COCHRANE WAS PUMPING PLENTY OF HARDCORE ROCK`N`ROLL UDDER WITH MILK COW BLUES

Buddy Holly and Elvis were the two pioneers of early rock`n`roll, and
for the most part, one, two or maybe three hit wonders were all that
competed against the two in the pivotal years of 1956 and 1957. Of
course both Buddy and Elvis had many friends in the business who
looked up to them, Phil and Don Everly revered Buddy both profes-
sionally and personally and so too did a rocker originally from
Oklahoma named Eddie Cochrane. Elvis commanded as much re-
spect as the bespectacled boy from Texas but his greater rise
to instant fame didn`t allow for too many friendships in the
musical business. Cochrane is best know for the classic rock-
abilly tune `Summertime Blues`, a good song in the Sonny Curtis
mould. But if you want to know what his best song is with no con-
sideration for commercial success or failure, then the souped up
blues of MILK COW BLUES is a standout to beat all standouts. For
its time, it was one of the most uproarous & heavy songs recorded.
Cochrane recorded it live in 1960, it has been covered by a number
of bands and artists, notably Aerosmith. To me it is the best non-
Buddy and non-Elvis song from that era, and being unbiased, it is
as good as 90% of what my hero Holly recorded in his lifetime. Each
verse builds up to a booming chorus with some genuinely heavy guitar
work from Cochrane and a surprisingly convincing vocal effort by him
as well. Cochrane was never the best singer, but he dug deep for MILK
COW BLUES and he never sounded so mean & gravel voiced. You should
be able to find the song on most Cochrane compilations, he was always
second generation Holly without being derogative but he scaled the
heights of early rock with this blinder. It`s worth noting that after
Buddy Holly died in the plane crash in Iowa on the 3rd February,
1959 that Cochrane was so traumatised that he drove out into the
never never of the american west just to escape for a while from
the harsh reality of what took the life of his best friend. His
life and career quickly took a detour for the worst and he was
dead himself by the next year in 1960. MILK COW BLUES lives
on as his best legacy to the world of rock`n`roll. Crank it up
and hear for yourself. The best mixture of blues and rock around.
Only a matter of months after MILK COW BLUES Cochrane tragically
died in a car accident, no doubt a secondary consequence of the
year long bender he had been on since Buddy Holly`s tragic death.