Hello everyone,
I just registered today and am very happy Scott set up this message board for all us Death Hags. FAD is part of my morning routine along w/ Cnn.com and a nip of Scotch .
The reason I decided to post is because I am the Librarian at Bell Gardens Intermediate School (formerly Bell Gardens Junior High), the school that Eddie Cochran attended as a young man in the early 50's. The school has remained pretty much unchanged since he attended here (a new bungalow here and there). The school was built by the WPA way back in 1939, and was also the place that John Force (NHRA race driver) attended as a child.
What gets to me is that virtually nobody here knows this fact or for that matter who Eddie Cochran was (save for a random "Rockabilly" kid whose done his homework).
Eddie Cochran was a contemporary of Elvis, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and other musicians who were pioneers of the early Rock and Roll movement. His most famous songs include, "Summertime Blues" and "C'mon Everybody" (the latter being covered by Sid Vicious in the "Great Rock and Roll Swindle"). He probably would have been as big as Elvis had he not been killed in a car accident while on tour in Europe in 1960. Not surprisingly, he is known (and appreciated) more in Europe than in the United States.
Eddie and his family lived in Bell Gardens up until the time of his death. His home stood until the early 1980's when the city of Bell Gardens razed in favor of building the Bicycle Club Casino. An even sadder fact is that the land where his house once stood has yet to be developed and is instead used as an overflow parking lot for the casino. The act of destroying historically significant building is nothing new here as the Lugo House was also razed in the early nineties (the home of the last Mexican governor of California) in favor of an apartment complex.
I would love for Dave to do a story on Eddie since he really influenced many future Rock and Roll artists and is truly a Los Angeles Rock and Roll legend who was taken away way too soon. I can provide pictures of the BGI campus (including the auditorium in which Eddie performed as part of the Glee club) and have copies of the 1953 and 1954 yearbooks, both of which contain pictures of Eddie as a student.
Dave, if you read this, then let me know if you interested.
If any of you would like additional information on Eddie Cochran, then check this site out:
http://www.eddiecochran.info/Index.html
Thanks and I look forward to mingling with you all.