While googling away for the links above, I learned that "Jeannie, Jeannie, Jeannie" - formerly known to me as "that do the stroll song" - was a Cochran hit, as well as "Somethin' Else".
Time for a list.
Positive things that came from The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (which is emphatically not a good album):
- "Somethin' Else" as sung by Sid Vicious. Four stars.
- "My Way", also by Sid Vicious. Nice video on this one too.
- The frequent use of the Monkees song "Steppin' Stone" by many punk rock bands. I imagine many of these bands did not know they were covering the Monkees.
- The phrase "It's a swindle"
- The intonation of "Who killed Bambi?" on the track of the same name
- The guitar tone on "Don't Give Me No Lip Child"
I'm not sure whether Willie Zaza turned me on to Eddie Cochran before I had discovered the 60s/70s Commander Cody versions of his songs. (Shout out to Bill Kirchen, who played lead guitar for Commander Cody back when and who rocks the mid-Atlantic region seven nights a week.) Quite possibly. Willie - I hope you agree with me that Eddie Cochran was way better than Gene Vincent.
Another list!
Worst covers of Summertime Blues - in descending order of horror - ones I have actually heard designated thus: *
- James Taylor
- Hanson
- T. Rex *
- Olivia Newton-John
- Skid Row
- Beaver Brown Band (of Eddie and the Cruisers fame ... on the dark side, oh yeah)
- Alex Chilton *
- Blue Cheer *
- Van Halen *
- The Who *
2 comments:
I don't know if I turned you on to Eddie Cochran or you discovered him yourself, but I did lend you Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly CD's when you were living in Laurel, Maryland (I think) so maybe that will help you to figure it out.
"Stepping Stone." Indeed a fine Monkees song. Ever heard the Monkees live version? It's remarkably rockin'. Also check out the live version of "Circle Sky" from the movie "Head." I like the Monkees and I don't care what anyone thinks. Hey, they had a song called "Randy Scouse Git." How can you argue with that?
"The Great Rock And Roll Swindle" is indeed a bad album overall, (and probably a terrible movie) but it's still kind of essential, if only for the reasons you mentioned. Pointless aside: Scorsese's use of the Sid Vicious version of "My Way" over the end credits of "Goodfellas" may well be the most brilliant use of music in film history.
Eddie Cochran Vs. Gene Vincent:
Well, I'll have to listen to my Mean Gene Vincent albums in depth before commenting. I have six of his fifties albums (on 3 CD's) which I've never really taken the time to listen to, plus a bunch of stuff he recorded in England in the sixties (which I picked up in Deutschland). Anyway, consider these songs:
1. Say Mama
2. Lotta Lovin' (As heard in "Lipstick on Your Collar.")
3. Rocky Road Blues
4. The Day the World Turned Blue
Pretty good ones, though perhaps not as good as Cochran's. Also, Cochran (along with Buddy Holly) was a pioneer singer/songwriter/producer, which is something Brian Wilson and the Beatles usually get credit for doing first.
By the way, I believe Cochran was 22 and Holly was 21 when they died. Consider all the great songs they wrote and then consider they did it BEFORE THEY WERE 23! Depressing isn't it? I will never accomplish anything.
Covers of "Summertime Blues"
I kind of like the Who version, but not anywhere near as much as their version of "Shakin' All Over." If you're going to get on the Who's case in terms of covers, why not "Young Man Blues"? Ever heard their Rolling Stones covers?
A GOOD cover of "Summertime Blues" is the one recorded by Brian Setzer for the soundtrack of "La Bamba" - not surprisingly I guess, since Setzer conciously modelled himself after Cochran.
Then there's "Suzy Is A Headbanger," which is kind of a reverse-engineered cover of "Summertime Blues."
Speaking of bad covers of Rockabilly songs, have you hear either John Lennon or Jimi Hendrix doing "Blue Suede Shoes." Ugh.
After listening to four Gene Vincent albums and one collection of Eddie Cochran's greatest hits, I have decided that, yes, Eddie is much better than Gene.
Oh, and I meant to say that "Suzy Is A Headbanger" is a reverse-engineered version of "C'mon Everybody," not "Summertime Blues" (although that kind of works too).
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