Does anyone know the original version of “Last Kiss”?
This is a question I can answer with real authority. I am a diehard Pearl Jam fan from way back. “Last Kiss” was written by Wayne Cochran in 1962. He recorded the first version of the song with his band, Wayne Cochran & the C.C. Riders, and had a local hit with it in Georgia. The song was inspired by a real car accident in Georgia that killed a teenaged couple. The song was covered by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers in 1964. Their version hit #2 on the Top 40. In 1973, Canadian group Wednesday recorded a cover of “Last Kiss” that (barely) made the US Top 40. Sometime in the late ’90s, Vedder happened upon a copy of the 1964 version of “Last Kiss” at a secondhand sale and purchased it. He has said that he remembered hearing the Wednesday version of the song as a kid (he would have been 8 or 9 at the time) but hadn’t realized it was a cover of an older song. He was inspired to learn the song, and had the rest of Pearl Jam learn it too. Pearl Jam began including “Last Kiss” in some of t
