- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- Best known for co-writing and recording “Summertime Blues” in 1958, Eddie Cochran casts a long shadow despite dying at just 21 in an auto crash.
Eddie Cochran – The Legendary Eddie Cochran (1971): Best known for co-writing and recording “Summertime Blues” in 1958, Eddie Cochran casts a long shadow despite having been killed at just 21 in an auto crash that injured another legendary early rocker, Gene Vincent. The Legendary Eddie Cochran has a generous 18 tracks and is a French compilation album that features an interview at the end of Side 1; Johnny Hallyday, the iconic “French Elvis” is among the dozens of performers who have recorded Eddie Cochran songs. The reason that Paul McCartney was invited in 1957 to join John Lennon’s band the Quarrymen (on the day that the two first met) is that he knew the words and chords for “Twenty Flight Rock”, a song that Cochran performed in the Jayne Mansfield movie, The Girl Can’t Help It (1956). The Quarrymen later evolved into the Beatles.
“Summertime Blues” was a staple in the early live concerts by the Who, though their first release of the song was on their 1970 album Live at Leeds. “Summertime Blues” was the only hit song by Blue Cheer (in 1967) and has been called the first heavy metal song. More recently, Alan Jackson had a #1 country music single with “Summertime Blues” in 1994, and the Canadian hard rock band Rush released the song as a single in 2004. Eddie Cochran has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and also the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.