Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2013 12:49:47 GMT
Eddie Cochran was just 21 years old when he received fatal injuries in a car crash on the 16th April 1960, on the outskirts of Chippenham, Wiltshire. He passed away sixteen hours later at St, Martins Hospital, Bath, on the 17th.
Eddie Cochran was a major contributor to the way music progressed from the mid 1950s and up until his death. He is still greatly missed, evident by visits every year to the plaque at the crash site, and the memorial stone at Bath's St. Martins Hospital, by fans from Rock n Roll clubs worldwide. Local Rock n Roll fans started a memorial event in Chippenham, which grew into a festival and has been running annually ever since for quite a number of years. During this time, some big names have come over from The States to play at the festival. Scotty Moore, Charlie Gracie, Bobby Cochran, past and present members of The Crickets, (including British ace guitarist Albert Lee) and many more, too many to mention. Sadly, this is on a smaller scale now, due to the costs involved in staging the event, but local fans still remember Eddie, and every year there is a Rock n Roll event somewhere in the town. It was local fans who campaigned for the memorial plaque to be put in place.
*) Based on an article written by BBC Radio presenter, Geoff Barker
*) The BBC had been following the Rock n Roll tour that had been criss - crossing Britain since December 1959, with Gene Vincent as headline act. It was promoted by top pop impresario Larry Parnes. The support acts and musicians were all young UK rock'n'rollers that Parnes had under contract. These included at various times along the tour - Billy Fury, Joe Brown, Georgie Fame, Vince Eager and Johnny Gentle.
*) January 10th 1960, Eddie Cochran arrived in the UK to join his great American friend on the tour. Now there were not one, but two genuine American Rock n Roll Stars in the country, a completely new experience for England at that time, and driving the younger generation into a frenzy wherever they played on the tour. They even made TV and Radio appearances. There was such a high demand for tickets to see the shows, that a further ten weeks of gigs had been added to the schedule.
*) Often described as 'James Dean with a guitar', Eddie Cochran had everything going for him. A young, good-looking guy, a hugely talented musician, who as well as playing stunning guitar, could also handle bass and drums, and most unusually for those times, also wrote his own songs. Two of which - 'Summertime Blues' and 'C'mon Everybody', had been huge hits, and today - over 50 years on - are regarded as classics of the genre. Eddie played all instruments on these two recordings.
*) Brian Bennett who would later become the drummer for The Shadows, backed Eddie on the tour as a member of Marty Wilde's band, The Wild Cats. They were loaned out to him for some of the live dates, and also his BBC radio sessions for the Saturday Club show. Brian recalls Eddie showing him some great drum tricks and said what a great player he was. __________________________________________________
My personal memories.
On Saturday mornings, we used to have the big old HMV wireless on in our house for Saturday club, broadcast live on the old BBC light Programme and presented by Brian Matthew. I remember we were listening to the wireless the morning Eddie appeared live on the show being interviewed, and playing songs in between the chat. I was only eight years old, but had five brothers and three sisters all older than me. A brother and two sisters had married and left home, but that still left four brothers and a sister with their ages ranging from eleven to twenty two. So there was quite a diverse record collection in the house. One brother was twenty and well into rock n' roll. He worked for a local electronics firm who made parts for Dansette record players. He managed to acquire all the necessary parts and built one himself. So, I grew up listening to my brothers and sisters record collections from an early age and knew all the popular artists of the day. Music was a big part of my life even then.
Monday 11th of April 1960. The tour rolled into Bristol for a weeks residency at the Hippodrome, 20 miles from my home. Saturday the 16th was the last day of the tour.
A little over an hour after the gig at around 11.50 pm, Eddie was heading for Heathrow in a taxi to return to the States to take a months break, and to fulfill recording commitments. He would then return to England to join up with the tour again for the added ten weeks of gigs. In the rear of the car with him were his fiance' Sharon Sheeley, and Gene Vincent. Tour manager Pat Thompkins was in the front passenger seat. No M4 in those days, the road from Bristol to London was the A4, part of which passed just fifteen yards from my house. Less than three miles further along the road from where I lived, the taxi crashed into a lamp post on Rowden Hill, Chippenham, in Wiltshire, where a plaque now marks the spot (no other car was involved). All three rear occupants were thrown out of the car when a door burst open on impact, (no seat belts in those days). Songwriter Sharon Sheeley and Gene Vincent survived the crash, as did Thompkins and the driver. On impact, Eddie had been thrown upwards into the padded roof of the vehicle. There were few external signs, but he had received severe internal head injuries, and passed away in the afternoon of Easter Sunday the 17th of April, at St. Martins Hospital, Bath.
