Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935–October 12, 1971), better known as Gene Vincent, was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on February 11, 1935. His early musical influences included country, rhythm and blues and gospel music. He showed his first real interest in music while his family lived in Munden Point, Virginia, near the North Carolina line, where they ran a country store. He received his first guitar as a gift from a friend at the age of 12. His father, Ezekiah Jackson Craddock, volunteered to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard and patrolled American coastal waters to protect Allied shipping against German U-boats during World War II. His mother, Mary Louise Craddock, maintained a general store at Munden Point. Craddock's parents moved the family and opened a new general store and sailor's tailoring shop in Norfolk. Having spent his youth in the Norfolk area, Craddock decided to pursue the life of a sailor. He dropped out of school at age 17 and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1952. Craddock's parents signed the required forms allowing him to join the Navy. He completed basic training and joined the fleet as a destroyerman on USS Chukawan, although he did spend a two week training period on USS Amphion before returning to the Chukawan. He proved to be a good sailor while deployed at sea, but gained a reputation as a trouble-maker while on liberty ashore. Craddock never saw combat, but completed a Korean War deployment. He sailed home from Korean waters aboard battleship USS Wisconsin, but was not part of the ship's company. Craddock planned a long career in the U.S. Navy and, in 1955, used his $612 dollar reenlistment bonus to buy a new Triumph motorbike. In July 1955, while in Norfolk, he was involved in a severe motorcycle accident that shattered his left leg. He refused to have it amputated. The leg was saved, but left him with a permanent limp and chronic pain for the rest of his life. He spent was in the Portsmouth Naval Hospital and was medically discharged from the Navy shortly thereafter. Craddock became involved in the local music scene in Norfolk. He changed his name to Gene Vincent and formed a rockabilly band called the Blue Caps (a term used in reference to enlisted sailors in the U.S. Navy). The band included Willie Williams on rhythm guitar, Jack Neal on upright bass, Dickie Harrell on drums, and the innovative and influential lead guitarist, Cliff Gallup. Departing from traditional naming conventions, he and his band are named "Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps", not "...the Blue Caps" as often stated. Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps soon gained a reputation playing in various country bands in his native Norfolk, Virginia. There, they won a talent contest organized by local radio DJ "Sheriff Tex" Davis, who became his manager. In 1956 he wrote "Be-Bop-A-Lula", No. 102 on Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Rock and Roll Songs of All Time" list. Local radio DJ "Sheriff Tex" Davis arranged for this to be demoed and this secured him a contract with Capitol Records. He signed a publishing contract with Bill Lowery of The Lowery Group of music publishers in Atlanta, Georgia. "Be-Bop-A-Lula" was not on Vincent's first album and was picked by Capitol producer Ken Nelson as the B side of his first single. Prior to the release of the single, Lowery pressed promotional copies of "Be-Bop-A-Lula" and sent them to radio stations throughout the country. By the time Capitol released the single, "Be-Bop-A-Lula" had already gained attention from the public and radio DJs. The song was picked up and played by other U.S. radio stations (obscuring the original "A-side" song), and became a hit and launched Vincent as a rock 'n' roll star. After "Be-Bop-A-Lula" became a hit (peaking at No. 7 and spending 20 weeks on the Billboard Pop Chart), Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps were unable to follow it up with the same level of commercial success, but released critically-acclaimed songs like "Race With The Devil" (No. 96 in Billboard) and "Bluejean Bop" (No. 49). That year, Vincent was reportedly convicted of public obscenity and fined $10,000 by the state of Virginia for his live performance of the erotic song, "Woman Love", although this is now believed to have been a rumor, possibly started by his manager. The group had another hit with 1957's "Lotta Lovin'" (highest position No. 13 and spending 19 weeks in the charts). Gene Vincent was awarded Gold Records for 2 million sales of Be-Bop-A-Lula and 1.5 million sales of Lotta Lovin'. The same year he toured the east coast of Australia with Little Richard and Eddie Cochran, drawing audiences totaling 72,000 to their Sydney Stadium concerts. Vincent also became one of the first rock stars to star in a film, The Girl Can't Help It with Jayne Mansfield. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly. He is a member of the Rock and Roll and Rockabilly Halls of Fame.
