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Current mood:  rockin Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
Eddie Cochran was remembered on BBC Radio 2 last weekendJoe Brown (Narrator)
To hear the recorded version online, please visit the BBC site and follow the instructions given there
BBC Radio 2 - UK
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/documentaries/50s_eddiecochran.shtml
The Eddie Cochran Story: Somethin' Else
Saturday 21 February 2009
During Eddie’s brief life he made miraculous and imaginative records that encapsulate every facet of rock ’n’ roll. This documentary profiles his life, work and tragic death.
Cochran had it all covered as a songwriter, singer, musician and studio magician. His list of admirers is long and broad spanning the decades, and includes Rod Stewart, Marc Bolan, The Who, The Beach Boys and the Sex Pistols – all of whom recorded his songs over the years.
Eddie’s career was brief but his influence and popularity have been long lasting. His reputation as a founding father of rock ‘n’ roll music was confirmed when he was chosen as one of the first stars to be inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall Of Fame.
Eddie Cochran is much loved in the UK, where he met his tragically early death in a car accident in Wiltshire, aged 21. Although it’s startling how much he had achieved in his short life, what glittering promise for the future was snatched away on the night of 17 April 1960.
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If you can't access the audio clip from your country,
try Youtube (short version)
Eddie Cochran – Somethin' Else
http://50s-60s-pop-music.suite101.com/article.cfm/eddie_cochran_somethin_else
Radio Profile of an Early Rock God
by Clive Harvey – musician, songwriter, writer, broadcaster. Born in Watford, brought up in Derbyshire, now living in Surrey, UK.
He was singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and studio wizard. He died tragically at 21. He was the legendary Eddie Cochran.
BBC Radio 2’s documentary, broadcast on 21 February 2009, was confirmation for fans, a reminder for those who needed it, and a fascinating history lesson for those too young to remember, about a prodigious early rock talent.
Reaching out to Cochran Fans and Non-Fans alike
This was always going to appeal largely to people of a certain age, particularly in Britain, who remember Eddie Cochran from their youth, remember the impact of his music and the shock of his untimely death, in Britain, at only 21.
But there are always uncommitted listeners who just happen to tune in to a show. Those who did so that Saturday night would also have been drawn into what was an insightful, well presented profile of a talented young man who achieved god-like status in Britain while, in comparison, being virtually ignored in his native America.
America’s Early Rock Stars in Britain
One reason for Cochran’s huge popularity in Britain, certainly, was the fact that he bothered to come. In the fifties visits here by genuine pioneers of American rock’n’roll were comparatively rare, and longed for. Presley never came, although he was protected by his truly iconic status. Jerry Lee Lewis did come, but left early, hounded out by public disapproval (fanned by the merciless tabloid press) of his recent marriage to his 13-year-old cousin. (“Hell, I’m only country!” was his famous riposte.)
Maybe this treatment put others off, but those who made the effort and managed to avoid negative publicity, such as Cochran, Gene Vincent and Buddy Holly, were rewarded with hero worship far more ardent than they enjoyed in their homeland. Possibly a case of “prophets without honour in their own country”, to paraphrase from the Bible.
Cochran Forgotten in America
But quite why Eddie Cochran, in particular, should suffer from this syndrome is a bit of a mystery. Although it’s true he was one amongst many young rock’n’roll performers in the States, he was genuinely multi-talented, smart, charismatic and very good-looking. He should have been huge. Maybe he would have been, had he not died young.
In America he was soon forgotten, but in Britain he was and still is regarded as a one of the great early rock icons. "Summertime Blues", "C’mon Everybody", "Somethin’ Else" and the posthumous hits "Three Steps To Heaven" and "Weekend" are considered classics.
Notable Contributions from Joe Brown and Darrel Higham
Cochran’s impact in Britain was authoritatively described by presenter Joe Brown, who, as something of a local teenage sensation himself in the late fifties, played guitar in the visiting star’s band. There were also recorded comments from Gene Vincent and famous British fans George Harrison and Marty Wilde. Darrel Higham, a huge Cochran fan and fine guitarist in his own right, not only gave informative descriptions of Cochran’s precocious guitar skills, he ably demonstrated the signature licks himself.
The programme also described Cochran’s clever songwriting and his versatility in the recording studio, where he sang, played guitar and multi-tracked, often playing most of the instruments himself. He was, after Les Paul, one of the great pioneers of multi-tracking – while still a teenager.
The car crash that killed Eddie Cochran, near Chippenham, Wiltshire, in 1960, was a tragic early end to a promising career. All the show’s contributors agreed that, had he lived, he would have flourished, reinventing himself whenever necessary, to become a superstar.
11:53 PM
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