The police investigation concluded that George Martin, the Taxi driver, was driving too fast and lost control of the vehicle. When Sharon Sheeley recalled the event, she said, "Almost from the time we set off from Bristol, Eddie repeatedly asked the driver to slow down. He did slow down, but the speed just kept creeping back up again".
There have been several conflicting reports as to what happened that night. The local and national media, reported that the car crashed on a bend as they were travelling up Rowden hill. An understandable assumption, as the A4 London Road does proceed that way. Naturally this became the accepted story. But Pat Thompkin's own account of the journey indicates they were going the other way, which would be downhill. How could that be possible ?
This is Pat Thompkin's account recalling the event sometime later.
*) "The driver decided on a short cut on the outskirts of Chippenham. We came out from under a viaduct and there was a bridge in front us. On your right is the A4, and on the left is the bridge and the A4 to London. Well, he saw a sign for the A4 and took that one. I told him he was going the wrong way. When he saw a milestone he realized he was going the wrong way and hit the brakes, which put the car into a spin. He lost control, and the Ford Consul sped backwards and slammed into the concrete lamp post".
___________________________________________________
If the intention was to bypass Chippenham, George Martin clearly didn't know the area. The A4 in those days went straight through Chippenham. There was no short cut, it was impossible to bypass the town. The route he might have taken, merely meant they would arrive in Chippenham from a different direction. There were and still are, two viaducts in the area you can drive under. Both carry the Bristol to London railway. One crosses the A4 about two hundred yards before the crash site. The other, just before Chippenham railway station, is accessed from the A420 and leads to the road bridge and the A4. To come out from under the viaduct where Pat Thompkins said they did, you have to exit the A4 about eight hundred yards before the crash site is reached (about six hundred yards from the other viaduct). Taking this route would have connected them to the A420. This means initially, they couldn't have travelled up Rowden Hill. If they had, they would have driven past the only point possible where George Martin could have turned off, to take what he thought would be a short cut. The bridge, as Thompkins quite rightly said, would have put them on the A4 and the correct way to London. The right turn would have also put them on the A4 but taken them away from the town, back towards Bristol, the milestone, and down Rowden Hill. The Police theory was they were travelling towards London, but Pat Thompkins made no reference to Martin turning the vehicle round to proceed the right way. He clearly said "when he saw the milestone he hit the brakes". There were no roundabouts in the area at that time. It is difficult to work out where he could have turned round, then gain enough speed to lose control going back up the hill. I can't help but think the events of that night warrant further investigation to curb my curiosity. Which way were they travelling when the accident occurred ? I'll let you decide for yourself.
If they are still alive today, Pat Thompkins would be 82 and George Martin 80 years of age. Sharon Sheeley died On May 17th 2002, aged 62. She returned to the UK in 2000 for the festival in Chippenham to remember40 years since his death, and the placement of the plaque on Rowden Hill. Talking about the tragic night in an interview, she said of the driver, "the way he was driving, there was an accident waiting to happen somewhere along the route. It wasn't a case of, are we going to have an accident, it was when are we going to have one ?"
From the skid marks, the speed was estimated at 60mph, (the speed limit was 30mph) on a bend which was known locally then as an accident black spot. Martin was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving, fined £50, disqualified from driving for 15 years, and given a deferred prison sentence of six months, to be served if he broke any of the conditions set by the Judge. His driving licence was reinstated in 1969.).
Although just a young boy at the time, living less than three miles from the spot where Eddie Cochran sustained his fatal injuries, I remember hearing people talking about it for weeks. And from time to time people still do, 53 years on.
David Harman, a young police cadet at Chippenham Police station, was one of the first of the emergency services on the scene. (He would later become known as Dave Dee, of Dave Dee, Dozy Beaky, Mick & Tich fame).
