The chart scorecard of rock’n’roll frontiersman Eddie Cochran in his residence nation of America is undeservingly modest. His solely Top 10 hit there was “Summertime Blues,” whereas one other of different his signature songs, “C’mon Everybody,” peaked at a paltry No.35, and he had only one different Top 40 entry, along with his first hit “Sittin’ In The Balcony.”
Thankfully the scenario was totally different within the UK, the place he rapidly established himself as an actual favourite amongst that first wave of visiting pioneers. His whole there reveals 11 Top 40 hits, three of them with posthumous reissues; certainly, all however 4 of these profitable titles got here after his tragic passing in April, 1960.
The final hit that Cochran was capable of see climbing the UK charts for himself entered the charts on January 22 that 12 months. “Hallelujah, I Love Her So” was his model of the Ray Charles composition that had been the R&B star’s debut single on Atlantic in 1956. The British launch coincided with the start of Eddie’s co-headlining tour with Gene Vincent, which opened in Ipswich on the twenty fourth.
Endlessly coated over the many years, the tune had already attracted renditions, earlier than Eddie’s, by Harry Belafonte, Conway Twitty, and Peggy Lee. Ms. Lee took it to No.77 within the US in 1959 as “Hallelujah, I Love Him So.” Then got here the Cochran recording, launched because the follow-up to “Somethin’ Else,” but it surely turned out that his US singles chart profession was already over.
Listen to the 50s playlist, that includes Eddie Cochran and numerous different musical heroes of the last decade.
His British followers took the tune into the bestsellers at No.28, and though it dropped out the next week, it returned at its No.22 peak. “Hallelujah” went on to be revived by everybody from Little Stevie Wonder to Frank Sinatra. Cochran, for his half, could be No.1 in that UK chart by June with “Three Steps To Heaven,” however sadly he wasn’t with us to take pleasure in it.
Buy or stream “Hallelujah, I Love Her So” on The Best of Eddie Cochran.