Chuck Cockerham - A Brief Interview
A very brief interview with the voice behind one of the most indemand records
Chuck Cockerham Interview (albeit A Very Brief One).
After following up on a few leads I finally got to speak with the man behind the voice of one of the most iconic crossover records of all time, “Have I Got A Right” released on the Bell records subsidiary label Mala, the one and only Mr Chuck Cockerham. A very nice guy who agreed to briefly answer one or two of the questions that I wished to put to him. He is reputedly working with another party regarding the compiling of memoirs for a future publication and therefore only agreed to offer up limited information to some of my questions the results of which are as follows:
Charles Harold Cockerham pronounced as ‘Cockeram’ with a silent ‘H’ was born in Durham, North Carolina during 1945 and being later raised in the city of Greensboro, NC. He initially began singing in his School choir which was instrumental in him forming his own Doowop group by the name of the Objectives during the early 1960’s. From 1963 to 1965 they worked regularly, culminating in the release of their solitary 45 single on Stan Lewis’s Jewel label, “Oh My Love (Come Back To Me)/Love Went Away” (Jewel 751). The Objectives later broke up following the death of Chuck’s best friend and the group’s first tenor, at this point Chuck temporarily retired from performing but later made a brief return when starting a rock group, a scenario which Chuck chose not to divulge any further information upon.
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In 1969 Chuck was invited to join the vocal group Bill Pinkney And The Original Drifters, the group he was to perform and record with for the rest of his performing career.
Also in 1969 and just prior to joining the Original Drifters Chuck was to record his now legendary solitary solo, Mala 45. Through a chance meeting with Fred Tanner and his fellow producer Johnny Coffman, Chuck recorded the now high desirable and respected Fred Tanner penned “Have I Got A Right” backed with Hey There”. Chuck remembers that the song did receive some airplay throughout the Carolina’s upon it’s release, albeit somewhat limited. “Have I Got A Right/Hey There” was recorded at one off studio session with Chuck never ever performing the songs again.
Now enjoying life as a retired performing artist, Chuck is fully aware of the huge popularity and price tag Interviewof his Mala 45 throughout the UK and indeed the rest of the world’s rare soul collector’s scene. With regards to the later, group version by The Nomads, Chuck is also aware of that but was not involved with it in any shape or form as has sometimes been reputedly mentioned. So there you have it, the sum total of what Mr Chuck Cockerham was prepare to divulge to me during our brief conversation.
Words By David Welding
With Acknowledgements to: Charles Cockerham.
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