Eddie Cochran’s career has always been more celebrated in the UK than America. The guitar picker who could sing and write was trying to revisit the success he had experienced with hits such as “Summertime Blues” and “C’mon Everybody” when he found he was having better luck in the UK. Just as Buddy Holly had fallen from the top of the charts before his untimely death in February 1959, Eddie Cochran was struggling to land a hit single. He was spending time in the recording studio playing guitar on other people’s sessions and experimenting with different styles of music as a Liberty Records recording artist.
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“Teenage Heaven” was featured in the movie Go, Johnny, Go! but only managed to reach No. 99 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Somethin’ Else” went on to be considered a classic but only mustered the No. 58 spot in America on its original release. It fared much better in the UK, peaking at No. 22. When Cochran recorded the Ray Charles hit, “Hallelujah, I Love Her So,” It seemed like a no-brainer. It failed to chart Stateside but reached No. 22 in the UK.
A British tour was arranged with Gene Vincent, who was having the same situation with the American charts after breaking out with his 1956 smash “Be-Bop-a-Lula.” The British teens went wild for the American duo as they traveled the country and appeared on radio and television programs. Liberty Records released another single by Cochran but it failed to make the Billboard Hot 100.
After a show at the Bristol Hippodrome, Cochran was on his way to Heathrow Airport to fly to the States when the car he was in lost control and caused him to be thrown from the vehicle. He died from head injuries later that day. When his last single was released in the UK, it reached the top spot. Let’s take a look at the story behind “Three Steps to Heaven” by Eddie Cochran.
Now, there are three steps to heaven
Just listen, and you will plainly see
And as life travels on
And things do go wrong
Just follow steps one, two, and three
Origin
Eddie Cochran and his older brother Bob wrote the song. In June 1959, Eddie Cochran recorded a demo at Gold Star Recording Studios in Hollywood, California. It took nine takes before Cochran and longtime bassist Connie “Guybo” Smith finished the song with an unknown drummer. Liberty released “Somethin’ Else” (also co-written by brother Bob) just after the demo of “Three Steps to Heaven” was recorded. “Hallelujah, I Love Her So” followed in November 1959.
Step one, you find a girl you love
Step two. She falls in love with you
Step three, you kiss and hold her tightly
Yeah, that sure seems like heaven to me
The Crickets
Drummer Jerry Allison and bassist Joe B. Mauldin parted ways with Buddy Holly in 1958 when the singer moved to New York City, and the rest of the band chose to return to Texas. They reunited with guitarist/singer Sonny Curtis and continued as The Crickets. They recorded several singles in 1959 and went on to back The Everly Brothers on their first UK concert tour. On January 8, 1960, Allison and Curtis joined Cochran and Smith at Gold Star Recording Studios to record three songs before the singer embarked on his own UK tour.
The formula for heaven’s very simple
Just follow the rules, and you will see
And as life travels on and things do go wrong
Just follow steps one, two, and three
Under the Gun
The session was hurried because Cochran had to get to the airport to begin the ill-fated UK tour. Snuff Garrett produced the session, and Liberty Records founder Si Waronker assisted. Sonny Curtis told Julie Mundy and Darrel Higham in their book, Don’t Forget Me: The Eddie Cochran Story, “We cut ‘Three Steps to Heaven,’ ‘Cut Across Shorty,’ and ‘Cherished Memories’ down at Gold Star. I was playing the electric guitar, and Cochran was playing a Martin, I think. It might have been a D18 as I recall. Guybo was on bass. What a good bass player, Guybo was.
“Our previous exposure to recording studios was just in Nashville, where you all stood in the room and formed a circle, and they put a mic up, and we went for it. But that time, they were putting baffles up, and we couldn’t see each other. We had some timing problems, and I’ll never forget Si Waronker—he was already a great musician in his own right with his film work—got out in the middle of the room with a metronome and was trying to direct us. We could all see him, but we couldn’t see each other. … It was a good, fun session, but Eddie was really under the gun for time because his plane was leaving for London at midnight. So, we recorded those three songs, and then he had to get ready to go to the airport.”
Step one, you find a girl you love
Step two. She falls in love with you
Step three, you kiss and hold her tightly
Yeah, that sure seems like heaven to me
Just follow steps one, two, and three
Early Stereo
Five takes were needed to get the master recording of “Three Steps to Heaven.” Three tracks were captured, and a true stereo version was mixed to release along with a mono version. As rock ‘n’ roll was considered a passing fad, stereo was rare. When Cochran toured the UK with Gene Vincent, he inspired many future rockers. A young George Harrison was in the crowd when the tour stopped in Liverpool. In 1987, he told B.P. Fallon on Ireland’s RTE2 Radio, “Eddie blew me away. He had his unwound 3rd string, looked good, and sang good, and he was really getting to be a good guitarist.”
When Cochran tragically lost his life in the car crash, “Three Steps to Heaven” was released in the UK and immediately went to the top of the charts. It only managed to reach No. 108 in America.
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Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
