In memory of the great Eddie Cochran who changed the face of modern music

Cochran was just 21 when he died on April 17, 1960 in a road accident during his British tour. Though his best known songs were released during his lifetime, more of his songs were released posthumously.

In 1987, Cochran was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

His songs have been much covered by bands such as The Who, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Dick Dale & his Del-Tones, Blue Cheer, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix. Rush, Humble Pie, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Teenage Head, Tiger Army, UFO, The White Stripes, Stray Cats, Tommy and the Guns, and the Sex Pistols.

 

Last edited: Apr 22, 2016

Rock music starts here ...

 

Last edited: Apr 17, 2016

Thanks, Zenarcist, he completely fell from my radar for a long time, and now I am fortunate to revisit and review the greatness of this burning fixture and fundamental founder of our modern music heritage. Not bad for a white guy back then. You gotta remember...the blues are the roots, the rest are the fruits.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 17, 2016

Cochran, and his best friend Buddy Holly are the giants of modern music who will never be forgotten, they are the foundations of all that followed, least of all they wrote their own songs. Oh yeah, we should remember Chuck Berry too

But Eddie Cochran was the archetypal rock star, he had the looks and the moves, it's no wonder those in the profession worshiped him, he was a shining star and the blueprint for all those who came after.

If you want to make it in rock music, sing like Eddie Cochran. Everybody else did.

Yeah, the blues are the roots but these guys repackaged it into something we recognize today, They performed their own material, standardized guitar, drums and bass as the delivery platform and added heaps of attitude.

 

Last edited: Apr 17, 2016

Some Grade A shit going on here ...

 

Last edited: Apr 22, 2016

There's no shame in being truthful about the origin of rock n roll.. or what Jesus looked like for that matter. That's why there's so many problems in the world. I've seen people in this forum present musical arrangements as their own because they thought no one else on Earth heard it before. People do that all the time and get their card pulled sooner or later. But this is different. This is the ideology that says 50 years from now there will be claims that Everlast or The House Of Pain started Rap music. Anyone who is a true music lover ought to fully examine, be aware of, faithful of, and respect the history of it. Music originated as a way for people to communicate with other people over long distances. The probability that a message received by a bullhorn was interpreted and projected more clearly by the receiving end than it is today shows that the strength of some people's ego became a priority larger than the truth.

 

Last edited: Apr 17, 2016

@dbmuzik
1) Drums were and are used to communicate over long distance. Music per se, not really.
2) Eddie Cochran looked like the spitting image of Jesus, and lastly
3) My cousin Thadeus invented the genre Rap. Word!! He told me so and he always lays it down straight.

 

I've been doing some research on this fella, as I never knew too much about him.

It turns out he was a virtuoso guitar player who covered many genres, and he possessed one of the original raw rock voices that would be much copied as modern rock music progressed. He wrote his own songs (rare in those days), and he was a bit of a whiz in the studio. He was one of the first to use overdubs and his tape effect skills were up there with those of Les Paul. He also played bass, piano, keyboards and drums. Not to mention he was the first person to use an unwound G string (to aid string bending), and was the first guitarists to mod a production electric guitar by putting a Gibson P90 into the neck position on his Gretsch.

Having gone through the original rock 'n roll era in his teens, Cochran looked all set to lead the charge into the 60's, and who knows what he might have achieved if his life hadn't been sadly cut short back in 1960.

His legacy besides his music is the influence he had over the next wave of English rock guitarists such as Jimmy Page, Pete Townsend, George Harrison, Jeff Beck, Keith Richards and even Jimi Hendrix.

In fact, Hendrix said that when he died he wanted Eddie Cochran's music played at his funeral. It was.

 

Last edited: Apr 22, 2016