- Gene Trivia: His birth name was Vincent Eugene Craddock, born February 11, 1935 in Norfolk, Virginia.
- Gene Trivia: His musical influences included country, rhythm and blues and gospel music. His favorite composition was Beethoven's Egmont Overture.
- Gene Trivia: Vincent dropped out of school in 1952 during the Korean War at the age of seventeen, and enlisted in the United States Navy.
- Gene Trivia: He planned a career in the Navy and, in 1955, used his $612 re-enlistment bonus to buy a new Triumph motorcycle....
- ... In July 1955, his left leg was shattered in a motorcycle crash. He refused to allow the leg to be amputated, and the leg was saved,...
- ... but the injury left him with a limp and pain. He wore a steel sheath around the leg for the rest of his life
- Gene Trivia: While in Veteran's Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia, Vincent met another patient, Don Graves, whom he paid twenty five dollars for his song, "Be-Bop-A-Lula" that was about a local stripper...
- ... Others, including Gene himself, have on occasion claimed that the song was inspired by the "Little Lulu" comic strip.
- Gene Trivia: He became involved in the local music scene in Norfolk, Virginia, changed his name to Gene Vincent, and formed a rockabilly band, Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps...
- ... Blue Caps was in reference to President Eisenhower's baby blue golf cap, which he wore conspicuously during his frequent presidential golf outings....
- ... The band included Willie Williams on rhythm guitar, Jack Neal on upright bass, Dickie Harrell on drums, and Cliff Gallup on lead guitar...
- ... He also collaborated with another rising musician, Jay Chevalier of Rapides Parish, Louisiana.
- Gene Trivia: His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly.
- Gene Trivia: When the song was being recorded, Dickie Harrell of the Blue Caps screamed in the background, he said because he wanted to be sure his family could hear it was him on the record.
- Gene Trivia: "Be-Bop-A-Lula" was successful on three American singles charts: it peaked at #7 on the US Billboard pop music chart, #8 on the R&B chart, and also made the top ten on the C&W Best Seller chart peaking at #5...
- ... In the UK, it peaked at #16 in August 1956. In April 1957, the record company announced that over 2 million copies had been sold to date.
- Gene Trivia: "Be-Bop-A-Lula" drew comparisons to Presley and is listed as #103 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
- Gene Trivia: In 1957 Gene released "Dance To The Bop" appeared on "American Bandstand" and "Big D Jamboree" in Dallas,...
- ... which led to a tour of Australia with Little Richard and Eddie Cochran, with whom he became good friends. Cochran would sing back-up on Vincent's "Record Date" album.
- Gene Trivia: But in 1958 Vincent lost his home in Dallas to back taxes, then moved to Los Angeles where he only found low paying jobs. Three weeks of not being paid caused the Blue Caps to quit.
- Gene Trivia: But in 1959 Gene Vincent became the first of many American musicians to strike gold in the UK, and in the process, to become more successful across the pond than back home.
- Gene Trivia: In December he went to England where he was met as a hero. An appearance on Jack Good's "Boy Meets Girl", a British television rock and roll show,...
- ... led to a permanent spot on the show. Good is credited with creating the all black leather image that became Vincent's trademark.
- Gene Trivia: He convinced his friend Eddie Cochran to come over to England, and on his arrival they began a 12 week tour...
- ... While riding in a taxi in Chippenham, Wiltshire on April 17, 1960 with Cochran and Cochran's girlfriend, Sharon Sheeley, there was an accident that tragically ended Cochran's life.
- Gene Trivia: In 1961 he toured South Africa, and later performed in Liverpool with the Beatles as an opening act...
- ... The next four years were spent in England performing when asked and making records that didn't sell. His Capitol Records contract expired in 1963.
- Gene Trivia: In 1966 he signed with Challenge records, and in 1969 he played the Toronto Peace Festival. Then he returned to England, but returned to America in failing health in 1971...
- ... An attempt to land a new recording deal failed. After a string of unsuccessful appearances at the San Francisco Park Festival he returned to his home to Los Angeles...
- ... But soon there after, he was admitted to the Inter-Valley Hospital in New Hall, California with a bleeding stomach ulcer.
- Gene Trivia: On October 12, 1971 he died at the age of thirty six.
- Gene Trivia: In 1992 a British promoter contacted Johnny Meeks in California about a Blue Caps reunion tour. Meeks contacted Clapper Boy Tommy Facenda...
- ... and for a month in the summer of 1993 the 1958 line-up of Blue Caps played sold out shows in France, England, and Germany.
- Gene Trivia: He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
