Eddie Cochran – Summertime Blues

In my love for the Who, I never posted this version of this great song. I found out about Eddie Cochran through the movie The Buddy Holly Story where he was played by Jerry Zaremba. I then remember him in La Bamba when Brian Setzer played him to a tee. 

After that, I heard The Who’s version of this song and our band played it that way. I then heard Cochran’s version and loved it just as well. The song that really made me connect to Cochran was Twenty Flight Rock when I heard the Stones do it. 

Eddie Cochran was a huge influence on the up-and-coming British guitar players of the sixties. Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, John Lennon, and Pete Townshend. He was huge in the UK. He was one of the big 50s guitar heroes. He broke through with this song Summertime Blues in 1958 peaked at #8 on the  Billboard 100, #10 in Canada, and #18 in the UK. He also did well with C’mon Everybody. He was never really big in America… he was a bigger star in Europe.

He didn’t use his guitar as a prop like some did…he played it and played it well. He also worked as a session musician. He helped bring rock guitar along in more ways than just his playing. He was one of the first to modify his pickups and he did away with the wound G string on the guitar. He replaced it with an unwound string which made it easier to bend. Many future musicians were paying attention, sitting on the front row of his British tour.

In 1960, Cochran and Gene Vincent were in a hired car and it  hit a lamp post and Eddie was thrown from the car and suffered a head injury and died in a hospital. He was only 21 years old. Gene Vincent received injuries to his already bad leg and walked with a limp after the crash. Eddie was the only one to die.

Eddie’s girlfriend Sharon Sheeley was a songwriter. She wrote Ricky Nelson’s first hit “Poor Little Fool” and a couple of songs (Love Again and Cherished Memories) for Cochran. She also got injured in the crash. 

Summertime Blues

I’m a-gonna raise a fuss
I’m a-gonna raise a holler
About a-workin’ all summer
Just to try to earn a dollar

Every time I call my baby
Try to get a date
My boss says, “No dice, son
You gotta work late”

Sometimes I wonder
What I’m a-gonna do
But there ain’t no cure
For the summertime blues

Oh, well, my mom and papa told me
“Son, you gotta make some money
And if you wanna use the car
To go a-ridin’ next Sunday”

Well, I didn’t go to work
Told the boss I was sick
“Well, you can’t use the car
‘Cause you didn’t work a lick”

Sometimes I wonder
What I’m a-gonna do
But there ain’t no cure
For the summertime blues

I’m gonna take two weeks
Gonna have a fine vacation
I’m gonna take my problem
To the United Nations

Well, I called my congressman
And he said, quote
“I’d like to help you, son
But you’re too young to vote”

Sometimes I wonder
What I’m a-gonna do
But there ain’t no cure
For the summertime blues

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

28 thoughts on “Eddie Cochran – Summertime Blues”

  4. American rockabilly artist Eddie Cochran created an infectious melody and one of rock music’s first great guitar riffs along with his manager Jerry Capehart who wrote the lyrics in about 45 minutes.  The rhythm section consisted of Earl Palmer on drums, Billy Strange on guitar and Red Callender on bass.  It is about a relatable teenage experience where the kid has to spend the summer working instead of cruising around and having fun with his girlfriend.  He complains that the adults don’t understand him and that they put too much pressure on him.  His plans to spend time with his girl, but he finds himself tangled in a web of responsibilities and restrictions.  His plans are dashed by his boss telling him that he has to work late and since he doesn’t work enough, his parents won’t lend him their car.  He thinks about taking his problems to the United Nations and he even appeals to his congressman, but he gets no help there, because he is too young to vote.

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  5. it’s a staple in many bar bands and garage bands repetoire and it still seems to appeal to lots of younger people than most of the other music of that era, probably because of the lyrics and message I guess. I still think of the Rush version when I hear the title

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  8. I went on a Eddie and Gene binge for a few years. Sucked up everything they did and were related to. That doesnt make me an expert on their music but shows how much the music grabbed me. People like The Who (their version was probably my first exposure to Cochran and I didnt know it), Robert Gordon, Levon Helm and others just kept planting the seed deeper. 2 minutes of greatness

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    1. Yes it is greatness… next time I’m going to cover a non hit. Same with me on the song…The Who introduced me…I loved Eddie’s version as well. Totally different.

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      1. You’ll get me going down the rabbit hole on this one. The Who version playing on am radio was the kicker for me. Special tune in my pile. Helm doing it on SCTV brought that hillbilly vibe that has forever stuck in my head (I might have to do a “live” take on that one). I think we discussed this tune before. Probably do it again. You’re edging closer and closer to your rockabilly idea.

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      2. Yea…it is special. You know what is a really good song when it works in different formats. When we played this one…it always brought down the house.
        I’ve really come to love the rockabilly covers of this as well. It gives it a different edge.

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