Today would have been the 59th birthday of pioneering rock guitarist/songwriter Eddie Cochran. Cochran is remembered for being an energetic performer, writing such rock standards as "Summertime Blues" and for being one of the first artists to use overdubbing in the studio. Ray Edward Cochran was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota, the youngest son of two Oklahoma City natives, a city Cochran always regarded as his home town though he was not born or raised there. He joined his school's orchestra at the age of 12, starting off as a drummer, moving to the trombone and then finally settling on the guitar. The family moved to California in 1951 and the newly friend-less Cochran made the guitar his best friend. By 1955 he was recording scorching rockabilly tunes with Hank Cochran as the Cochran Brothers, even though they were not related. The duo broke up in 1956 and Cochran began work on low-budget film soundtracks for producer Boris Petroff. Petroff recognized Cochran's talent and cast him to sing "Twenty Flight Rock" in the Jane Mansfield rock-sploitation flick The Girl Can't Help It. The audience reacted quite positively to Cochran's performance and he was signed to Liberty Records soon after the film's release.

Cochran's first hit was 1957's "Sittin' in the Balcony," which reached #18 on the pop charts. Cochran's anthem of teen boredom, "Summertime Blues," hit the top 10 a year later, while "C'mon Everybody" and "Somethin' Else" also placed on the pop charts. "Summertime Blues" and "C'mon Everybody" marked one of the first times an artist played all the instruments and sang all the parts on a rock single. Cochran toured constantly during this period, most frequently in England, where he was a bigger star. Cochran was on his way to the London airport on April 17, 1960 when his car hit a tree, causing his instant death. Cochran was posthumously inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

Other birthdays: Alan O'Day, 57; Chubby Checker, 56; Lindsay Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac), 50; Ronnie Laws, 47; the late Stevie Ray Vaughn, 43; Jack Wagner, 38 and Robbie Jaymes (Modern Romance), 36.