Several years ago, during a work trip to Bristol, England, I learned about the city’s sad connection to the history of American rock n’ roll. The early rock star Eddie Cochran died in a car crash following a show at the Bristol Hippodrome in 1960. Despite penning some of the greatest songs of the early rock n’ roll era, including “Summertime Blues,” Cochran’s death at the age of 21 has been overshadowed by other music tragedies such as “The Day the Music Died.” It’s surprising because Cochran’s amps-to-eleven style of rockabilly influenced the history of rock n’ roll as much as, say, Buddy Holly or Ritchie Valens.
Sixty-six years later, Cochran is still being honored, most recently by Bob Dylan who started covering Cochran’s “Nervous Breakdown” during a show in Omaha and has played it every night since.
After years of saying no, I finally came up with the solution. I wouldn’t write a book about cover songs – instead, I would write a book about twenty specific cover songs, and through those twenty covers, a broader narrative would emerge.