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Happy Birthday, Eddie
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Eddie Cochran (AP File Photo)
On this date, in 1938, the late, great Eddie Cochran was born. As time marches on, less and less people -- even those who call themselves Rock and Roll enthusiasts -- remember this tremendous force in Rock Music. Sadly, Eddie's chance for super-stardom was cut short six months shy of his 22nd birthday.
There is no way that I could find it in myself to say one negative thing about Eddie Cochran, in that he was probably the top influence in my musical career. (aside from maybe Elvis Presley) However, Eddie's birthday brings to me a great flood of feelings about the whole "Rock and Roll revival" thing, including the reappearance of sixties groups and aging rock stars, in the news today.
It's not uncommon to hear folks wondering out loud about where Rock and Roll stars, that passed away in their prime or earlier, would be today. My research, on the web and elsewhere, often finds a lot of disparaging remarks about aging rockers, and I think there are many who feel that those stars that have died might have become a caricature of themselves or even a parody, had they lived into old age. I actually overheard one musician say that the Lynyrd Skynyrd band, as it is today, is actually itself a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band. I'm not nearly as harsh in my opinions, although not a day goes by that I don't re-evaluate my involvements in music, writing and entertainment in general, as I look in the mirror and just don't see the young rocker I once knew.
The Fates, though, have made all of our suppositions and opinions null and void, regarding Eddie Cochran. And even though he would have been 71 years old today, he'll always be twenty-one and in his prime, in my Rock and Roll heart and my Rock and Roll soul. Happy Birthday, Eddie. I miss you a lot.
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