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Somehow, time has not accorded Eddie Cochran
quite the same respect as other early rockabilly pioneers like
Buddy Holly, or even Ricky Nelson or Gene Vincent. This is partially
attributable to his very brief lifespan as a star: he only had
a couple of big hits before dying in a car crash during a British
tour in 1960. He was in the same league as the best rockabilly
stars, though, with a brash, fat guitar sound that helped lay
the groundwork for the power chord. He was also a good songwriter
and singer, celebrating the joys of teenage life — the parties,
the music, the adolescent rebellion — with an economic wit that
bore some similarities to Chuck Berry. Cochran was more lighthearted
and less ironic than Berry, though, and if his work was less consistent
and not as penetrating, it was almost always exuberant.
Cochran's mid-'50s beginnings in the record industry are a bit
confusing. His family had moved to Southern California around
1950, and in 1955 he made his first recordings as half of the
Cochran Brothers. Here's the confusing part: although the other
half of the act was really named Hank Cochran, he was not Eddie's
brother. (Hank Cochran would become a noted country songwriter
in the 1960s.) Eddie was already an accomplished rockabilly guitarist
and singer on these early sides, and he started picking up some
session work as well, also finding time to make demos and write
songs with Jerry Capehart, who became his manager.
Cochran's big break came about in a novel fashion. In mid-1956,
while Cochran and Capehart were recording some music for low-budget
films, Boris Petroff asked Eddie if he'd be interested in appearing
in a movie that a friend was directing. The film was The Girl
Can't Help It, and the song he would sing in it was "Twenty-Flight
Rock." This is the same song that Paul McCartney would use to
impress John Lennon upon their first meeting in 1957 (Paul could
not only play it, but knew all of the lyrics).
Cochran had his first Top 20 hit in early 1957, "Sittin' in the
Balcony," with an echo-chambered vocal reminiscent of Elvis. That
single was written by John D. Loudermilk, but Eddie would write
much of his material, including his only Top Ten hit, "Summertime
Blues." A definitive teenage anthem with hints of the overt protest
that would seep into rock music in the 1960s, it was also a technical
tour de force for the time: Cochran overdubbed himself on guitar
to create an especially thick sound. One of the classic early
rock singles, "Summertime Blues" was revived a decade later by
proto-metal group Blue Cheer, and was a concert staple for the
Who, who had a small American hit with a cover version. (Let's
not mention Alan Jackson's country rendition in the 1990s.)
That, disappointingly, was the extent of Cochran's major commercial
success in the U.S. "C'mon Everybody," a chugging rocker that
was almost as good as "Summertime Blues," made the Top 40 in 1959,
and also gave Eddie his first British Top Tenner. As is the case
with his buddy Gene Vincent, though, you can't judge his importance
by mere chart statistics. Cochran was very active in the studio,
and while his output wasn't nearly as consistent as Buddy Holly's
(another good friend of Eddie's), he laid down a few classic or
near-classic cuts that are just as worthy as his hits. "Somethin'
Else," "My Way" (which the Who played in concert at the peak of
psychedelia), "Weekend" (covered by the Move), and "Nervous Breakdown"
are some of the best of these, and belong in the collection of
every rockabilly fan. He was also (like Holly) an innovator in
the studio, using overdubbing at a time when that practice was
barely known on rock recordings.
Cochran is more revered today in Britain than the United States,
due in part to the tragic circumstances of his death. In the spring
of 1960, he toured the U.K. with Vincent, to a wild reception,
in a country that had rarely had the opportunity to see American
rock & roll stars in the flesh. En route to London to fly back
to the States for a break, the car Cochran was riding in, with
his girlfriend (and songwriter) Sharon Sheeley and Gene Vincent,
had a severe accident. Vincent and Sheeley survived, but Cochran
died less than a day later, at the age of 21.
This bio courtesy www.allmusic.com
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