Ray Edward Cochran was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota; however, as his parents were from Oklahoma, he considered himself an Oklahoman, and introduced himself as such in interviews. He took music lessons in school, but eventually quit the band to play drums. Rather than take piano lessons, Cochran began learning guitar, playing the country music he heard on the radio. As time went on, Cochran moved to Los Angeles, California in 1953. Together with Hank Cochran, Eddie formed The Cochran Brothers, though the two shared no relation.
Around the same time, Cochran worked as a session musician, but aspired to be a songwriter and artist in his own right, and recorded a demo with songwriting partner and future manager, Jerry Capeheart. Cochran's first notable foray into the public eye was as one of the many performing artists featured in the musical comedy film The Girl Can't Help It starring Jayne Mansfield, eventually resulting in a recording contract with Liberty. He would follow up on this appearance by appearing in several films of the same genre. He also performed as a support act for such stars as Gene Vincent and Little Richard, who were among Cochran's co-stars in the aforementioned film.
For his recordings, Cochran often used experimental techniques that would later become part and parcel for other recording artists, notably recording numerous overdubs in order to create the rich, distinctive guitar sound for "Summertime Blues" and "C'mon Everybody". "Twenty Flight Rock", the song Cochran performed in The Girl Can't Help It, was the very first song a young Paul McCartney played for John Lennon as his audition for Lennon's group, The Quarrymen, which would later metamorphose into The Beatles.
Cochran was killed in an automobile accident in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England during a tour of Britain with Gene Vincent. Vincent and Cochran's fiancee, who were both in the car, survived the crash. Scholars have noted that, somewhat eerily, Cochran's last single release in his lifetime was "Three Steps to Heaven", although the song's lyrical context has nothing to do with death. Cochran's death occurred little over a year after the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, to whom he paid tribute in his recording of the song "Three Stars", which remained unreleased until 1966.
A majority of Cochran's recorded legacy would be released posthumously; in his lifetime, only one album, Singin' to My Baby (1957), was ever released. Perhaps owing to the brevity of his career, Cochran never attained the same star status as other rockers of the era; however, his lyrical themes of teenage desires and rebellion, being somewhat more morose and raucous than his contemporaries, had a profound influence on many of the greatest artists of the '60s and '70s, such as The Beatles, The Who, and The Rolling Stones.
Twenty Flight Rock
Eddie Cochran Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When it comes to rockin' she's the queen
We love to dance on a Saturday night
All alone where I can hold her tight
But she lives on the twentieth floor uptown
The elevator's broken down
So I'll walk one, two flight, three flight, four
Up on the twelfth I'm startin' to drag
Fifteenth floor I'm a-ready to sag
Get to the top, I'm too tired to rock
When she calls me up on the telephone
Say, come on over honey, I'm all alone
I said, baby you're mighty sweet
But I'm in bed with the achin' feet
This went on for a couple of days
But I couldn't stay away
So I'll walk one, two flight, three flight, four
Five, six, seven flight, eight flight, more
Up on the twelfth I'm startin' to drag
Fifteenth floor I'm a-ready to sag
Get to the top, I'm too tired to rock
Well, they sent to Chicago for repairs
Till it's a-fixed I'm a-usin' the stairs
Hope they hurry up before it's too late
Want my baby too much to wait
All this climbin' is a-gettin' me down
They'll find my corpse draped over a rail
But I'll climb one, two flight, three flight, four
Five, six, seven flight, eight flight, more
Up on the twelfth I'm startin' to drag
Fifteenth floor I'm a-ready to sag
Get to the top, I'm too tired to rock
Eddie Cochran's "Twenty Flight Rock" tells the humorous story of a man who is determined to see his lover despite the fact that the elevator in her building is broken. He begins the song by describing how much he loves spending Saturday nights with her, dancing and holding her tight. Unfortunately, she lives on the twentieth floor of a building where the elevator is out of order. So, he resolves to walk up all twenty flights of stairs to see her.
As he climbs up the stairs, he becomes more and more exhausted. By the twelfth floor, he begins to feel like he's dragging. By the fifteenth floor, he's ready to give up, and when he finally makes it to the top, he's too tired to even rock out with his girlfriend. Despite this, he continues to make the climb each time she invites him over, no matter how much it wears him out.