If you haven't already seen it, this is a link to a very moving documentary put together by our local TV network HTV West, and broadcast for the 2010 - 50th anniversary of Eddie's death (20 minutes)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ex8thOruSU
If you managed to read it all, thank you. Regards, Graham
Eddie Cochran was a major contributor to the way music progressed from the mid 1950s and up until his death. He is still greatly missed, evident by visits every year to the plaque at the crash site, and the memorial stone at Bath's St. Martins Hospital, by fans from Rock n Roll clubs worldwide. Local Rock n Roll fans started a memorial event in Chippenham, which grew into a festival and has been running annually ever since for quite a number of years. During this time, some big names have come over from The States to play at the festival. Scotty Moore, Charlie Gracie, Bobby Cochran, past and present members of The Crickets, (including British ace guitarist Albert Lee) and many more, too many to mention. Sadly, this is on a smaller scale now, due to the costs involved in staging the event, but local fans still remember Eddie, and every year there is a Rock n Roll event somewhere in the town. It was local fans who campaigned for the memorial plaque to be put in place.
*) Based on an article written by BBC Radio presenter, Geoff Barker
*) The BBC had been following the Rock n Roll tour that had been criss - crossing Britain since December 1959, with Gene Vincent as headline act. It was promoted by top pop impresario Larry Parnes. The support acts and musicians were all young UK rock'n'rollers that Parnes had under contract. These included at various times along the tour - Billy Fury, Joe Brown, Georgie Fame, Vince Eager and Johnny Gentle.
*) January 10th 1960, Eddie Cochran arrived in the UK to join his great American friend on the tour. Now there were not one, but two genuine American Rock n Roll Stars in the country, a completely new experience for England at that time, and driving the younger generation into a frenzy wherever they played on the tour. They even made TV and Radio appearances. There was such a high demand for tickets to see the shows, that a further ten weeks of gigs had been added to the schedule.
*) Often described as 'James Dean with a guitar', Eddie Cochran had everything going for him. A young, good-looking guy, a hugely talented musician, who as well as playing stunning guitar, could also handle bass and drums, and most unusually for those times, also wrote his own songs. Two of which - 'Summertime Blues' and 'C'mon Everybody', had been huge hits, and today - over 50 years on - are regarded as classics of the genre. Eddie played all instruments on these two recordings.
*) Brian Bennett who would later become the drummer for The Shadows, backed Eddie on the tour as a member of Marty Wilde's band, The Wild Cats. They were loaned out to him for some of the live dates, and also his BBC radio sessions for the Saturday Club show. Brian recalls Eddie showing him some great drum tricks and said what a great player he was. __________________________________________________
My personal memories.
On Saturday mornings, we used to have the big old HMV wireless on in our house for Saturday club, broadcast live on the old BBC light Programme and presented by Brian Matthew. I remember we were listening to the wireless the morning Eddie appeared live on the show being interviewed, and playing songs in between the chat. I was only eight years old, but had five brothers and three sisters all older than me. A brother and two sisters had married and left home, but that still left four brothers and a sister with their ages ranging from eleven to twenty two. So there was quite a diverse record collection in the house. One brother was twenty and well into rock n' roll. He worked for a local electronics firm who made parts for Dansette record players. He managed to acquire all the necessary parts and built one himself. So, I grew up listening to my brothers and sisters record collections from an early age and knew all the popular artists of the day. Music was a big part of my life even then.
Monday 11th of April 1960. The tour rolled into Bristol for a weeks residency at the Hippodrome, 20 miles from my home. Saturday the 16th was the last day of the tour.
A little over an hour after the gig at around 11.50 pm, Eddie was heading for Heathrow in a taxi to return to the States to take a months break, and to fulfill recording commitments. He would then return to England to join up with the tour again for the added ten weeks of gigs. In the rear of the car with him were his fiance' Sharon Sheeley, and Gene Vincent. Tour manager Pat Thompkins was in the front passenger seat. No M4 in those days, the road from Bristol to London was the A4, part of which passed just fifteen yards from my house. Less than three miles further along the road from where I lived, the taxi crashed into a lamp post on Rowden Hill, Chippenham, in Wiltshire, where a plaque now marks the spot (no other car was involved). All three rear occupants were thrown out of the car when a door burst open on impact, (no seat belts in those days). Songwriter Sharon Sheeley and Gene Vincent survived the crash, as did Thompkins and the driver. On impact, Eddie had been thrown upwards into the padded roof of the vehicle. There were few external signs, but he had received severe internal head injuries, and passed away in the afternoon of Easter Sunday the 17th of April, at St. Martins Hospital, Bath.
