Post by ROCKY on Mar 14, 2024 14:25:13 GMT
As most of you know it was Eddie's song, "Twenty Fight Rock", that got Paul into the Quarrymen in 1957, and got the Beatles going.
Eddie's death at age 21.
Cochran was on tour in the United Kingdom from January through April 1960. He and his friend and fellow performing artist, Gene Vincent, had just finished performing at the last of their scheduled concerts at the Bristol Hippodrome on April 16, a Saturday night. They were traveling along the Bath Road in a taxi (a cream-coloured 1960 model Ford Consul Mark II saloon) from Bristol towards London. In addition to Cochran and Vincent, the other passengers in the vehicle were Sharon Sheeley (a 20-year-old songwriter and Cochran's girlfriend), Patrick Tompkins (the tour manager, 29 years old), and George Martin (the 19-year-old taxi driver). At about 11:50 p.m. that night, Martin lost control of the vehicle, which crashed into a concrete lamppost at Rowden Hill in Chippenham. At the moment of impact, Cochran (who was seated in the center of the back seat) threw himself over Sheeley to shield her. The force of the collision caused the left rear passenger door to open, and Cochran was ejected from the vehicle, sustaining a massive traumatic brain injury from blunt force trauma to the skull or a cerebral contusion. The road was dry and the weather was good, but the vehicle was later determined to be travelling at an excessive speed. No other vehicle was involved in the incident.
The occupants of the vehicle were all taken to Chippenham Community Hospital and later transferred to St Martin's Hospital in Bath. Cochran never regained consciousness, and died at 4:10 p.m. the following day – Easter Sunday. Sheeley suffered injuries to her back and thigh, Vincent suffered a fractured collarbone and severe injuries to his legs, and Tompkins sustained facial injuries and a possible fracture of the base of the skull. Martin did not sustain significant injuries.
Vincent and Sheeley returned to the United States after the accident. Cochran's body was flown home, and after a funeral service was buried on April 25, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, California. Martin was convicted of dangerous driving, fined £50 (and in default of payment six months' imprisonment), and disqualified from driving for 15 years. His driving disqualification was lifted on May 7, 1968, after the judge at Bristol Assizes determined that Martin "had suffered considerable financial hardship". The car and other items from the crash were impounded at the local police station until a coroner's inquest could be held. David Harman, a police cadet at the station, who would later become known as Dave Dee of the band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, is said to have played on Cochran's Gretsch 6120 guitar while it was held at the station.
There is a plaque marking the site of the car crash on Rowden Hill. There is also a memorial stone on the grounds of St Martin's Hospital in Bath, commemorating Cochran's death. The stone was restored in 2010 on the 50th anniversary of his death and can be found in the old chapel grounds at the hospital. A memorial plaque was also placed next to the sundial at the back of the old chapel. The Eddie Cochran Memorial Project spearheaded a fundraising campaign in 2018 to restore the plaque and install a brand new "Three Steps to Heaven" base at the Chippenham crash site.
While they were preparing to board their taxi, Vincent and Cochran rebuffed musician Tony Sheridan's request to ride along with them, resulting in Sheridan's avoiding involvement in the accident. Sheridan later became influential in the musical training of many British groups playing in Hamburg – notably the Beatles – many of whom would be instrumental in the British Invasion
Eddie's death at age 21.
Cochran was on tour in the United Kingdom from January through April 1960. He and his friend and fellow performing artist, Gene Vincent, had just finished performing at the last of their scheduled concerts at the Bristol Hippodrome on April 16, a Saturday night. They were traveling along the Bath Road in a taxi (a cream-coloured 1960 model Ford Consul Mark II saloon) from Bristol towards London. In addition to Cochran and Vincent, the other passengers in the vehicle were Sharon Sheeley (a 20-year-old songwriter and Cochran's girlfriend), Patrick Tompkins (the tour manager, 29 years old), and George Martin (the 19-year-old taxi driver). At about 11:50 p.m. that night, Martin lost control of the vehicle, which crashed into a concrete lamppost at Rowden Hill in Chippenham. At the moment of impact, Cochran (who was seated in the center of the back seat) threw himself over Sheeley to shield her. The force of the collision caused the left rear passenger door to open, and Cochran was ejected from the vehicle, sustaining a massive traumatic brain injury from blunt force trauma to the skull or a cerebral contusion. The road was dry and the weather was good, but the vehicle was later determined to be travelling at an excessive speed. No other vehicle was involved in the incident.
The occupants of the vehicle were all taken to Chippenham Community Hospital and later transferred to St Martin's Hospital in Bath. Cochran never regained consciousness, and died at 4:10 p.m. the following day – Easter Sunday. Sheeley suffered injuries to her back and thigh, Vincent suffered a fractured collarbone and severe injuries to his legs, and Tompkins sustained facial injuries and a possible fracture of the base of the skull. Martin did not sustain significant injuries.
Vincent and Sheeley returned to the United States after the accident. Cochran's body was flown home, and after a funeral service was buried on April 25, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, California. Martin was convicted of dangerous driving, fined £50 (and in default of payment six months' imprisonment), and disqualified from driving for 15 years. His driving disqualification was lifted on May 7, 1968, after the judge at Bristol Assizes determined that Martin "had suffered considerable financial hardship". The car and other items from the crash were impounded at the local police station until a coroner's inquest could be held. David Harman, a police cadet at the station, who would later become known as Dave Dee of the band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, is said to have played on Cochran's Gretsch 6120 guitar while it was held at the station.
There is a plaque marking the site of the car crash on Rowden Hill. There is also a memorial stone on the grounds of St Martin's Hospital in Bath, commemorating Cochran's death. The stone was restored in 2010 on the 50th anniversary of his death and can be found in the old chapel grounds at the hospital. A memorial plaque was also placed next to the sundial at the back of the old chapel. The Eddie Cochran Memorial Project spearheaded a fundraising campaign in 2018 to restore the plaque and install a brand new "Three Steps to Heaven" base at the Chippenham crash site.
While they were preparing to board their taxi, Vincent and Cochran rebuffed musician Tony Sheridan's request to ride along with them, resulting in Sheridan's avoiding involvement in the accident. Sheridan later became influential in the musical training of many British groups playing in Hamburg – notably the Beatles – many of whom would be instrumental in the British Invasion