Album Description
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Includes liner notes by Colin Escott.
Liner Note Authors: Colin Escott; Bob Hyde.
Eddie Cochran hasn't been unaccounted for in the reissue sweepstakes since the rockabilly revival of the late '70s/early '80s -- quite the contrary. His greatest hits have been around the block a few times, and his voluminous amount of session work has all resurfaced on myriads of foreign collector labels. This 1998 best-of on Razor & Tie duplicates 15 of the 20 tracks on EMI's Legendary Masters Series compilation from 1990. Hits are hits, after all, and Cochran's best is hardly open to debate. What distinguishes this package is the inclusion of "Tired and Sleepy" from the Cochran Brothers, an early swipe at "Long Tall Sally," the instrumental "Guybo," "Cherished Memories," and the almost pop-folk "Boll Weevil." Great liner notes from Colin Escott and top-flight sound also make this disc highly recommended. If you're looking to start your Eddie Cochran collection, this makes an excellent first purchase. ~ Cub Koda
Subtitled THE FINE-LOOKIN' HITS OF EDDIE COCHRAN, this 20-track compilation is probably the best of the many Eddie Cochran compilations out there. Assembled with Razor and Tie's usual care and wit, SOMETHIN' ELSE delves fully into the tragically brief career of this rockabilly pioneer. Cochran is sometimes overlooked by rock historians, but on the basis of three classic singles alone--the title track, "Twenty Flight Rock" and the immortal "Summertime Blues"--he deserves to be near the top of any halfway-serious list of '50s icons.
The other 17 tracks will be a revelation to anyone who knows only the hits, though. From his rare early single "Tired and Sleepy," as one-half of the Cochran Brothers (although he and Hank Cochran were not related), to the gems which came out after his death in a car accident in London, these songs are stripped-down rockabilly--with a heavy and largely unremarked-upon jump blues influence--at its finest.