The police investigation concluded that George Martin, the Taxi driver, was driving too fast and lost control of the vehicle. When Sharon Sheeley recalled the event, she said, "Almost from the time we set off from Bristol, Eddie repeatedly asked the driver to slow down. He did slow down, but the speed just kept creeping back up again".
There have been several conflicting reports as to what happened that night. The local and national media, reported that the car crashed on a bend as they were travelling up Rowden hill. An understandable assumption, as the A4 London Road does proceed that way. Naturally this became the accepted story. But Pat Thompkin's own account of the journey indicates they were going the other way, which would be downhill. How could that be possible ?
This is Pat Thompkin's account recalling the event sometime later.
*) "The driver decided on a short cut on the outskirts of Chippenham. We came out from under a viaduct and there was a bridge in front us. On your right is the A4, and on the left is the bridge and the A4 to London. Well, he saw a sign for the A4 and took that one. I told him he was going the wrong way. When he saw a milestone he realized he was going the wrong way and hit the brakes, which put the car into a spin. He lost control, and the Ford Consul sped backwards and slammed into the concrete lamp post".
___________________________________________________
If the intention was to bypass Chippenham, George Martin clearly didn't know the area. The A4 in those days went straight through Chippenham. There was no short cut, it was impossible to bypass the town. The route he might have taken, merely meant they would arrive in Chippenham from a different direction. There were and still are, two viaducts in the area you can drive under. Both carry the Bristol to London railway. One crosses the A4 about two hundred yards before the crash site. The other, just before Chippenham railway station, is accessed from the A420 and leads to the road bridge and the A4. To come out from under the viaduct where Pat Thompkins said they did, you have to exit the A4 about eight hundred yards before the crash site is reached (about six hundred yards from the other viaduct). Taking this route would have connected them to the A420. This means initially, they couldn't have travelled up Rowden Hill. If they had, they would have driven past the only point possible where George Martin could have turned off, to take what he thought would be a short cut. The bridge, as Thompkins quite rightly said, would have put them on the A4 and the correct way to London. The right turn would have also put them on the A4 but taken them away from the town, back towards Bristol, the milestone, and down Rowden Hill. The Police theory was they were travelling towards London, but Pat Thompkins made no reference to Martin turning the vehicle round to proceed the right way. He clearly said "when he saw the milestone he hit the brakes". There were no roundabouts in the area at that time. It is difficult to work out where he could have turned round, then gain enough speed to lose control going back up the hill. I can't help but think the events of that night warrant further investigation to curb my curiosity. Which way were they travelling when the accident occurred ? I'll let you decide for yourself.
If they are still alive today, Pat Thompkins would be 82 and George Martin 80 years of age. Sharon Sheeley died On May 17th 2002, aged 62. She returned to the UK in 2000 for the festival in Chippenham to remember40 years since his death, and the placement of the plaque on Rowden Hill. Talking about the tragic night in an interview, she said of the driver, "the way he was driving, there was an accident waiting to happen somewhere along the route. It wasn't a case of, are we going to have an accident, it was when are we going to have one ?"
From the skid marks, the speed was estimated at 60mph, (the speed limit was 30mph) on a bend which was known locally then as an accident black spot. Martin was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving, fined £50, disqualified from driving for 15 years, and given a deferred prison sentence of six months, to be served if he broke any of the conditions set by the Judge. His driving licence was reinstated in 1969.).
Although just a young boy at the time, living less than three miles from the spot where Eddie Cochran sustained his fatal injuries, I remember hearing people talking about it for weeks. And from time to time people still do, 53 years on.
David Harman, a young police cadet at Chippenham Police station, was one of the first of the emergency services on the scene. (He would later become known as Dave Dee, of Dave Dee, Dozy Beaky, Mick & Tich fame).
If you haven't already seen it, this is a link to a very moving documentary put together by our local TV network HTV West, and broadcast for the 2010 - 50th anniversary of Eddie's death (20 minutes)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ex8thOruSU
If you managed to read it all, thank you. Regards, Graham
