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| − | {{Infobox musical artist
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| − | | Name = Eddie Cochran
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| − | | Img = Eddiecochrane.jpg
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| − | | Background = solo_singer
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| − | | Birth_name = Raymond Edward Cochran
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| − | | Alias =
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| − | | Born = {{birth date|1938|10|3|mf=y}}<br/><small>[[Albert Lea, Minnesota|Albert Lea]], [[Minnesota]]</small>
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| − | | Died = {{death date and age|1960|4|17|1938|10|3}}<br/><small>[[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], [[Somerset]], [[England]]</small>
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| − | | Instrument = [[Guitar]]
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| − | | Genre = [[rock and roll]], [[rockabilly]]
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| − | | Occupation = [[Singer-songwriter]], [[Guitarist]]
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| − | | Years_active = 1953 - 1960
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| − | | Label = [[Liberty Records|Liberty]]
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| − | | Notable_instruments = [[Gretsch 6120]]
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| − | '''Raymond Edward "Eddie" Cochran''' (October 2, 1938<ref name="birth-cert" />–April 17, 1960<ref name="death-cert" />) was an [[United States of America|American]] [[rock and roll]] musician and an important influence on popular music during the late 1950s, early 1960s, and beyond.
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| − | == Early life and career ==
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| − | Cochran was born in [[Albert Lea, Minnesota]], as Ray Edward Cochran.<ref name="birth-cert">{{cite web|url = http://web.archive.org/web/20040914093352/members.cox.net/gpugh1/Documents/Birth+Cert.jpg|publisher = State of Minnesota|title = Certificate of Birth: Ray Edward Cochran|date = 1938-10-02|accessdate = 2008-02-20}}</ref> He took music lessons in school, but quit the band to play drums. Also, rather than taking piano lessons, he began learning guitar, playing the country music he heard on the radio. In 1955, Cochran's family moved to [[Bell Gardens, California]]. As his guitar playing improved, he formed a band with two friends from his [[junior high school]]. During a show featuring many performers at an [[American Legion]] hall, he met [[Hank Cochran]] (later a [[country music]] songwriter). Although they were not related, they began performing together and recorded as The Cochran Brothers.<ref>[http://www.rockabillyhall.com/EddieCochran.html Rockabilly HoF]</ref> Eddie Cochran also worked as a session musician, and began writing songs, making a "demo" with [[Jerry Capehart]], his future [[music manager|manager]].
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| − | == Guitars==
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| − | When playing with Hank Cochran, Eddie Cochran played a [[Gibson Guitar Corporation|Gibson]] electric acoustic guitar with a single florentine cutaway. This guitar featured a pair of Gibson [[P-90|P90 pickups]], sometimes called 'dog ear' pickups due to their shape.
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| − | Later, Cochran moved to a 1956 [[Gretsch 6120]] [[Chet Atkins]] Western model, which Eddie had modified. He replaced the neck position De Armond Dynasonic pickup with a black covered Gibson P-90 pickup. He also used acoustic guitars.
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| − | ==Solo success==
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| − | In 1956, [[Boris Petroff]] asked Cochran if he would appear in the musical comedy film ''[[The Girl Can't Help It]]''. He agreed and sang a song called "[[Twenty Flight Rock]]" in the movie. In 1957, Cochran starred in his second film, "''[[Untamed Youth]]''" and also had his first hit, "[[Sittin' in the Balcony]]," one of the few songs he recorded that was written by another songwriter ([[John D. Loudermilk]]). "Twenty Flight Rock" was written by AMI staff writer Ned (Nelda) Fairchild. AMI granted Cochran a co-writer credit, but no royalties, a common arrangement by which publishers move songs from demos to commercial recordings.
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| − | However, his most famous hit, "[[Summertime Blues]]" (co-written with [[Jerry Capehart]]), was an important influence on music in the late 1950s, both lyrically and musically. (The song, released on [[Liberty Records|Liberty]] recording #55144, charted #8 on August 25, 1958.) Cochran's brief career included only a few more hits, such as "[[C'mon Everybody]]," "[[Somethin' Else (Eddie Cochran song)|Somethin' Else]]," "My Way," "Weekend," "Nervous Breakdown," and his posthumous [[United Kingdom|UK]] number one hit "[[Three Steps to Heaven (song)|Three Steps to Heaven]]."
