Eddie Cochran/The Who: Summertime Blues

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This quintessential teenage angst number was written by Eddie Cochran and his manager Jerry Capehart. It was recorded on March 28, 1958, at Gold Star Recording Studios in Hollywood. Cochran sang both the vocal parts and played all the guitar parts. Originally intended as the B-side to Love Again, it was released in August 1958 and peaked at No 8 in America and No 18 in Britain. It is ranked at 73 in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

This is the single:

And this is a live performance in 1959, a year before Cochran died in a car crash near Bristol during a British tour. He was 21.

The Who did a terrific version on their 1970 album Live at Leeds:

 and here is a different performance from about the same time, I think with inferior sound recording equipment, but you can see the energy.  

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