Though he died young at twenty-one, Eddie Cochran left a lasting mark on rock and roll as pioneer who helped map out the territory with such definitive songs as "C'mon Everybody," "Something Else," "Twenty Flight Rock" and "Summertime Blues." Cochran epitomized the sound and the stance of the Fifties-bred rebel rocker. His twangy guitar riffs and the defiant attitude of his songs made him an icon for several generations of rock and rollers, from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Who to punk-rockers like the Sex Pistols. It was a song of Cochran's that initially brought John Lennon and Paul McCartney together in June 1957, when the latter taught the former the chords to "Twenty Flight Rock" at a church picnic where Lennon's Quarrymen were playing. In the late Sixties, both the Who and Blue Cheer cut memorable versions of "Summertime Blues," an anthem of teen disenchantment.
Get full artist bio (courtesy of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

 
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