EDDIE COCHRAN : FROM OUR ARCHIVES POST (58) EDDIE COCHRAN : ROCKIN THE SUMMERTIME BLUES

POST (58) from October 26, 2007
EDDIE COCHRAN : ROCKIN THE SUMMERTIME BLUES

I met Eddie Cochran at the Sheridan Hotel in New York City, where I also met Jerry Capheart, a man who would figure big in my future one day when he signed me to be a staff songwriter at American Music in Los Angeles.

Buddy Knox called Eddie Cochran "The Blond Elvis."

In England, the Beatles had followed him and Gene Vincent around. (When it came to Rock and Roll, first the Americans invaded England, then there was a British invasion of America.) Eddie performed at an Alan Freed produced Rock and Roll show for New Years about the time I met him. It was the same show I saw Ritchie Valens perform for the first time on.

The world of early Rock and Roll was tough. Eddie carried a Derringer hand gun in his boot and I hear it came in handy more than once, like when he was threatened by the boyfriends of certain fans...

Eddie Cochran wasn't the only one who packed a gun while on tour or while walking the streets of New York but I decided I could take care of myself with my fists. I grew up rumbling with my brothers, had learned some karate and self defence while in the U.S. Army, and admired the boxers who I tried to meet when they came into the Turf restaurant for meals instead of eating across the way at Dempsey's, which was owned by the boxer Jack Dempsey. We all had security concerns that were not met by our record labels or our management. We didn't have body guards and it was up to us to protect ourselves. It was also legal to take a gun on a plane...

During my tour with Buddy Knox I performed two of Eddie Cochran's hits, "Summertime Blues," and "Come on Everybody." Here's Eddie performing those hits on television - You Tube presentations.

ROCKABILLY HALL OF FAME LINK HERE ROCKABILLY HALL OF FAME EDDIE COCHRAN

History of Rock - Eddie Cochran! HISTORY OF ROCK - EDDIE COCHRAN
Eddie Cochran died at the age of 21, at the height of his fame, in 1960 while touring in England, in a tragic automobile accident on the way to the airport. Gene Vincent was left with a limp in the same accident.

 

C's CHECKED and EDDIE COCHRAN on the TOWN HALL SHOW

We know! It looked like we were at the end of the alphabet. Well, when we started updating the A-B-C list, we ran into all sorts of glitches, so we're back there. 

In the C's we found that the Perry Como listings needed an update. Enjoy this Historical Music Video, thanks to a YouTuber!

FROM OUR ARCHIVES : POST (58) EDDIE COCHRAN : ROCKIN THE SUMMERTIME BLUES

(58) EDDIE COCHRAN : ROCKIN THE SUMMERTIME BLUES

I met Eddie Cochran at the Sheridan Hotel in New York City, where I also met Jerry Capheart, a man who would figure big in my future one day when he signed me to be a staff songwriter at American Music in Los Angeles.

Buddy Knox called Eddie Cochran "The Blond Elvis."

In England, the Beatles had followed him and Gene Vincent around. (When it came to Rock and Roll, first the Americans invaded England, then there was a British invasion of America.) Eddie performed at an Alan Freed produced Rock and Roll show for New Years about the time I met him. It was the same show I saw Ritchie Valens perform for the first time on.

The world of early Rock and Roll was tough. Eddie carried a Derringer hand gun in his boot and I hear it came in handy more than once, like when he was threatened by the boyfriends of certain fans...

Eddie Cochran wasn't the only one who packed a gun while on tour or while walking the streets of New York but I decided I could take care of myself with my fists. I grew up rumbling with my brothers, had learned some karate and self defence while in the U.S. Army, and admired the boxers who I tried to meet when they came into the Turf restaurant for meals instead of eating across the way at Dempsey's, which was owned by the boxer Jack Dempsey. We all had security concerns that were not met by our record labels or our management. We didn't have body guards and it was up to us to protect ourselves. It was also legal to take a gun on a plane...

During my tour with Buddy Knox I performed two of Eddie Cochran's hits, "Summertime Blues," and "Come on Everybody." Here's Eddie performing those hits on television - You Tube presentations.

"REMEMBER EDDIE COCKRAN" NEW SITE above! January 26, 2011

ROCKABILLY HALL OF FAME LINK HERE http://www.rockabillyhall.com/EddieCochran.html

History of Rock - Eddie Cochran! http://www.history-of-rock.com/cochran.htm

Eddie Cochran died at the age of 21, at the height of his fame, in 1960 while touring in England, in a tragic automobile accident on the way to the airport. Gene Vincent was left with a limp in the same accident.

