Three Steps To Heaven by Eddie Cochran

Album: Greatest Hits (1960)

Charted: 1

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Songfacts®:

In a little less than 2 1/2 minutes, this song explains the 3 steps to eternal happiness. They are:
1) Find a girl.
2) Get her to fall in love with you.
3) Make her feel loved.

Cochran's advice, while disarmingly simple, is generally effective. The Beatles arrived at a similar conclusion in their 1967 song "All You Need Is Love."
Cochran wrote this with his good friend and fellow songwriter Jerry Capehart, who also helped him write "Summertime Blues."
The Crickets, who were Buddy Holly's band before the rocker died in 1959, backed Cochran on this song.
Cochran died on April 17, 1960 when a London cab he was riding in skidded off the road. This song was released about a month after his death, and while it was a huge hit in England, it was oddly ignored in Cochran's native America.
A cover by the British Pop group Showaddywaddy made it to #2 on the UK charts in 1975.

Comments: 6

Raymond Thielens from Temse, East-flanders, BelgiumThree Steps to Heaven is written by Eddie and Bob Cochran (not Jerry Capehart, see authors on the single). Bob was a nephew of Eddie. In his early years, Eddie formed a duo with Hank Cochran as The Cochran Brothers, although there was not a family relation.
Adam from TamworthCorrection to Jon from Great Yarmouth’s comment. His guitar was recovered from the scene, returned to the family and now, is on display in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.
Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn January 8th 1960, Eddie Cochran, backed by the surviving Crickets, recorded "Three Steps to Heaven" at the Gold Star Studios in Hollywood, California...
Sadly, it would be his last recording session, for as stated above, three months and nine days later on April 17th he would be kill in an auto accident at the young age of 21...
"Three Steps* to Heaven" never made Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart, but on June 19th, 1960 it would peak at #1 {for 2 weeks} on the United Kingdom's Singles chart...
May he R.I.P.
* Two other records with 'Three Steps' in their title have made the Top 100 chart; "Three Steps from the Altar" by Shep & the Limelites {#58 in 1961} and "Three Steps from True Love" by The Reflections {#94 in 1975}.
Jan from Leuven, BelgiumIn december 2006 I had the opportunity to talk to Dave Dee. He told me that Eddie's guitar was taken to the police-office and he even played on it several times, till it was given back to Eddie's family.
Jon from Great Yarmouth, United KingdomThe lead singer of the VERY popular British 60's band, Dave Dee, Dozy Beaky Mitch & Tich, was a cadet police oficer at the time of Eddy's fatal accident and attended the scene. He saw Eddy's guitar lying in the wreckage but failed to see the significance of it and it was nicked, never to be seen again. Gene Vincent was also in the wreck and suffered serious injuries which didn't help his already bad health problems.DD,D,B,M & T had many hits in the UK in the mid 60's and had recently toured again with all original members apart from one, (Mick I think). Dave Dee himself died very recently of cancer (R.I.P Eddy and Dave)
Jon - Great Yarmouth UK
Mark from London, EnglandShowaddywaddy had a hit with this in the UK.

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