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Nearly 40 years after he died at age 21 in an auto accident, Eddie Cochran is acknowledged as one of the most influential of the early rock 'n' rollers. Along with Buddy Holly, he was one of the first rock performers to write and play his own material. That credibility, in tandem with his huge popularity and influence in Britain, has made him a legend, despite the fact that his short recording career produced only three U.S. Top 40 hits.
Ray Edward Cochran was born Oct. 3, 1938 in Albert Lea, Minn. Within a few years, his family moved to Oklahoma City, where they stayed with Eddie's grandmother on land that would later become the site of the Edward P. Murrah federal building, which was bombed in 1995.
In 1953 the Cochran family moved to Bell Gardens, Calif., where Eddie spent his teen years. He formed his first music group there with Hank Cochran (no relation), who would later go on to co-write Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces." The Cochran Brothers, as the group was called, was a country act, touring and recording for Ekko Records. They split up after encountering little success.
In 1957, Eddie signed as a solo artist with Liberty Records and had his first hit, "Sittin' in the Balcony." The song reached the Top 20, and its follow-up, "Summertime Blues," topped the charts and has since become a rock 'n' roll classic. Eddie Cochran's only other U.S. Top 40 hit was 1959's "C'Mon Everybody."
It was a different story in Britain, however, where Cochran had a string of nine Top 40 hits. He was immensely popular with English teenagers, for whom he embodied the rebellious spirit of American rock music. A good looking, photogenic type, his image was enhanced by his appearances in films like The Girl Can't Help It and Untamed Youth.
Particularly enamored of Cochran's superb guitar playing was a young Liverpudlian named George Harrison, who caught many a show during Cochran's British tours and later cited him as a primary influence.
Cochran's biggest British tour was also, tragically, his last. Touring with Billy Fury and Gene Vincent in the spring of 1960, he was playing to packed houses of adoring fans. But on April 17, as Cochran and his girlfriend, Sharon Steeley, cruised the streets of Chippenham, Wiltshire in a chauffeured car, the car blew a tire and the driver lost control. The car slammed into a pole. Steeley wasn't badly hurt; Gene Vincent, who was also in the car, suffered injuries that left him with a permanent limp. Eddie Cochran was killed.
Cochran's single "Three Steps to Heaven," released in Britain just weeks after his death, topped the charts as the nation's rockers mourned the loss of one of their heroes. Since then, numerous British artists have paid tribute to Cochran by covering his songs; the list reads like a "Who's Who" of Brit Rock. Rod Stewart, the Sex Pistols, the Who and the Rolling Stones, among others, have recorded Cochran's songs, while artists such as U2 and Paul McCartney have performed Cochran songs onstage. Cochran was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
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