01- Bluejean Bop 02- Jezebel 03- Who Slapped John? 04- Ain't She Sweet 05- I Flipped 06- Waltz of the Wind 07- Jump Back, Honey, Jump Back 08- Wedding Bells (Are Breaking up That Old Gang of Mine) 09- Jumps, Giggles and Shouts 10- Lazy River 11- Bop Street 12- Peg O' My Heart 13- Race With the Devil 14- Be-Bop-A-Lula 15- Woman Love 16- Crazy Legs 17- Gonna Back up Baby 18- Well, I Knocked Him, Bim Bam
Born Edward Raymond Cochran, 3 October 1938, Albert Lea, Minnesota, Eddie Cochran was the consummate rock 'n' roll idol, the one who had the lot. Unfortunately he had it taken away at the criminally young age of 21. Good looks, great guitar playing and the social-commentary lyrics of a Chuck Berry, Eddie was better positioned than anyone to rival Elvis Presley. By the time the Cochran family moved to California around 1950, Eddie was already an accomplished musician. He started to play with Hank Cochran as the Cochran Brothers although they weren't related. Hank had a country heart whilst Eddie was fuelled by a blood supply of the youthful rockabilly sounds. Hank and Eddie went their separate ways with Hank destined for a Hall of Fame career writing country songs. Meanwhile Eddie was by now working closely with Jerry Capehart who was instrumental in attaining him a role in the 1956 rock-flick, The Girl Can't Help It, in which he played “Twenty Flight Rock”. For the next two years he was running high with such revered classics as “Summertime Blues”, “C'Mon Everybody”, “Somethin' Else”, “Three Steps To Heaven”, and “Nervous Breakdown”. They've all been copied to death from metal to punk, rockabilly to country bands - and I think it's fair to say that no-one has really surpassed them. His guitar playing was way ahead of its time. Eddie embarked on a 1960 tour of the UK with his buddy Gene Vincent, and on 17 April 1960 he was killed in a car crash at Chippenham, not before he'd turned the UK scene on its head, with British musicians still today, marveling at his guitar work. The town remembers him every year with a tribute concert, the least that can be done to celebrate the life of one of the best ever. Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 - October 12, 1971), better known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. Craddock was a Norfolk native and became involved in the local music scene. He changed his name to “Gene Vincent” and formed a rockabilly band called the “Bluecaps” (a term used in reference to enlisted sailors in the U.S. Navy). Gene Vincent and the Bluecaps soon won a talent contest organized by local radio DJ "Sheriff Tex" Davis, who became his manager. In 1956 he wrote "Be-Bop-A-Lula”, a song that was picked up and played by U.S. radio stations, became a hit and launched Gene Vincent as a pop star. After "Be-Bop-A-Lula" became a huge hit (peaking at #7 and spending 20 weeks in the Billboard Pop Chart), Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps were unable to follow it up with the same level of commercial success. He was awarded Gold Records for 2 million sales of “Be-Bop-A-Lula”. Vincent also became one of the first rock stars to star in a film, The Girl Can't Help It together with Jayne Mansfield. Following a visit to Europe in 1959, Vincent managed to attract a new huge and discerning audience there, especially in the United Kingdom and France. By that time his career had mostly ended in the US. In 1960, while on tour in the UK, Vincent and songwriter Sharon Sheeley were seriously injured in a high-speed traffic accident in a private hire taxi traveling through Chippenham, Wiltshire on the A4 on the journey to London Airport where they were set to return to the US that night. The car, a Ford Consul, suffered a blowout causing it to swerve and crash into a lamp post on Rowden Hill. Both Vincent and Sheeley survived, but the accident killed Vincent's tour mate and Sheeley's fiancée, Eddie Cochran. This recording (from February 23, 1960 at BBC Picadilly Studios, London) is from that last tour, and it’s also their appearance at the mythic Beeb radio show “Saturday Club” hosted by Alan Freeman, and with The Wildcats as backing group for both singers. Bonus tracks come from a UK TV show called Boys Meet Girls, which was filmed-recorded during that same English tour.
00- Saturday Club’s theme & Introduction 01- Say Mama - Gene Vincent 02- Summertime - Gene Vincent 03- Somethin' Else - Eddie Cochran 04- Hallelujah! I Love Her So - Eddie Cochran 05- Wildcat - Gene Vincent 06- My Heart - Gene Vincent (with Eddie Cochrane on guitar) 07- What'd I Say - Eddie Cochran 08- Interview with Brian Matthew 09- Milk Cow Blues - Eddie Cochran 10- Rocky Road Blues - Gene Vincent 11- Be-Bop-A-Lula - Gene Vincent 12- Twenty Flight Rock - Eddie Cochran 13- C’mon Everybody - Eddie Cochran
Bonus Tracks (Eddie Cochrane’s songs from UK TV show ‘Boys Meet Girls’, 1960):
14- Interview with Freeman Hover 15- Introduction by Marty Wilde 16- Hallelujah! I Love Her So 17- C’mon Everybody 18- Somethin' Else 19- Interview with Eddie Cochrane 20- Twenty Flight Rock 21- Introduction by Marty Wilde 22- Money Honey 23- Have I Told You Lately That I Love You? 24- Hallelujah! I Love Her So 25- Closing Announcement 26- Interview with Monty Lister 27- Summertime Blues 28- Milk Cow Blues 29- Introduction & Interview with Eddie Cochrane 30- I Don’t Like You No More 31- Sweet Little Sixteen 32- Introduction by Marty Wilde 33- White Lightnin’ (with Gene Vincent)
