Confusion Roulette 4784
Unpublished titles
  • What Will I Do
Sun Records

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