45s.com -- Recording Artist Information: Eddie Cochran

Date Born	October 3, 1938
Location	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
	April 17, 1960 - auto accident
Music	Rock and Roll singer, guitarist
Charted Pop/Rock Hits	7
Period Active	March 23, 1957 to 1959
Biggest Hits	Summertime Blues
Music List and Data	Search Music List
Notable Information	Eddie Cochran had seven songs that hit the charts in 1957, 1958, and 1959.  Eddie Cochran was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Other Names	Edward Ray (Eddie) Cochran
Other Web Sites	Collins' Oldies Website: Eddie Cochran The Legend of Eddie Cochran The Eddie Cochran Story Eddie Cochran On-Line Songbook Find a Grave: Eddie Cochran Eddie Cochran at the Moonlite Gardens WWW Rockabilly Hall of Fame: Eddie Cochran

Eddie Cochran was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.  The following information was obtained from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

Though he died young at twenty-one, Eddie Cochran left a lasting mark on rock and roll as pioneer who helped map out the territory with such definitive songs as "C'mon Everybody," "Something Else," "Twenty Flight Rock" and "Summertime Blues." Cochran epitomized the sound and the stance of the Fifties-bred rebel rocker. His twangy guitar riffs and the defiant attitude of his songs made him an icon for several generations of rock and rollers, from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Who to punk-rockers like the Sex Pistols. It was a song of Cochran's that initially brought John Lennon and Paul McCartney together in June 1957, when the latter taught the former the chords to "Twenty Flight Rock" at a church picnic where Lennon's Quarrymen were playing. In the late Sixties, both the Who and Blue Cheer cut memorable versions of "Summertime Blues," an anthem of teen disenchantment.

Cochran was born in Minnesota, raised in Oklahoma and moved to California with his family, where he began his musical career in 1954. Initially, he teamed up with singer-guitarist Hank Cochran (no relation), touring and recording as the Cochran Brothers. He then found a manager and collaborator in songwriter Jerry Capehart, who worked with Cochran for the remainder of his career. Cochran cut his first rock record, "Skinny Jim," for the Crest label in July 1956. His big break came when he a movie producer approached him to appear in the film The Girl Can't Help It, which featured his frenetic version of "Twenty Flight Rock." That same year, Cochran signed with Liberty Records, where he perfected a hitmaking sound typified by acoustic and electric guitars, handclaps and tambourines. On the movie front, Cochran made another splash in Go Johnny Go!, in which he performed "C'mon Everybody."

Eddie Cochran released only one album, Singin' to My Baby, during his lifetime, which was abruptly cut short when the limousine in which he was a passenger crashed en route to a London airport at the end of a British tour. A day later, on April 17th, 1960, Cochran died from his injuries. Also hurt in the crash were rocker Gene Vincent and Cochran's fiancee, songwriter Shari Sheeley. The single he'd released at the time of his death, eerily enough, was entitled "Three Steps to Heaven."