Wayne Cochan vs Pearl Jam “Last Kiss”

The Saturday night before Christmas sixteen year old Jeanette Clark was on a date when their car struck a flatbed logging truck. Several teens were killed including Jeanette Clark and two were seriously injured. This 1954 incident inspired Wayne Cochan’s “Last Kiss” in 1961 and was dedicated to Jeanette Clark in respect of her death. Wayne Cochan joined his first band in 1955 and then moved to Macon, Georgia in 1963 becoming the band Wayne Cochan and the C.C, Riders. With the inspiration of James Brown, Cochan purchased an old bus and hit the road producing his first record in 1959, “My Little Girl” on Scottie. The early sixties brought the singles “Funny Feeling” and “Liza Jane”. He began a trend of titling his songs with the names of women as Confederate was produced with “Linda Lu” and the Aire label “Cindy Marie”. This trend carried on with King Record’s “Little Orphan Annie”. Despite his prior success, “Last Kiss”, personally written by Cochan, saw little success until it reached number two on the pop charts in 1964 with the J.Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers cover and later Pearl Jam’s 1999 version.

Rising out of Seattle, Washington during the grudge movement of the 1990’s, Pearl Jam’s cover of Wayne Cochan’s “Last Kiss” was a hit as it reached number two on Billboard Hot 100. Vocalist, Eddie Vedder, found the song in the Fremont Antique Mall in Seattle. The band played it in their 1998 tour but did not record it until 1999 where it became a hit single. All the proceeds went to the refugees of the Kosovo War in Yugoslavia between the Albanian Terrorist Parliamentary UCK and the Serb Security Forces. Altogether the band raised $10 million for the Kosovo relief. Pearl Jam’s “Last Kiss” captures the emotion and the heartbreak of the song though their motives for performing it differ greatly from Wayne Cochan’s intended dedication.

Also covered by the bands J. Frank Wilson and the Calvaliers, Wednesday, Pearl Jam and several international artists, Cochan’s “Last Kiss” reflects the spunk of the fifties though the song is truly genuine and heartbreaking. Compared to Pearl Jam’s passionate rock version, Cochan sings gently with a soft voice as a catchy beat and a subtle chorus plays in the background giving the song a folksy feeling. Not much of the song was changed in the Pearl Jam cover, but the tiny modifications made the song immensely more impacting and emotional which rendered most to tears. As Christopher John Farley of Time scrutinizes, “It’s a spare, morose song with Vedder’s voice warbling lovelorn over a straight-ahead drumbeat. Going back to basics has put Pearl Jam back on top.” Pearl Jam keeps Cochan’s idea of a steady drumbeat in the background, yet the tempo is faster and stronger creating a thrilling effect that rock music usually elicits. Instead of the tenderness of Cochan’s voice, Vedder sings with purpose as he emphasizes on crucial parts of the song as his kick in the works, “busting glass”. Vedder also makes more use of the chorus as an emotional nudge as the heartfelt lyrics reflect a man’s grieving words. Although Wayne Cochan holds the title as the original songwriter of “Last Kiss”, Pearl Jam truly spun the song and gave it its well-deserved place on Billboard Hot 100.