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| − | ==Death==
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| − | On Saturday, April 16 1960, at about 11:50 p.m., while on tour in the [[United Kingdom]], 21-year-old Cochran died in a traffic accident in a taxi (a [[Ford Consul]], [reg. no. RBO 869], not, as widely quoted a London [[Hackney carriage]]) traveling through [[Chippenham, Wiltshire]], [[England]] on the [[A4 road|A4]]. The taxi crashed into a lamp post on Rowden Hill, where a plaque now commemorates the event (no other car was involved). He was taken to St. Martin's Hospital, [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], but died at 4:10 p.m. the following day.<ref name="death-cert">{{cite web|url = http://web.archive.org/web/20040914095418/http://members.cox.net/gpugh1/Documents/Death+Cert.jpg|title = Certified copy of an entry of death: Edward Ray Cochran|publisher = County Borough of Bath|date = 1960-07-02|accessdate = 2008-02-20}}</ref> Songwriter [[Sharon Sheeley]] (Cochran's fiancée) and singer [[Gene Vincent]] survived the crash.
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| − | The taxi driver, George Martin, was convicted of dangerous driving, fined £50, disqualified from driving for 15 years, and sent to prison for six months.<ref>[http://www.eddiecochran.info/biography_DarkLonelyStreet.htm Remember Eddie Cochran's Dark Lonely Street on www.eddiecochran.info<!-- Bot generated title —>]</ref>
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| − | The car and other items from the crash were impounded at the local police station until a coroners' inquest could be held. At that time, [[David Harman]], later known as Dave Dee of the band [[Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich]], was a police cadet at the station. He taught himself to play guitar on Cochran's impounded [[Gretsch]]<ref>{{cite web|title= SEANCE WITH A GRETSCH G 6120 | url = http://www.gadflyonline.com/9-10-01/music-eddie-cochran.HTML|author = Ian Kimmet|date=9 Oct 2001}}</ref>.
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| − | Eddie Cochran is interred in the [[Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]] in [[Cypress, California]].<ref>{{cite web|title = Forest Lawn Cypress: Stars' Graves|url = http://www.seeing-stars.com/Buried2/ForestLawnCypress.shtml|author = Gary Wayne|accessdate = 2008-02-20}}</ref> A posthumous album, ''[[My Way (Eddie Cochran album)|My Way]]'', was released in 1964.
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| − | ==Posthumous releases and honours==
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| − | Cochran was a prolific performer, and the British Label [[Rockstar Records]] has released more of his music posthumously than had been released during his life. The company is still looking for unpublished songs.
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| − | One of his posthumous releases was "[[Three Stars (song)|Three Stars]]," a tribute to J.P. Richardson, better known as [[The Big Bopper]], and Eddie's friends [[Buddy Holly]] and [[Ritchie Valens]], who had all died together in a plane crash just one year earlier. Cochran's voice breaks during the lyrics about Valens and Holly.
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| − | In 1987, Cochran was inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]].<ref>[http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/eddie-cochran Rock and Roll HOF bio]</ref> His pioneering contribution to the genre of [[rockabilly]] has also been recognised by the [[Rockabilly Hall of Fame]]. Several of his songs have been re-released since his death, such as "C'Mon Everybody," which was a #14 hit in 1988 in the [[United Kingdom|UK]].
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| − | The life of Eddie Cochran is chronicled in several publications, including ''Don’t Forget Me – The Eddie Cochran Story'', written by [[Julie Mundy]] and Darrel Higham (ISBN 0-8230-7931-7), and ''Three Steps To Heaven'', written by Bobby Cochran (ISBN 0-634-03252-6).
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| − | On 2nd June 2008, [http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001885C4C/emi-cat-21/ref=nosim 'The Very Best of Eddie Cochran'] was released by EMI Records.
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| − | ==Influence==
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| − | Cochran had an innovative technique of aligning the bass and guitar to the same [[harmonic frequency]]. Artists such as [[The Who]], [[The Beach Boys]], [[Blue Cheer]], [[Led Zeppelin]], [[The White Stripes]], [[The Sex Pistols]], [[Tiger Army]] and [[Paul McCartney]] have recorded his songs. Glam rock artist [[Marc Bolan]] had his main [[Gibson Les Paul|Les Paul]] model refinished in an opaque orange to resemble the Gretsch 6120 guitar played by Cochran, who was his music hero.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bacon |first=Tony |title=50 Years of the Gibson Les Paul |publisher=Backbeat Books |id=ISBN 0-87930-711-0 |pages=pg. 71}}</ref>
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| − | ==Discography==
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| − | ====Albums====
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| − | *''[[Singin' To My Baby]]'' (August 1958)
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| − | *''[[The Eddie Cochran Memorial Album]]'' (September 1960)
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| − | *''[[Cherished Memories]]'' (December 1962)
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| − | *''[[The Very Best of Eddie Cochran]]'' *(June 2008)
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| − | == Notes==
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| − | {{reflist|2}}
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| − | {{DEFAULTSORT:Cochran, Eddie}}
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| − | [[Category:music]]
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| − | [[Category:musicians]]
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| − | [[Category:biography]]
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| − | {{credit|230606252}}
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