Dave Dee Interview (about Eddie Cochrans car accident)

Dave Dee talking about Eddie Cochrans and Gene Vicents car accident in April 1960 in Bath. Interviewer: Ulrich Twelker.
www.kaase-film.de

[@martinemery5357]

Sharon Sheely was sitting in the back not in the front when the car crashed. Patrick Tomkins and George Martin were in the front. The guitar wasn't in the car it was thrown out on the verge together with everything else that was scattered there. The car continued 120 yards up the road before it came to stop in the middle of the road.

[@robertdoyle9090]

Martin: thanks for the truth.

[@vincentl.9469]

it never stopped in middle of road, it crashed backwards into a post-evidence of this is in the crash photos. Eddie was thrown out onto the road as the rear door burst open , and it was the rolling and tumbling across the poor tarmac that lead to fatal head injuries. That's what he died of. I doubt he felt much for very long ..

[@scottfearneyhough9917]

I read somewhere once that Marc Bolan was a big Cochrane fan and carried his guitar out to the car from the stage door on the night of that car accident!

[@MrPhilfridge]

Hi Scott....that story is much repeated but it was in London earlier in the tour ,if it happened , certainly not Bristol.

[@ianth3_r0ck3r5]

Agreed with +Joe Bloggins: Sharon Sheeley stated on camera that she was in the back of the Taxi with Eddie and he tried to protect her from the crash. Also, neighbours are clear that people were thrown from the vehicle. In 2009: Geoff Barker of BBC Wiltshire also reported that "Eddie was sitting in the back [when the tyre burst and the Taxi hit a lamp post]". "Sometime after 11.00pm, a Ford Consul driven by George Martin, with Eddie, Gene, Sharon and tour-manager Pat Thompkins, set off for London. Eddie, Sharon and Gene sat in the back, with Thompkins next to the driver". Why would Eddie not sit with Sharon? We have two statements, one from Sharon, against one claim that cannot be proven and is either misremembering or untruthful. But they are all dead, so RIP all.

[@PAULLONDEN]

Such a shame......seatbelts were made mandatory much too bloody late.....as Marc Bolan, Lady Di and countless others can attest..Although we must take Sharon's story with a pinch of salt.....her horrifying experience probably made her invent a story to make it all a bit more bearable ....I mean, how can one in the split second of a car crash decide to shield another passenger ? Cochran probably might have been flung in front of her during the crash....

[@andyp6691]

But it makes sense since everyone is forgetting Pat Thompkins, the tour manager. He sat in the front and remained totally unscratched together with the driver. It was the people in the back seat that were hurt. Eddie, Sharon, Gene.

[@bonkeydollocks1879]

@@PAULLONDEN seat belt WERE mandatory in lady di's case, just not worn.

[@vincentl.9469]

@@andyp6691 I think his recollections were wrong. Eddie cannot have been in the car. The Police report said he was thrown out on the road ( this was verified by those that turned up to the scene) and this lead to multiple head fractures. Very likely he was knocked out early and never woke up

[@axelbodin3089]

Too bad he played Eddie Cochran´s Gretsch in the police station after the car accident. You don´t do that when it belongs to a rockstar.

[@bonkeydollocks1879]

Wouldn't you just strum one little chord?

[@gary4917]

Just an E chord

[@axelbodin3089]

@@bonkeydollocks1879 Maybe one chord. Heh. It’s valuable stuff.

[@bonkeydollocks1879]

@@axelbodin3089 I think I would do the solo in jeanie jeanie jeanie, sod it.

[@christopherhowells1954]

Shouldn’t there be an apostrophe between Cochran and the S?

[@martinemery5357]

Just to add no tyres blew out . The police took the tyres and tubes off the damaged rims fitted them to a good rim. They were ok. They took the damaged rims as exhibits to the court hearing. George Martin was fined £50 and banned. But the ban was dropped later and didn't run the full term. I have the delivery note and the invoice for the return of Eddie's guitar and his suitcase back to his mom. Put into Google Eddie Cochran the crash Scroll down on there to see. Also take a look at the ford consul, It hit the lampost and chopped off part of the rear bumper.Just think another 3" and the car would had missed the lampost.

[@vincentl.9469]

the Police took the tyres off a crashed car to re use? where did that story come from?

[@bonkeydollocks1879]

@@vincentl.9469 Not reuse as such but to test, to prove no blow out

[@bonkeydollocks1879]

Did I read somewhere Dave dee owns/owned the guitar or an Eddie Cochran guitar ? Think I may even have seen him on telly saying it on might have been buzzcocks

[@MrPhilfridge]

Nope, it was returned to Cochran's family and his mother kept it till she died. I believe its in the rock n roll hall of fame museum now. About a decade ago Gretsch made a limited replica run of the guitar and Dhani Harrison, Georges son, gave one to Joe Brown who had accompanied Eddie on that tour

[@bonkeydollocks1879]

@@MrPhilfridge he was custodian of it for a short while so nobody ran off with it after the tradgedy, he kept it safe for the family until it was returned to the family. dee was a policeman at the scene that night.

[@MrPhilfridge]

@@bonkeydollocks1879 Sorry if i misinterpreted what you were saying. I was 8 when Eddie died and became a musician in the 60's and his influence never left me. I've read pretty much everything there is out there on him and have heard Dave Dee speak on this before, its a pity he cant get the facts right though. I understand the guitar was kept at the Police station for a few days and was very quickly shipped back to the states to Alice Cochran.

[@bonkeydollocks1879]

@@MrPhilfridge hi no it was my mistake, sincere apologies , I visited the tragic crash scene a few years ago, very moving, I'm mad into the 50s and 60s music and the general 60s scene, you were in a band in the sixties, where? Who did you play with? What did you play? Did you meet anybody famous apart from yourself of course 😊

[@MrPhilfridge]

@@bonkeydollocks1879 Hi.....i played my first paid gig as a 13yr old in late '64. All local stuff in the 60's . Things got a bit more ambitious as the 70's kicked in and i was more specifically into country rock. The most well known band i was in was Panama Red. if your diligent enough !! there is stuff on the net. Never famous, not that i care, I feel very lucky to have grown up in the era i did , a golden period for pop and rock music. Eddie was such a pioneer and i've always said he was the first 'rock' star and he certainly brought rock to the UK with his approach to guitar playing. A true great. Best Regards.

[@joegeorge8153]

I heard Eddie Cochran was thrown from the car.

[@robertdoyle9090]

What exactly did Eddie hit his head on? Could today’s medical technology have saved him? Anybody out there know?

[@wayneconn1079]

He got his story all wrong . Ed Sharon and Gene in the back ! Pat was in front with the driver . Guitars in the car ? Eds got thrown out and so did Ed . Seems alot of cover up here ! Should never touch a mans guitar and very wrong seeing Ed was dying and died the next day .

[@ChubbyChecker182]

There's some amazing coincidences here. I have also just read about Gene Vincent trying to murder Gary Glitter in 1968, there's no details, just ... "In 1968, while touring in Germany, Vincent tried to murder Gary Glitter, but his gunshot went wide right." How bizarre.

[@rossday9333]

From what ive read Gene took offence to the way Gary was treating the female staff members at the hotel earlier in the day.

[@bonkeydollocks1879]

Pity he missed