Eddie Cochran is one of the most underrated and influential rockers of the 50's. Considering his tantalizingly brief career, he contributed a number of classics to the rock repertoire.
On Saturday, April 16, 1960, at about 11.50 p.m., while on tour in the United Kingdom, 21-year-old Cochran died as a result of a traffic accident in a taxi traveling through Chippenham, Wiltshire, on the A4. The speeding taxi blew a tire, lost control, and crashed into a lamp post on Rowden Hill, where a plaque now marks the spot. No other car was involved. Eddie Cochran, who was seated in the center of the back seat, threw himself over his fiancée Sharon Sheeley, to shield her, and was thrown out of the car when the door flew open. He was taken to St. Martin's Hospital, Bath, where he died at 4:10 p.m. the following day of severe head injuries.
I mean there's gotta be something special about these tunes for them to be covered by the Who, Blue Cheer, the Sex Pistols, the Stray Cats and many others.
