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Gallery
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Video
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Film
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Tributes |
Albert Lea
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Chippenham crash site |
Chippenham Festival |
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Albert Lea,
Minnesota is
the birthplace of the great Eddie Cochran. In June 2004 I had the chance to team up in Albert Lea with Bill Beard of the
Cochran Connection and Tony Barrett of Rockstar Records. Being in
the company of those two authorities on all matters Cochran and
meeting the Cochran family was an experience I will never forget.
In Albert Lea there are still people who remember Eddie and it's
amazing how much of an impact he made even at a very young age. In
the Albert Lea pages you can see some of the pictures I took while
in Albert Lea. Cherished memories indeed.
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Albert Lea remembers Eddie Cochran |
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This
is the old Naeve Hospital where Eddie Cochran
was born
on 3 October 1938. Now almost 66 years ago ...
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Naeve
Hospital was extended in later years but the old part still stands. On the far left you can see the extension ...
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At
the time of Eddie's birth in 1938 The Cochran family lived here on
909 Marshall. It is now the site of a parking lot ...
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This
is a memorial stone near the Cochran's home at formerly 230
Charles Street where the family moved to in 1941. This is now the
site of a swimming-pool and tennis courts ...
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The
whole block where Eddie spent most of his childhood is
now
demolished. On the right you can see the memorial and the swimming
pool ...
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Fountain
Lake - just in front of where Eddie used to live - you can almost
imagine the young Eddie Cochran fishing and hunting here ...
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Cochran
family Reception
- 12 June 2004
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From
left to right: Tony Barret of Rockstar Records (premium Eddie
Cochran label), Antoon, Patty Hickey (Eddie's sister) and Bill Cochran (Eddie's
oldest brother). This picture was taken during a reception on saturday in
which the Cochran family rendered their thanks to the Low Bucks
Car Club and the community of Albert Lea for their hospitality and
for keeping Eddie's memory alive. During this reception Patty and Bill
were interviewed for television and we got to meet a couple of
Eddie's class mates ...
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Freeborn County
Historical Society
Museum |
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This memorial plaque is now in the museum. It is great to see that the the Freeborn County Historical Society Museum has done so well in creating an Eddie Cochran exhibit. I cannot recommend this enough to all you Eddie Cochran fans out there ...
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In the museum you will find some show-cases full of memorabilia. In this picture you can see a very young Eddie in between two of his friends ...
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This is a picture of Eddie's 3rd grade class at Ramsey School. The picture was taken in 1947. Can you spot little Eddie?
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More memorabilia - some precious vinyl (including an Ekko 78 rpm with the Cochran Brothers) ...
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Another showcase with one of Eddie's shirts ...
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Ofcourse I had to take this close-up photo of Eddie's shirt ..
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This showcase has to be my favourite. It contains the clothes Eddie wore in England on the New Musical Express Poll Winners Concert - including the famous leather trousers ...
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There are some golden records on display - this one is for 'Sittin' In The Balcony' ...
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Golden record for the album 'Singin' For My Baby' ...
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Tail Fins Malt Shop in Alden, Minnesota - 12 miles from Albert Lea
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The Eddie Cochran Room
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These printings on the wall are all from Albert Lea's artist Eloise Adams who creates an Eddie Cochran print every year for the Eddie Cochran weekend. Eloise started this project in 1993 ...
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 The Eddie Cochran room ...
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You can make yourself comfortable surrounded by records of Eddie ...
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 This collage is also made by Eloise Adams using one of Rockstar's EP's ...
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This is Eloise's Eddie Cochran print for 2004. A must have for collectors ...
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Surf Ballroom, Clear
Lake, Iowa |
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When you are in Albert Lea you definitely have to go to The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. Here at this venue Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper played their last gig on 2 February 1959.The Surf is about an hour drive from Albert Lea. This picture was taken in front of the Surf Ballroom. From left to right: Antoon, Tony Barrett and David Jo (Eddie's Song).
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The Surf Ballroom is full of memorabilia ...
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The stage of the Surf Ballroom. Because of preparations for a Beatles tribute (!) the stage lights are lit ...
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Antoon, Tony and Terry Cole (who knew Eddie as a kid and was very kind to show us around Albert Lea) with the memorial statue in front of the Surf Ballroom ...
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This is the field where the red Beechcraft Bonanza four-seater carrying Buddy, Ritchie, Big Bopper and pilot Peterson crashed. The memorial is on the right. Nothing is changed in the landscape since that fateful day in February 1959 ...
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Close-up of the memorial. You can see that a lot of fans visit the site ...
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Tony and Antoon at the memorial ...
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The Beechcraft Bonanza came from this direction ...
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... and was supposed to fly on in this direction ...
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This map will get you from the Surf Ballroom to the crash site ...
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| Ecumenical Service for Eddie Cochran |
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Historical Village Church Ecumenical Service
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Sunday 13 June 2004 10:00 a.m.
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The Norsk ev. Luthers Kirke from 1878 - site of the ecumenical service in honour of Eddie Cochran. It was a beautiful Sunday morning ...
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The church is situated in the Pioneer Village at the terrain of the Freeborn County Historical Museum. On the Historical Museum page you will find some pictures from the permanent Eddie Cochran exhibit inside the museum ...
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This entrance got us all in the right mood ...
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Before the service ...
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The church was filled with fans, friends and family of Eddie. The service was organised by Bev jackson, executive director and curator of the Freeborn County Historical Museum. She wrote an article about the weekend which is for you to read at The Cochran Connection website ...
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On the left you can see pastor Milton Ost talking with the Cochran family. It was a very emotional service, especially when Hank Hickey (married with Eddie's sister Patty) shared some memories of Eddie with us ...
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Bruce Himmerich and David Jo singing the gospel and their tributesong 'Eddie's Song' ...
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After the service coffee and donuts were served for everybody who attended the service ...
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With the Cochran Family
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This picture is taken on friday-evening 11 june in the restaurant at the golfcourse of Albert Lea. Clockwise: Bill Cochran, Antoon, Bill Beard (Cochran Connection), Chris, June, Dave, Hank Hickey (Eddie's brother in law who did such a wonderful job representing the Cochran family during the weekend) and Betty Cochran. On the other table you can see Patty Hickey (Eddie's sister) ...
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from left to right: Patty Hickey, Betty Cochran and Bill Cochran. This picture was taken on sunday afternoon 13 june when our little group of England and Dutch fans were invited over to the Hickey family in Austin, Minnesota ...
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