ALL LINKS ACTIVE JULY 2012 New Video added

EDDIE COCHRAN : 1958 SUMMERTIME BLUES

(372) GLEN CAMPBELL 1964 ALBUM SHOWS OFF HIS 12 STRING GUITAR PLAYING EXCELLENCE

Jerry Capeheart, Eddie Cochran's old manager, discovered Glen Campbell and invited him out to Los Angeles, gave him an American Music songwriting contract. Glen played in studios as a musician, making his living behind the scenes, until performing called to him again.

(303) SHARON SHEELEY - SONGWRITER

We're linking to the ROCKABILLY HALL OF FAME page for songwriter SHARON SHEELEY here. SHARON was Eddie Cockran's girlfriend at the time he was killed in the car accident in England and that is unfortunately, what she first became famous for. She and Gene Vincent survived the car crash. She was still dating Eddie when I first met her. I was with the Everly Brothers at the time. Sharon was great friends with Nan Morris, the agent I've blogged about - a friend of mine to this day. It was Nan who took a demo of "POOR LITTLE FOOL" to Rick Nelson. In fact the two women were near stalking Rick to get that song to him because they were so sure it was going to be a hit for him. And they were right.

Sharon Sheeley continued to write songs including in collaboration with Jackie DeShannon and Brenda Lee.

Now we've mentioned before (and on some of our Youtube postings) that many DEMOS were made that did not turn into records for the market and that on many of these DEMOS some artists performed who became famous in their own time.

Some of the Demo Makers included Glen Campbell and Leon Russel and David Gates. A few years ago demos of some of Sharon's compositions that featured these artists came out on the market. And one of the singers is P.J. Proby, another demo maker who became famous and continues to perform, and who remained a friend of Sharon's until her death a few years ago ...

(297) SUNSET STRIP RECORD COMPANIES : CRYSTALETTE

Crystalette was a small label in Hollywood that seemed to be most interested in signing local talents like Johnny Stark and Dodie Stevens, who had a hit with 'Pink Shoelaces' and then headed over to sign with Dot Records to make albums. I confess I never met either of them, but I knew of them, because of the association I had with Dot.

Johnny is profiled over at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame site:
http://www.rockabilly.nl/artists/johnnystark.htm
According to this site "Johnny also sang on the Gene Vincent show doing his hit record Be-Bop-A-Lula and sang with Elvis's past group the Bill Black Combo. Johnny also worked with Eddie Cochran & Ritchie Valens..."

JOHNNY STARK :



And here is DODIE STEVENS in an interview along with a song sample:

CELEBRATING EDDIE COCHRAN - A LASTING IMPACT - KEITH RICHARDS - TOM PETTY !

TODAY WE REMEMBER EDDIE COCHRAN, born October 3, 1938, died April 17, 1960, and his lasting impact on ROCK N ROLL! Here he is on Dick Clark American Bandstand performing his "hard rock" song called Somethin' Else !



Now, here's Tom Petty's version:




and finally Keith Richards!

(198) EDDIE COCHRAN 20 FLIGHT ROCK and PAUL MC CARTNEY

The "20 Flight" refers to 20 stairs on a staircase... His "20 Flight Rock" is a humorous Rockabilly song that was a hit about 1957. Eddie Cochran died in 1960 but by then he had captured the interest of a few young upstarts who would become the Beatles.

Here's Eddie Cochran playing "20 Flight Rock" thanks to a YouTube presenter:

Paul McCartney talks about meeting John Lennon and playing Eddie Cochran's 20 Flight Rock on a right handed guitar... He says that because he knew all the words John was impressed and that's probably how he got to be in the Beatles.

In England, "20 Flight Rock" was covered by Cliff Richard, one of the British "Elvis's.

UPDATED July 2012 ROCKIN COUNTRY STYLE DISCOGRAPHY FOR EDDIE COCHRAN

VIDEOS REMOVED January 2012

(188) DIVERSITY ON THE CHARTS and COVER TUNES YESTERDAY AND TODAY

So far you've seen the diversity of hit records on the charts in the early 1960's, 1960-1961 (and we'll be heading for 1962 in the near future).

Doo Wop, Rockabilly, Novelty Tunes, an emerging surf music sound, harmonies that the Everly Brothers performed as well as opera-inspired songs like Elvis' "It's Now or Never," and so many other sounds, including the "Girl Groups" of Motown are represented on those charts as big sellers.

Because we live in 2008 and know about the history of Rock and Roll from the long view, we know that it's a matter of a couple years before what's been termed "The British Invasion" though in our opinion there was an American Invasion of Britian first. American artists like Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran toured England, Buddy Knox and I almost got there, and it's well known that the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and so many other British originated bands that come along into fame mid to late 1960's are inspired by those early Rock and Rollers. Many of the hits of the late 1950's to early 1960's have become classics that have been recorded "Covered" time and time again.

