![Nelda](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Nelda.jpg)
Nelda "Ned" Fairchild (August 26, 1929 in
Burley, Idaho
Burley () is a city in Cassia and Minidoka counties in southern Idaho, United States. The population was 10,345 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Cassia County.
Burley is the principal city of the Burley, Idaho, Micropolitan ...
- May 3, 2015) was an American songwriter. Her best known work is the 1957 rock'n'roll hit "
Twenty Flight Rock
"Twenty Flight Rock" is a song originally performed by Eddie Cochran in the 1956 film comedy ''The Girl Can't Help It'', and released as a single the following year. The song was published in 1957 as written by Ned Fairchild and Eddie Cochran, by ...
", on which a co-writing credit was given to rock and roll pioneer
Eddie Cochran
Ray Edward Cochran (; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. Cochran's songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire ...
.
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
and
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
have in different contexts said that McCartney was invited to join Lennon's band, The Quarrymen, because he knew both the chords and words to "Twenty Flight Rock", a much-admired staple of the bands forming in England at that time.
Biography
Early life and career
Born Nelda Fairchild, she and her sister Teena (real name Ella) began performing at ages 4 and 5 as a
sister act
''Sister Act'' is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Emile Ardolino and written by Paul Rudnick (as Joseph Howard). It stars Whoopi Goldberg as a lounge singer forced to join a convent after being placed in a witness protection program. It ...
on radio shows.
![Southern Belles](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Southern_Belles.jpg)
As teenagers living in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
, they worked regularly and were cast members on
Burt "Foreman" Phillips' musical
variety show
Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...
in
Compton, California
Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and, on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city in Los Angeles County to incorporat ...
. By the 1950s, they were appearing as The Southern Belles, appearing on ''
Town Hall Party
''Town Hall Party'' was an American country music program, firstly broadcast on radio and then television
The first radio broadcast was in Autumn 1951 by stations KXLA-AM in Pasadena, California and KFI-AM in Los Angeles, California
The televis ...
'' with
Merle Travis
Merle Robert Travis (November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rosewood, Kentucky, United States. His songs' lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic expl ...
and other early TV music stars. Travis introduced Nelda to the AMI president
Irv Cross
Irvin Acie Cross (July 27, 1939 – February 28, 2021) was an American professional football player and sportscaster. He played cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) and was a two-time Pro Bowl selection with the Philadelphia Eagle ...
, who made her a staff writer, one of a very few women then on the writing staffs of music publishers. She variously wrote as Ned Fairchild and Sunny Bingo.
Twenty Flight Rock
It was at that time common for a star who recorded a song to take a co-writer credit. Originator of this thread, journalist Dean Miller, examined royalty statements at Fairchild's home in 2007 to confirm Fairchild was paid an undivided royalty on "Twenty Flight Rock", which supports her statements that Cochran's co-writing credit is not for authorship, but for covering the song.
![InkedBMI McCartney](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/InkedBMI_McCartney.jpg)
Cochran's nephew, biographer Bobby Cochran, dismisses her as Irv Cross' mistress in ''Three Steps to Heaven: The Eddie Cochran Story'', though without supporting documentation to substantiate the claim that Cross gave her credit as a gift. Notably, Cochran has no solo songwriting credits while Fairchild wrote and published multiple songs, some solo and some with co-writers.
I
"Chaos & Creation at Abbey Road" McCartney's 2005 bio/documentary, McCartney tells the story of auditioning on the song, which he credits with gaining him a spot in John Lennon's band, The Quarrymen.
The song was featured i
"The Girl Can't Help It,"a 1956 film featuring Jayne Mansfield.
Personal life
Her first marriage at age 15 in 1944 was to Jack B. Farnsworth. He fought in the South Pacific during World War II, was disabled by malaria, and came home a war hero. They divorced, leaving Nelda a single mother of a four-year-old son, Jack D. Farnsworth.
She met and married Richard "Bing" Bingo in 1950. Together they had two children, Jill and Frank, and Nelda's song writing and poetry proliferated. She worked nearly continuously, often on the road selling her songs and singing in bars and lounges with a small band. Bing died in 2002. Her son, Jack, died in July 2011.
In 2006, she published the autobiographical book ''Sing or Cry: My Life in Verse''. After the book was published she was diagnosed with
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
.
Songs written by Ned Fairchild
* "Twenty Flight Rock" (Ned Fairchild/Eddie Cochran) co-written with and recorded by
Eddie Cochran
Ray Edward Cochran (; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. Cochran's songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire ...
Sheet Music: Twenty Flight Rock.
/ref>
* "Freddie the Little Fir Tree" (Ned Fairchild/Merle Travis
Merle Robert Travis (November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rosewood, Kentucky, United States. His songs' lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic expl ...
) performed by Gene Autry
Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...
* "I Took Him From You" performed by the DeJohn Sisters
* "Too in Love" (Ned Fairchild/Merle Travis) performed by Hank Thompson
* "Since You Said Goodbye"
* "World Turning Blue" (performed by Sunny Bingo)
* "Wondering Where You Are Tonight" (performed by Sunny Bingo)
References
* Bobby Cochran and Susan Van Hecke (2003), ''Three Steps to Heaven: The Eddie Cochran Story'', Hal Leonard Corporation. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
* Nelda "Sunny" Fairchild Bingo (2006), ''Sing or Cry: My Life in Verse'', Aspen d Publishing
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairchild, Ned
1929 births
2015 deaths
People from Burley, Idaho
Songwriters from Idaho