Todd Cochran Tc3

Complete Story by Rock'n'Roll Star Eddie Cochrane in the text and music. 4 CD compilation Box Set includes 113 songs. The release also includes a booklet of 60 pages with many rare photographs, a comprehensive discography and detailed biography of the English language.

The black audience in the USA has traditionally embraced larger-than-life characters and their accompanying schtick in their quest for entertainment. In the golden era of the 1950s and 60s, James Brown had his cape and you-can’t-make-me-leave routine, Solomon Burke his regal robes, Little Richard his pancaked flamboyance. When it came time for a Caucasian analogue, the R&B-infatuated Wayne Cochran knew what needed to be done to make his mark. Cochran’s platinum blonde “do” and outrageous image are well-remembered by those who witnessed them but, lest we forget, unlike today, back then an entertainer truly had to deliver. There is enough available footage of Cochran and his crack 12-piece C.C. Riders to prove he was a mesmerising performer, and for the best part of two decades he filled venues across America with a thrilling rhythm and blues showcase.

This unique recording couples the music of two major 20th-century composers, and includes the world premiere on disc of Riley's "The Heaven Ladder, Book 7," commissioned by Cheng-Cochran and written in 1994. California-based pianist Gloria Cheng has become a favoured collaborator with some of the most demanding of today's composer/conductors, including Pierre Boulez, Essa-Pekka Salonen and Oliver Knussen, for her renditions of thorny 20th century scores. "The multifarious pulsings of Adams's Phrygian Gates (all 26 minutes of it) are more palatable here than on some rival versions, and the relatively brief China Gates (just five minutes) are well worth visiting. Terry Riley's pieces are more varied in colour and rhythm, less obviously 'minimalist', than you might have expected, with the worlds of jazz remaining well within earshot. Gloria Cheng-Cochran seems fully absorbed in the tasks to hand, and the sound is superb." (Gramophone Magazine).

Eddie Cochran was one of the first great stars of rock & roll and an artist whose influence would far outstrip his brief career, which was cut short when he died in an auto accident in 1960. Cochran would often be cited as one of the pioneers of rockabilly, but his style was more muscular and less twangy than those of his peers, adding a bluesy accent to the music that meshed comfortably with his country-influenced melodies. Cochran was also an impressive guitar player and a songwriter young enough to understand the teenage mindset and its fascination with cars, girls, and good times, but he was also talented enough to bring his stories to life and marry them to energetic, catchy melodies. Songs like "Summertime Blues," "C'mon Everybody," "Somethin' Else," "Nervous Breakdown," and "Weekend" would live on in covers decades after Cochran passed, and his influence would be felt in artists as diverse as Bobby Fuller and the Sex Pistols. Cochran was also one of the first American rockers to tour the United Kingdom, where he would prove especially influential; when Paul McCartney first met John Lennon, the latter was impressed that the former could not only play Cochran's "Twenty Flight Rock," but knew the lyrics by heart.

Digitally remastered two CD set containing expanded editions of a pair of albums from the singer, songwriter and producer. His first album, Runt (1970), features the hit single 'We Gotta Get You a Woman' as well as the nine-minute Rock epic 'Birthday Carol'. This edition features, for the first time ever on CD, all the different mixes, performances and exclusive songs from the November 1970 mis-pressing of the album. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren (1971) features more of Todd's Laura Nyro-inspired Soul/Pop ballads, and another hit in 'Long Flowing Robe'. The four bonus tracks are all radio performances from this era. The package contains ephemera and rare photos, all the lyrics, and extensive notes by Paul Myers, extracted from his recent definitive book on Todd Rundgren.

old on because this can get confusing. In 1997, Todd Rundgren released an album called With a Twist, where our hero decided rework a bunch of his favorites in the bossa nova style so popular with the hipsters in the waning days of the great mid-'90s lounge revival.