Christine and I are really fascinated by what's been happening as some of the most famous Rock and Rollers are aging, and beginning to look to "standards" from the 1930's, 1940's, and 1950's. Linda Ronstadt's been doing it, Rod Stewart's been doing it... mining the classics from the Big Band Sound.

So before we go on with our Wes Bryan narrative, we're going to take a bit of a departure here on Wes Bryan -My Life in Music and we're going to post some of those "Oldies" and their "Covers."

We'll be depending on YouTube of course, and we want to thank again all those contributors that make a history of music oriented blog like ours more interesting.

(80) GLEN CAMPBELL - MUSICAL GENIUS WITH AN AUDIOGRAPHIC MEMORY

Another peer of mine at American Music was Glen Campbell. Glen used to come to the house my brother and I rented near Hollywood and hang out, when he first came to Hollywood by invitation of Jerry Capehart. Jerry Capehart discovered him playing in Albuquerque with his uncle Dick Bills' band. Jerry had been Eddie Cochran's manager and a co-writer with him on some songs.

Glen's ability to play several instruments - even the bagpipes - by ear earned him about $50 a week more than most of us made. He saved Sylvester Cross some money when he was in on sessions for demos.

Of course, as some of us soon learned, making demos for other people wasn't against our contracts. And the publishing houses were all in competition, and more than one of us recorded demos for other houses.

Glen Campbell has gone on to greater fame than perhaps anyone I worked with at American Music, when it comes to being a singer and entertainer. Glen had an incredible audiographic memory. He hears a song once and he has it.

Rockin Country Style discography on Glen Campbell link above!

Glen and I worked together a bit. We wrote a song that got recorded by more than one artist - including Glen, called "I'm A Fool." Rick Nelson also recorded the song. And it's mentioned on this Joey Cooper discography. Joey Cooper recorded the song - in my opinion perfectly - on Chancellor Records, Bob Marcucci's label.

http://www.geocities.jp/hideki_wtnb/joey-c45.html

BMI lists this song as:

I M A FOOL (Legal Title)
BMI Work #648724

Songwriters Glen Campbell and Wes Bryan

Publishing by UNICHAPPEL MUSIC

Glen was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. On stage he thanked songwriter Jimmy Reed, and Television Producer Tommy Smothers.

(58) EDDIE COCHRAN : ROCKIN THE SUMMERTIME BLUES

I met Eddie Cochran at the Sheridan Hotel in New York City, where I also met Jerry Capheart, a man who would figure big in my future one day when he signed me to be a staff songwriter at American Music in Los Angeles.

Buddy Knox called Eddie Cochran "The Blond Elvis."

In England, the Beatles had followed him and Gene Vincent around. (When it came to Rock and Roll, first the Americans invaded England, then there was a British invasion of America.) Eddie performed at an Alan Freed produced Rock and Roll show for New Years about the time I met him. It was the same show I saw Ritchie Valens perform for the first time on.The world of early Rock and Roll was tough. Eddie carried a Derringer hand gun in his boot and I hear it came in handy more than once, like when he was threatened by the boyfriends of certain fans...


Eddie Cochran wasn't the only one who packed a gun while on tour or while walking the streets of New York but I decided I could take care of myself with my fists. I grew up rumbling with my brothers, had learned some karate and self defence while in the U.S. Army, and admired the boxers who I tried to meet when they came into the Turf restaurant for meals instead of eating across the way at Dempsey's, which was owned by the boxer Jack Dempsey. We all had security concerns that were not met by our record labels or our management. We didn't have body guards and it was up to us to protect ourselves. It was also legal to take a gun on a plane...

During my tour with Buddy Knox I performed two of Eddie Cochran's hits, "Summertime Blues," and "Come on Everybody." Here's Eddie performing those hits on television - You Tube presentations.


ROCKABILLY HALL OF FAME LINK HERE ROCKABILLY HALL OF FAME EDDIE COCHRAN

History of Rock - Eddie Cochran! HISTORY OF ROCK - EDDIE COCHRAN
Eddie Cochran died at the age of 21, at the height of his fame, in 1960 while touring in England, in a tragic automobile accident on the way to the airport. Gene Vincent was left with a limp in the same accident.

UPDATED APRIL 2014
 

ROULETTE RECORDS : WES BRYAN : I GUESS I'LL NEVER KNOW

ROULETTE RECORDS used the carnival roulette wheel as a pictorial representation of the chances taken on artists when they signed and recorded someone. Being signed by Roulette was eased for me by Jimmy Bowen and Buddy Knox, who were already signed by the label. I would tour for two years with Buddy Knox and meet up with Jimmy Bowen along the road to perform with him too. Besides my own songs, recorded on United Artists, Clock, and Roulette records, I also covered Rock and Roll hits by stars like Carl Perkins and Eddie Cochran.