艾迪·科克兰

Edward Ray Cochran ( KOK-rən; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. His songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", "C'mon Everybody" and "Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire in the mid-1950s and early 1960s. He experimented with multitrack recording, distortion techniques and overdubbing, even on his earliest singles. Cochran played the guitar, piano, bass, and drums. His image as a sharply dressed and attractive young man with a rebellious attitude epitomized the stance of the 1950s rocker, and in death, he achieved iconic status.

Cochran was involved with music from an early age, playing in the school band and teaching himself to play blues guitar. In 1955, Cochran formed a duo with the guitarist Hank Cochran (no relation) and became known as the Cochran Brothers. When they split the following year, Eddie began a song-writing career with Jerry Capehart. His first success came when he performed "Twenty Flight Rock" in the film The Girl Can't Help It, which starred Jayne Mansfield. Soon afterward, he signed a recording contract with Liberty Records and his first record for the label, "Sittin' in the Balcony", rose to number 18 on the Billboard charts.

Cochran died in April 1960 in St Martin's Hospital, Bath, Somerset, after a car accident in Chippenham, Wiltshire, at the end of his British tour with Gene Vincent. On April 16, after they had just performed at the Bristol Hippodrome, and when they were on their way to Heathrow Airport to fly home, Vincent, Cochran, their tour manager Patrick Tompkins, and the songwriter Sharon Sheeley were involved in a high-speed traffic accident in a private-hire taxi. The other three passengers survived (albeit with significant injuries); but Cochran, who had been thrown from the vehicle, suffered more serious brain injuries and died the following day.

Though Cochran's best-known songs were released during his lifetime, more of his songs were released posthumously. In 1987, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A wide variety of recording artists have recorded his songs. Paul McCartney chose Cochran's "Twenty Flight Rock" as his audition piece, confident that his performance would impress John Lennon, which it did, and was hired as a member of Lennon's skiffle group, the Quarrymen, which later became the Beatles.

Early life

Cochran was born on October 3, 1938, in Albert Lea, Minnesota, to Alice and Frank R. Cochran, natives of 'Oklahoma. He was of Scottish and English descent. Cochran took music lessons in school but quit the band to play drums. Additionally, rather than taking piano lessons, he began learning guitar, playing country and other music he heard on the radio.

In 1952, Cochran's family moved to Bell Gardens, California. As his guitar playing improved, Cochran formed a band with two friends from his junior high school. In January 1955, Cochran dropped out of Bell Gardens High School in his first year to become a professional musician.

Career

The Cochran Brothers (1955–1956)

During a show featuring many performers at an American Legion hall, Cochran met the songwriter Hank Cochran. Although they were not related, they recorded as the Cochran Brothers and performed together. They recorded a few singles for Ekko Records that were fairly successful and helped to establish them as a performing act. Eddie Cochran also worked as a session musician and began writing songs, making a demo with Jerry Capehart, his future manager.