Somethin' Else: The Fine Lookin' Hits of Eddie Cochran (1998)

Cochran did it all: wrote, sang, and played his own first-class lead guitar. He ranged from country (''Cut Across Shorty'') to razor-edged rock (''Summertime Blues'') to revved-up standards (''Am I Blue,'' unfortunately omitted here). He might have cornered the bad-boy market (what with Elvis wimping out after the Army); instead, he died at 21 in 1960. His three-year output is fascinating if spotty, and this mini-trove, Somethin' Else: The Fine Lookin' Hits of Eddie Cochran, is as good a one-volume Cochran sampler as you'll find. B+