From: "Dik de Heer" Date: Thu Oct 3, 2002 2:08 am Subject: Born To Be With You : Eddie Cochran EDDIE COCHRAN (By Shaun Mather) Born Edward Raymond Cochran, 3 October 1938, Albert Lea, Minnesota Died 17 April 1960, Chippenham, England Eddie Cochran was the consummate rock 'n' roll idol, the one who had the lot. Unfortunately he had it taken away at the criminally young age of 21. Good looks, great guitar playing and the social-commentary lyrics of a Chuck Berry, Eddie was better positioned than anyone to rival Elvis Presley. Where his career would have sent him is anyone's guess, producing and playing sessions seem to be the main consensus of opinion, or perhaps he would have carried on in the limelight. Whilst that will never be known, what we did get during his brief time here was some of the best rock records ever, together with some wonderful licks to spice them up. By the time the Cochran family moved to California around 1950, Eddie was already an accomplished musician. He started to play with Hank Cochran as the Cochran Brothers although they weren't related. Hank had a country heart whilst Eddie was fueled by a blood supply of the youthful rockabilly sounds. This mix shows up beautifully in their records and they still withstood the test of time, sounding as refreshing today as they must have five decades ago. Hank and Eddie went their seperate ways with Hank destined for an Hall of Fame career writing country songs. Meanwhile Eddie was by now working closely with Jerry Capehart who was instrumental in attaining him a role in the 1956 rock-flick, The Girl Can't Help It, in which he played Twenty Flight Rock. The following year he had his first Top 20 hit with Sittin' In The Balcony, a breathy mid-pacer with plenty of echo-o-o-o. For the next two years he was running high with such revered classics as Summertime Blues, C'Mon Everybody, Somethin' Else, Three Steps To Heaven, My Way, Weekend and Nervous Breakdown. They've all been copied to death from metal to punk, rockabilly to country bands - and I think it's fair to say that no-one has really surpassed them. Rockstar Records have been kind to Eddie fans over the years and have brought to the fore the Eddie instrumental, an area which he may well have gone into in the early '60s had he been able. His guitar playing was way ahead of its time and numbers like Guybo, Eddie's Blues, Chicken Shot Blues etc. sound stunning today, never mind 45 years ago. Eddie embarked on a 1960 tour of the UK with his buddy Gene Vincent, and was killed in a car crash at Chippenham, not before he'd turned the UK scene on its head, with British musicians still today, marvelling at his guitar work. The town remembers him every year with a tribute concert, the least that can be done to celebrate the life of one of the best ever. Recommended listening: Anything from Rockstar The Eddie Cochran Box Set (Liberty 7911872). 4 CD-set. Recommended reading: Julie Mundy and Darrel Higham, Don't Forget Me : The Eddie Cochran Story. Edinburgh/London : Mainstream Publishing, 2000. The Cochran Connection - by Bill Beard. See: http://www.rhis.co.uk/cochran/framer.html Website: http://www.rhis.co.uk/cochran/ Tapio's discography: http://pcuf.fi/~tapiov/discographies/cochran_connection.htm