Gala premiere for Eddie Cochran doc at Tyneside
Blow away summertime blues
Music legend Eddie Cochran will be strutting his stuff at Tyneside Cinema when the first fully authorised documentary of the pioneering rock ‘n’ roller gets a northern gala premiere.
The European premiere of Eddie Cochran: Don’t Forget Me closed the recent Raindance Film Festival in London where its director, Kirsty Bell, from Newcastle, won the best director accolade.
It will be screened in at the Tyneside on Thursday, September 3 at a gala event celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Sir Graham Wylie Foundation, funder of the cinema’s Tyneside Talent Unit.
The screening, made possible with support from the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority, will be followed by a Q&A session with Kirsty Bell and guests.
The film was produced by Goldfinch, the highly regarded entertainment company founded by Bell in 2016.
It has produced many acclaimed films but Bell’s own directorial debut came with the 2021 release, A Bird Flew In, with a cast including Jeff Fahey, Derek Jacobi and Frances Barber who also appears in the documentary as Eddie’s mother, Alice.
Eddie Cochran is played in the film by Jack Harris, a young singer-songwriter from Cleveland, Ohio, making his big screen debut.
Kirsty Bell said: It has been the deepest honour to be entrusted by Eddie Cochran’s family to tell his story.
“His life burned fast and bright but the ripples of his sound reached across oceans and decades, shaping the very language of rock ‘n’ roll.
“Don’t Forget Me is not just the title of this film. It is Eddie’s own plea, echoed in autograph books and in the lives he touched.
“My hope is to bring him vividly back into the world’s consciousness, to remind us not only of what we lost but of the brilliance he gave.”
Before the London screening, Kirsty told entertainment magazine Variety that she had always known and loved Cochran’s music but knew little of his life.
“There were so many things that linked him to modern-day music,” she said.
“I have this pad on my desk where I note down ideas and I just started scribbling thoughts around his name.
“Suddenly this mind map of him appeared, linking him basically to everyone and everything that has happened in music after. That blew me away.”
On her LinkedIn page she has posted: “Well, what do you know … more great news for our Eddie Cochran documentary - Northern Premiere in me home town of Newcastle aka the toon on September 3rd at the Tyneside Cinema (iconic!) and also before a theatrical release … more on that another time.
“If you are from the toon or in the toon please book a ticket as we are raising funds for the Sir Graham Wylie Foundation on their 10th anniversary of wonderfulness.”
Cochran’s was a fruitful though agonisingly short life. Born in Minnesota in 1938, he was involved in music from an early age, teaching himself to play blues guitar and playing in the school band.
He became a familiar face on TV and in films while his good looks, sharp dress sense and seemingly rebellious attitude seemed to epitomise the image of the 1950s rocker.
He appeared as himself in the 1956 film The Girl Can’t Help It performing a tongue-in-cheek rock ‘n’ roll number called Twenty Flight Rock which was released as a single the following year.
His enduring hits included Summertime Blues, C’mon Everybody and Somethin’ Else. The title of the documentary recalls something he’d say to fans when signing autographs.
Cochran was at the end of a UK tour when he suffered a fatal car crash in Chippenham, Wiltshire, while on his way to Heathrow after performing at Bristol Hippodrome.
He died in hospital the next day – April 17, 1960 – without having regained consciousness. He was 21.
Immediately his last release, Three Steps to Heaven, recorded shortly before his death, shot to number one.
In the documentary film a series of living music legends speak of the influence Cochran had on them.
They include Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Roger Daltrey, Sting, Linda Perry, Suzi Quatro, Yungblud, Alice Cooper, Rod Stewart, Billy Idol and Peter Frampton.
All pay tribute to a multi-talented musical pioneer who experimented with multi-track recording, distortion and overdubbing. There are contributions from Eddie Cochran’s family, too.
Cochran may have been short-lived but his influence has blazed long in the music firmament.
His songs have been covered more than 500 times by artists including The Beatles (Paul McCartney played Twenty Flight Rock when auditioning to join The Quarrymen), The Rolling Stones, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Joan Jett, Led Zeppelin and T. Rex.
Nic Greenan, chief executive of Tyneside Cinema, said: “We’re delighted to be bringing the North East Gala Premiere of Eddie Cochran: Don’t Forget Me to Tyneside Cinema.
“This special event celebrates outstanding filmmaking, music and culture, while also marking the 10th anniversary of the Sir Graham Wylie Foundation and recognising the support that helps create opportunities for emerging film talent.”
Angie Jenkison, CEO of the Sir Graham Wylie Foundation, said: “We are honoured that the Northern Premiere of Eddie Cochran: Don’t Forget Me will be part of the Foundation’s 10th anniversary celebrations.
“Eddie Cochran was a young man with extraordinary talent and passion and that is exactly what we are funding at Tyneside Cinema, a facility that will support young people with talent and passion to find their purpose.”
Tickets are on sale now at Tyneside Cinema with standard admission at £17.50 and a limited number of VIP circle tickets – including drinks, canapes and an exclusive meet-and-greet with cast and crew – at £45.
Something I must try to catch. When I moved to Chippenham some twelve years ago, I had no idea our house was close to a monument to Eddie that marks the place where the car he was in on the fateful night came to grief. The occupants of our house at the time heard the crash, and when they saw the injured, they took blankets out to keep them warm. Interestingly, the first police officers on the scene included a young cadet named Dave Harman, who later became Dave Dee of the band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. It's said that Dave, in what to me seems macabre, taught himself to play guitar on Eddie's Gretsch while it was impounded for some time, along with other effects, after the accident.
Fans erected the original small black metal memorial to Eddie in 1998. Sharon Sheeley unveiled it on her first return to the scene since the accident. A grander version replaced it some twenty years later, with the original memorial moved for display to Chippenham Museum, where I volunteered for a few years after I retired. The design of the new memorial features three steps, echoing Eddie’s hit ‘Three Steps to Heaven,’ with inscriptions of lyrics from the song adorning the steps. Before the larger memorial appeared, we often had fans knock on the door and ask where the less easily seen small memorial might be. They frequently carried flowers; whenever I passed the small monument, I'd see flowers and memorabilia by its side.
It will no doubt be covered in the film, but George Harrison of the not-yet-then Beatles saw Eddie when the 1960 tour played Liverpool and later acquired a piece of Eddie memorabilia. In 1999, Paul McCartney recalled the then-unknown Beatles touring Scotland backing Johnny Gentle. Eddie had given Gentle his stage shirt after what would prove to be his last show. Apparently, George pestered Johnny all week before Johnny eventually passed the shirt to George.
Again it will no doubt be covered, but there's another link between Eddie and a future British rock star. The then 13-year-old Marc Feld, an East London boy and the son of a lorry driver, met Eddie outside London's Hackney Empire, where he had just played a concert on the tour. Eddie allowed Marc to carry his guitar out to his limousine, and Marc was so in awe that he later called himself Dib Cochran as a jokey homage to the performer. However, it was as Marc Bolan with his band T. Rex that brought him fame as one of the earliest glam rockers, and of course he too had an untimely death.