Biography

Born Edward Raymond Cochran

Date of birth 3 October 1938

Birthplace Albert Lee, Minnesota, USA

Guitar Gretsch 6120

Born to Frank and Alice Cochran, Eddie grew up with older sister Gloria and older brothers Bill and Robert. Bill taught Eddie his first few chords on guitar. The Great Depression forced the family to move to Minnesota in search of better job prospects. It was here that Eddie spent many of his early years, enjoying fishing and hunting with his father.

Eddie wanted to join the school orchestra as a drummer but he opted for the trombone instead when he dicovered he would also have to take piano lessons to do so. However, a member of the orchestra didn't believe that Eddie had the 'lip' for the trombone and suggested he switch to the clarinet instead. But when Eddie saw the clarinet he refused to play it and declared that he would quit the orchestra if he could not play the instrument he wanted. This is when he asked his brother Bill to show him some chords on Robert's old Kay guitar. With the acquisition of a chord book, Eddie's playing began to advance rapidly. He had a superb ear for music and was able to replicate a song he had heard on the radio minutes before.

In 1951 the Cochran family moved west to California, following Bill who had moved and got married there following his departure from the military. With two cars fully packed, Eddie's guitar would not fit in, but he would not leave it behind. It was no mere possession to him, it was his 'best friend'. The family settled in Bell Gardens, a small town in Los Angeles, and Eddie was enrolled into Bell Gardens Junior High. In strange surroundings with no friends, Eddie spent as much time as he could on the guitar, and would probably have played non-stop if his mother Alice had let him.

However, Eddie soon became friends with Conrad 'Guybo' Smith, who played bass, steel guitar and mandolin. They began to perform together, a professional relationship that would see Guybo perform on most of Eddie's records. With another school friend, Eddie and Guybo performed anywhere they could, including supermarket openings and school assemblies.

In 1953 Eddie met Chuck Foreman, a local musician. They began to experiment with Eddie's two-track tape recorder and recorded a few songs such as Stardust, Candy Kisses and Cannonball Rag. Eddie also developed a friendship with a teenager from Indiana called Ron Wilson. They spent much time playing guitar together.

Eddie's first paid engagement was in 1954 at the South Gate Auditorium, where he was so nervous he dropped his plectrum. Soon after, Guybo finally traded steel guitar for bass and this was the instrument he played on many of Eddie's recordings. Later on in 1954, Eddie began to play with country singer Hank Cochran. Though Eddie and Hank were unrelated, they performed together as the Cochran Brothers. Hank provided most of the lead vocals while Eddie played lead guitar, occasionally lending a little harmonic support.

Leaving school in January 1955 at the age of sixteen, Eddie met musician Warren Flock at a music store in Bell Gardens. It was he who drove Eddie and Hank to their first audition in Hollywood, which was not too successful. They were told to perform while the director sat reading a newspaper. Flock angrily asked the director what he thought of the Cochrans' singing, and he replied that there was a possibility but in all he was unsure. Flock was irate at the director's lack of attention.

However, with regular appearences at the Country Barn Dance in California's Baldwin Park, Eddie and Hank managed to win a regular spot on the California Hayride TV show.

Eddie also met another man instrumental in his music career, Jerry Capeheart, at the Bell Gardens Music Centre. Eddie was buying new strings while Jerry had come for replacement picks. Together with Hank, Eddie went into the studio with Jerry and produced a few tracks which led to a record deal with Ekko Records in Hollywood. In 1955 Ekko released their first record. It consisted of two country tracks Two Blue Singin' Stars and Mr. Fiddle, and the top side featured a tribute to Hank Williams and Jimmy Rodgers. Neither of these songs made it to the charts, but Billboard magazine was quite complimentary. Its review stated that the record was a fine tribute to the late Williams and Rodgers.

In November 1955 Ekko released the Cochrans' and Capeheart's second record, which again featured two country songs: Guilty Conscience and Your Tomorrows Never Come. Sadly, this record also failed to rech the charts. In late 1955 and early 1956 the Cochran Brothers went on tour with fellow Ekko Record artist Jess Willard.

In 1956 Eddie began to deviate more and more towards rock n' roll, reportedly after watching Elvis Presley in a show in Dallas. The third release on the Ekko label, which featured Tired And Sleepy and Fool's Paradise featured Eddie more on lead vocals and was closer to the burgeoning rock n' roll scene than his previous country releases. Yet this record also failed to enter the charts, although fans believe that these are among the best trcks made by Hank and Eddie.

While Eddie wanted to move further into rock n' roll, Hank wanted to stay in the country music scene, and so the Cochran Brothers went their separate ways. Hank was to become a big name in his chosen genre as a solo performer and songwriter, while Eddie went on initially to fulfil many dates as a session guitarist. He carried on working with Jerry Capeheart on demo records in the studio, which Jerry would then take to record labels all over Hollywood. The Crest label finally took interest and Eddie's first solo release Skinny Jim was released under their name.

Eddie was only 21 when he died in a tragic accident while on tour in the UK on the 17th April 1960. The taxi carrying him, his fiancee Sharon Sheeley and Grant Vincent crashed near Chippenham. Sheley and Vincent were only slightly injured but Cochran died of his injuries - severe brain lacerations - in St. Martin's Hospital in Bath, just hours before he was due to fly home to meet his mother and a recording session with Snuffy Garret. He was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park on the 25th, with his funeral attended by 250 mourners.

Home | Full listing