The first time Eddie Cochran picked
up a guitar he was 12 years old. Playfully strumming the strings, the young man felt like
he was creating magic. The following Christmas Eddie's parents gave him his first guitar.
From then on, mastering the guitar became eddie'd primary focus. When he was not at home
practicing, he was at a music store listening to the latest records. Eddie soon became so
adept on the guitar that his friends often asked him to play at parties.
Eddie was born in Oklahoma City on October3, 1938, and grew up in Minnesota.
When Eddie was 14 years old, his family moved to Bell Gardens, California. The kids in
Eddie's new neighborhood were intrigued by the sounds they heard coming through his open
bedroom window. Word of the new teenager's musical talents quickly spread through the
small suberb, and before long eddie was enjoying his new found status as a local
celebrity.
Songwriter Jerry Capehart was particularly impressed with Eddie when he heard
him sing. In 1956 Jerry had formed Ekko Records. He recorded Eddie and a friend, Hank
Cochran, who was no relation. They called themselves the Cochran brothers, their records
were not big hits.
At this time Elvis Presley was taking the country by storm with his soulful
singing and gyrating hips. Si Waronker, an executive at liberty Records, heard Eddie'd
music and thought he might be able to make Eddie into Liberty's answer to Elvis. Waronker
arranged a meeting with Eddie to discuss his recording solo for Liberty. Since Hank had
already left California for Nashville, where he planned to write and record his own
materiel, Eddie decided the timing was right and hoped that Liberty had the know-how to
deliver what he wanted most - a hit record.
To launch Eddie's solo career, Liberty records arranged for him to make a
brief appearance in a feature film, The Girl Can't Help it, starring Jayne
Mansfield. Eddie sang "Twenty Flight Rock". Liberty intended to release the song
as Eddie's first single but released "Sittin' in the balcony" first instead. The
single shot to number 18 on the charts, but Eddie was determined to succeed with his own
identity. He turned to his buddy jerry Capehart for help. In the spring of 1958, they
collaborated on "Summertime Blues", and scored big with teenage listeners.
"Summertime Blues" became one of Liberty's biggest hits. Suddenly Liberty were
no longer interested in Making Eddied the new Elvis.
In 1959 Eddie met Sharon Sheeley, who had written Ricky Nelson's hit
"Poor Little Fool". The couple exchanged opinions about various groups and
discovered that their tastes were similar. Eddie asked Sharon if she would write a song
with him. Their collaboration produced "Somethin' Else," which Liberty released
in September 1959.
In early 1960 Eddie toured England for 10 weeks. Recognizing that the road
could be lonely, he invited Sharon to join him. The tour closed with a week's engagement
in London. The next day, Eddie and Sharon were scheduled to return to the States on an
early morning flight. The took a taxi from London. On a lonely stretch of road near
Chippenham, Wiltshire, one of the tyres blew out. The driver tried to steer the swerving
Ford Consuloff of the road and out of the way of an oncoming vehicle, but he collided with
it. Sharon's back was permanently injured. Eddie Cochran sustained severe head injuries
and died several hours later on April 17, 1960. He was 21 years old.
