Eddie!! (TRULY a rocker 'ahead of his time'!)

 

Eddie Cochran, Rock & Roll pioneer and guitar GENIUS! Just a partial list of the folks he influenced is pretty AMAZING! (Keep scrollin' & readin' to see that 'partial list' below!)

Delays, delays, DELAYS!! 'life-happenings', and other 'boring-'ol-grown-up business' have been setting up a steady STREAM of 'road-blocks' to keep me from putting up this post in the usual 'mid-month' spot I try to shoot for! For the TEENY-TINY-faithful-few that follow along with me on the 'ol bloggy-woggy-wang-dang-thingy-thang---- I appreciate your patience!

It's been a good CHUNK of time since I've turned my focus on a favorite musician or band, so-- I figured it was high time to share some thoughts and just generally GEEK-out, on one of my ALL-TIME faves from the early days of Rock and Roll. The EVER-so-talented, out-right AMAZING-- Mr. Eddie Cochran!

'Eddie-the-C' around 1956. doing the song 'Twenty-flight Rock' in an otherwise mediocre movie, 'The Girl Can't Help It'! I actually heard Paul McCartney sing this song FIRST! See details below!

Like most folks in my age-group, My earliest memories of Eddie's music --were hearing his two most popular tunes on the oldies stations way back in my high school days. 'Summer Time Blues', and 'C'mon Everybody' deserve the enduring popularity they've had over the years too! They're well-crafted, toe-tappin'-and-head-bop-inducing, CLASSIC 'Rock-a-billy'-flavored tunes! If you don't at least do a little 'head-bopping' to either of them--- something is definitely WRONG with your bopper, trust me!

But--- much like a number of the artists I've grown to be all geeky about over the years, since those ANCIENT high school days-- Eddie Cochran has been placed a LOT higher-up on the list of folks that I admire-- the more I've learned, (even recently!) the more I've been just floored by this guy's talents, abilities--AND--his influence on later guitar-slingers and bands! (More on that later!)

Now, as I've said here before-- I'm pretty sure, if you want more 'in-depth' knowledge of Eddie's career, life, and other information--- there are other sources around the web for all of that! Here, I just want to focus (as I USUALLY do!) on how that prolific talent of his touched and affected my life.

 Also-- I've only recently discovered / listened to a LARGE number of his tunes! Thanks-- once again, to the virtual MOUNTAIN of 'Cochran material' available on the wonderful GEEK-ZONE known as YouTube! 

Speaking of that-- my jaw DROPPED to the floor, when not long back, I stumbled across THIS real GEM! It's Eddie, on a 'Kids-Dance-Party' type program, around 1959-- doing one of those 'head-boppin' tunes I referred to above!!--

How about THAT! Eddie wasn't JUST a 'studio-wonder'! He was a KILLER guitarist and performer live too! Oh, he was INDEED pretty astounding around a recording studio though! He was one of the very FIRST artists to do multi-instrument over-dubs and (at the time) what were considered kinda WEIRD guitar-distortions and effects on his records!

Only in recent years, I've learned just what a HUGE group of rockers, blues-players, and even country performers have been influenced by Eddie! Just a partial list!--- Paul McCartney, (I DID know about Eddie's influence on him! see below!) The Rolling Stones, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, The Beach Boys, Jeff Lynne, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin,  Brian Setzer (who even played Eddie in the movie 'La Bamba'!), Alan Jackson, and Van Halen!

Pretty head-spinning list, right? And this was a guy who was a 'self-taught' guitarist. A guy who dropped out of high school at age 14 to be a full-time musician. He was also a guy who eventually learned to be a 'multi-instrumentalist'-- he could play not ONLY the guitar--but also the base & drums!

In a MIND-BLOWING mere 5 - 6 years, Eddie -- at the age of only around 20 years old, was having chart-topping singles, and packing-- not-to-mention ROCKIN'--houses wherever he toured! Then, while touring in England, his life was oh-SO-tragically cut short in a car accident. He was only 21 years old.

Like with so many other artists who leave this earth at such a young age, I wonder just WHAT kind of later career Eddie would've had. NO doubt, he would've continued being an inventive, innovative, and ALWAYS entertaining rocker! The music he left behind for us to enjoy, plainly shows us that!

As I was saying above, He's actually an artist I've grown to respect and admire, the more I've  learned about him (AND his music, of COURSE!) over the years. In no particular order, here's my 'top 4' (other) favorite tunes From Eddie. 3 of them I've only heard for the FIRST time within the past year! It just 'melts-the-brain', to think that this stuff was recorded over 6 DECADES AGO!!!--- 

A quick note about 'Twenty-Flight Rock'! In the 1995 'Beatles Anthology', Paul McCartney talks about playing & singing this tune for John Lennon, as an 'audition' to get into John's band (you know, the little group that eventually became-- well you KNOW WHO!). He then sings some of the chorus of the song.

Until that documentary, I had NEVER heard that particular 'Cochran tune'! It would be nearly another 18 years before I actually added the song to the 'ever-expanding-Ferrell-music-collection'! It was just a case of the Loydster being a 'slow-poke', not because the song wasn't / isn't COOL-- because, of course-- IT IS!!

'Nervous Breakdown' is one of those tunes I referenced up above, where there's not ONLY some VERY 'ahead-of-it's-time' guitar-effects, but some NEAT-O voice-effects / distortion going on throughout! LONG before the boys in the Beatles were experimenting in the studio, Eddie had already 'been-there-done-THAT'!!

Eddie, Rockin' it LIVE at an auditorium in England-- his FINAL tour -- sometime in early 1960.

In pretty much ALL of Mr. Cochran's stuff, that-- bouncy, feeling-good-even-if-you're-broke, dance-like-nobody's-watching GROOVE just DRIPS from every twangy-note from his oh-SO-COOL Gretsch guitar! Even when I was only familiar with a couple of his songs, Eddie Cochran was one of my 'go-to' artists --whenever I wanted to hear just the RIGHT kind of 'feel-good' music! The young man may have left us nearly 65 years ago--- but the music will live ON-- for generations to come!

This NEXT little item, is a PS to last month's post! I just figured--- well, since there's a 'Lego-version' of the '89 Bat-ride now residing in the collection, why NOT do a 'Lego-version' of the Loydster's ALL-TIME fave Batmobile.... the '66 TV-ride! 

So-- looking for a 'bargain', since the 'official' Lego-release of the '66 car is BOTH--getting kinda scarce in stores already, AND kinda EXPENSIVE-- I ordered a custom M.O.C. version from 'an over-seas' company. Hey, the price was reasonable! BUT--- well, see my comments below!!-- I also ordered an 'Adam West'-style 'Bat-mini-figure'-- from another company! (Which I did INDEED pay a little TOO much for!) You just can NOT have the car, without the Caped Crusader! 

After a nice LONG wait for BOTH (the build-set of) the car and the 'driver' to FINALLY arrive in my mailbox, here's how it all turned out!---

This not being an 'official' Lego set, the MOC Batmobile has NO stickers with it. So, the handy-dandy printer / scanner came to the rescue with photo-copied 'Bat-symbols' for the doors & wheels! 

'Adam' seated in his VERY cool ride! This was the first, AND will be the last 'MOC' Lego-set I'll ever want to tackle! Getting the 'build instructions' was a bit of a hassle, and the build hit a number of snags-- actually needing to be GLUED together in a few spots! It DID turn out VERY nifty though, and--- as long as the end result makes me smile--- then it's ALL worth it!


-----See you NEXT time gang!!!----