The song is a light-hearted take on the lengths we're willing to go for love. It emphasizes the energy and determination that comes with infatuation, and the humorous reality of the more mundane aspects of life.
Line by Line Meaning
Ooh, well I got a girl with a record machine
I have a girlfriend who loves music and has a record player.
When it comes to rockin' she's the queen
She loves rock music and is great at dancing to it.
We love to dance on a Saturday night
We enjoy going out on Saturday nights and dancing together.
All alone where I can hold her tight
We prefer to be alone so we can hold each other tightly while dancing.
But she lives on the twentieth floor uptown
Unfortunately, she lives on the twentieth floor of a building in an upscale area of the city.
The elevator's broken down
Unfortunately, the elevator in her building is not working.
So I'll walk one, two flight, three flight, four
I will climb the stairs, going up one flight at a time.
Five, six, seven flight, eight flight, more
I will keep climbing, up to eight flights of stairs and beyond.
Up on the twelfth I'm startin' to drag
When I reach the twelfth floor, I start to feel exhausted.
Fifteenth floor I'm a-ready to sag
By the time I reach the fifteenth floor, I am ready to collapse.
Get to the top, I'm too tired to rock
When I finally reach the twentieth floor, I am too exhausted to dance or enjoy myself.
When she calls me up on the telephone
Sometimes she will call me on the phone.
Say, come on over honey, I'm all alone
She'll invite me to come over to her apartment when she is alone.
I said, baby, you're mighty sweet
I would express my admiration for her, but...
But I'm in bed with the achin' feet
I cannot come over because my feet hurt from all the walking up the stairs.
This went on for a couple of days
This conversation continued for several days.
But I couldn't stay away
Despite the pain, I cannot stay away from her.
Well, they sent to Chicago for repairs
The building management had to order parts from Chicago to fix the elevator.
Till it's a-fixed I'm a-usin' the stairs
Until the elevator is fixed, I have no choice but to use the stairs.
Hope they hurry up before it's too late
I hope they fix the elevator soon or I might not make it up the stairs again.
Want my baby too much to wait
I cannot wait to be with her again.
All this climbin' is a-gettin' me down
All this climbing is wearing me down.
They'll find my corpse draped over a rail
I am afraid that I might die from exhaustion, and they will find my lifeless body on the stairwell.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Sentric Music, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Eddie Cochran, Ned Fairchild
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@dynjarren8355
Besides Summertime Blues which is a classic Rocker covered by the Who even, he influenced Punk!
The Sex Pistols copied his guitar riffs and you can hear it clearly in several Pistols songs. At least I do. The guitar riff right before Rotten starts singing in the beginning of God Save the Queen. For example is Cochran’s. De do dada, de do dada, de do dada I am an Anti you know the rest. As a guitar player, I noticed this. The repeating Riff is Cochran’s. Go Figure!
And Sid Viscous even covered Cmon Everybody and Something Else! And Led Zep did too, live.
Cochran was more popular in Britain than America as he toured there last.
He sadly died in a car crash with Gene Vincent and his girlfriend in the car with him. Vincent was injured and survived but Cochran hit his head fatally. It’s a genuine shame because he was so talented and like Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens was headed for bigger things! They all were!
But now we will never know what might have been.
@billmisko1846
the song Paul McCartney played for John Lennon the day he met him
@Xxxbanidos9927
Vc comentou !!! Nesse exato dia 06de julho !!! You commented !!! On this exact day of July 6th !!!
@MCO18
July 6, 1957 - One of the most important dates in rock history
@glynstaplesjones4928
Paul tells the story on The Ronnie Wood Show Special right at the beginning, got him into The Beatles
@Chloe-ng6cq
Because he was the only one who knew the words!
@cards0486
@@Chloe-ng6cq AND could play it correctly.
I think he was doing that “play upside down on a right handed guitar” thing he did.
Right then, John asked,”You want to be in the group?”
God was there that day, that’s all there is to it.
@Jim4979
I saw Eddie perform live in 1957. It was a great show!
@elvisfan961
Jim Johnston Tell me more!!!!
@cindypruitt9534
What was it like?
@Jim4979
@paris snow When Eddie played Twenty Flight rock song and everyone stop dancing to watch Eddie play. He put on a great show!