BOOK CLUB LIVE: Eddie Cochran's UK shows celebrated in book about tragic final tour

C'MON Everybody! Join us for a special live stream to launch a new book about the life of American rock and roll icon Eddie Cochran and the UK shows on his final tragic tour.
New book Eddie Cochran: A Fast Moving Beat Show – The Tragic Story of the Final, Fatal, TourNew book Eddie Cochran: A Fast Moving Beat Show – The Tragic Story of the Final, Fatal, Tour
New book Eddie Cochran: A Fast Moving Beat Show – The Tragic Story of the Final, Fatal, Tour

Vince Eager, a celebrated UK rock 'n' roll star who actually performed on many of the spring 1960 tour dates with Cochran, and Sheffield music star Richard Hawley have contributed to the book and will take part in the stream.

So will co-author Adrian McKenna and publisher Neil Anderson – famed for his Dirty Stop Outs retro books.

WATCH LIVE: Ask a question and share your memories of the Summertime Blues and Three Steps To Heaven hitmaker using #JPIbookclub and tune in on Thursday, July 22, at 6.45pm - CLICK HERE.

BUY THE BOOK: Eddie Cochran: A Fast Moving Beat Show – The Tragic Story of the Final, Fatal, Tour, signed by the authors, is £15.95 available now from www.retrobookoffers.net.

Check out the website for other great JPI Media Book Club offers. See details below.

The UK's first ever rock 'n' roll package tour played 21 venues around the country in 1960 including – March 21 to 26 – the now demolished Newcastle Empire.

Tragically Cochran, the tour’s brightest star, died at 21 years old in a road traffic accident just hours after the final date of the tour.

But the seismic impact he made in those few short weeks provided a blueprint for everything that followed in the sixties.

Beatlemania and the Merseybeat sound might never have happened if it hadn’t been for the punishing schedule of dates Eddie Cochran undertook with fellow American star Gene Vincent and a cavalcade of rising UK stars.

His songs have been covered by and inspired the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, Beach Boys, Rod Stewart, T. Rex, Cliff Richard, Led Zeppelin, the Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious, Simple Minds, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and many more.

Three Steps to Heaven, co-written and recorded by Cochran, featuring Buddy Holly's Crickets on instruments, became a posthumous UK number-one hit for him after his death in April 1960.

Eddie Cochran's influence is still as strong today as it was sixty years ago when the tour took place.

The decade defining tour is chronicled like never before in Eddie Cochran: A Fast Moving Beat Show - the Tragic Story of the Final, Fatal, UK Tour

The book is packed with personal memories of fans that attended the shows in towns and cities across the country in the spring of 1960.

Adrian McKenna, who has written the book with John Firminger, said: “Eddie Cochran music was a catalyst in bringing Paul McCartney and John Lennon together - when they first met in 1957, Paul showed John the chords for Cochran's 'Twenty Flight Rock', instantly forging their collaborative relationship.

Eddie Cochran, right, meets fans on the UK tour with Gene Vincent, middle, and Vince Eager, who has written the book’s forewordEddie Cochran, right, meets fans on the UK tour with Gene Vincent, middle, and Vince Eager, who has written the book’s foreword
Eddie Cochran, right, meets fans on the UK tour with Gene Vincent, middle, and Vince Eager, who has written the book’s foreword

“The Beatles attended the shows at the Liverpool Empire in March 1960 and would soon be sporting black leather outfits, inspired by Cochran and Vincent.

“Eddie Cochran brought Ray Charles' music to Britain. 'What'd I Say' was frequently his show opener and the distinctive riff which he translated from electric piano to guitar is practically the blueprint for the Merseybeat sound of the sixties.”

The book includes rare photos and archive material and goes through the tour venue by venue and is arguably the most definitive study of the dates ever put to paper.

Adrian McKenna adds: “The Who's 1965 hit 'My Generation' is a classic example of a Cochran song, one step removed. The stuttering vocal, insistently punctuated by a driving, rhythmic riff is a carbon-copy of the 'Summertime Blues' blueprint, a song the group played many times in a live setting, notably on the 'Live At Leeds' album.”

Eddie Cochran's influence is still as strong today as it was sixty years ago when the tour took place.

The last word of the book is left to twice Mercury Prize-nominated Richard Hawley who says: "Out of all those brilliant rockers from the '50s it was always going to be Eddie Cochran for me - he had the whole package. He was a fluent and inventive guitar player, a unique singer and a gifted songwriter."

Eddie Cochran and Gene VincentEddie Cochran and Gene Vincent
Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent

* If you attended any of the shows back in the 1960s -or know somebody who did - let us know with a message sharing your memories in the comments during the live stream.

The 1960 tour played at the following venues - this list also gives the building's existing status:

Jan 24th Ipswich Gaumont - venue still in use

Jan 28th Coventry Gaumont - venue still standing, now an annexe of Coventry University

Jan 29th Worcester Gaumont – venue still standing, restoration planned - CLICK HERE.

Jan 30th Bradford Gaumont – venue still standing, restoration planned. For more – CLICK HERE.

Jan 31st Southampton Guildhall – venue still in use.

Feb 1st-6th Glasgow Empire - venue demolished.

Feb 7th Sheffield Gaumont - venue demolished.

Feb 13th Woolwich Granada - venue still standing, now a church.

Feb 14th Taunton Gaumont - venue still standing, currently used as a bingo hall. Council recently purchased. For more – CLICK HERE.

Feb 18th Leicester De Montford Hall - venue still in use.

Feb 20th Dundee Caird Hall - venue still in use.

Feb 21st Wembley Empire Pool - venue still in use.

Feb 24th Stockton-On-Tees Globe - restoration completed, reopens in September 2021. For more – CLICK HERE.

Feb 26th Cardiff Gaumont - venue demolished.

Feb 29th-March 5th Leeds Empire - venue demolished.

March 7th-12th Birmingham Hippodrome - venue still in use.

March 14th-19th Liverpool Empire - venue still in use.

March 21st-26th Newcastle Empire - venue demolished. For more – CLICK HERE.

March 28th-April 2nd Manchester Hippodrome - venue demolished.

April 4th-9th London, Finsbury Park Empire - venue demolished.

April 10th-16th Bristol Hippodrome - venue still in use.

EDDIE COCHRAN: A FAST MOVING BEAT SHOW - THE TRAGIC STORY OF THE FINAL, FATAL, UK TOUR - SIGNED BY THE AUTHORS. Regular price £15.95 (Shipping calculated at checkout) – CLICK HERE.

OTHER BOOKS AVAILABLE:

DIRTY STOP OUT'S GUIDE TO 1980S CHESTERFIELD... IN PICTURES - COLLECTOR'S EDITION. Regular price £19.95 (shipping calculated at checkout) – CLICK HERE.

SHEFFIELD'S DATE WITH HITLER - BLITZ 80TH ANNIVERSARY - COLLECTOR'S EDITION. Regular price£19.95 (shipping calculated at checkout) – CLICK HERE.