23-12-14 10:33 pm – Source: Het Parool
1970, during the Mad dogs & amp; Englishmentournee. © Linda Wolf / AP
Finally
Self-writing he did not, but others knew the songs of yesterday deceased Joe Cocker fully to his. The Beatles themselves were impressed by his performance of their “With a Little Help From My Friends”
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No one could imitate him so well as John Belushi. The American comedian showed it in 1976 in an episode of Saturday Night Live. Joe Cocker was a guest and sang “Feelin ‘alright’. Belushi was standing beside him and made with great comic effect, exactly the same movements. He moved in fits and starts as a Spasticus, pulled his face into a strange grimace and alternately played air guitar and air piano.
Appearance imitation was perfect, not musically. Belushi could best singing, but such a raw and raspy sound as that of Joe Cocker he did not produce. That could only Cocker himself. The Englishman had an unpolished voice so that you at gigs wondered how he afterwards could still talk, so much he had asked his throat.
How does a singer with such a sound? It was Cocker, who was born and grew up in the northern English industrial city of Sheffield, partly innate. Quite smoking and drinking did the rest. There he had to pay a high price. A large part of his life was Joe Cocker heavily addicted to alcohol and yesterday he died, seventy years old, from lung cancer.
Apprentice Plumber
His signature song was “With a Little Help From My Friends” in 1968 made a cover of a song by The Beatles. With them was, quite a drag, sung by Ringo Starr. When Cocker was a steaming, seething soul song, in which he put his whole heart and soul. At performances he took another step further by providing the number of sounding like a primal scream swipe.
No one who remained unmoved by Cockers implementing ‘With a little help. ” The Beatles themselves, which Cockers regarded as the best cover version ever made of their work. Cocker befriended the Beatles, taking him into their twilight years sometimes uttered new material before they had entered it yourself.
So it could happen that Cocker’s song “She came in through the bathroom window” released earlier than the Beatles themselves. Also written by George Harrison Something he coverde. Earlier, in 1964, at the very beginning of his career, Cocker was also once a song by The Beatles on the plate put. But his version of “I’ll Cry Instead”, incidentally, which he detested, then flopped completely. Cocker combined in those early years, the music with a job as an apprentice plumber.
primal scream
The American soul singer Ray Charles was his great example, but he loved rock ‘n’ roll and blues. With the song Marjorine tasted the young Joe Cocker for the first success. His breakthrough came with “With a Little Help From My Friends.” Home first in England, then in America, where he sang the song in 1969 at Woodstock. In the film that was made of the festival, was Cockers occur completely naturally with those primal scream, one of the highlights.
In America he met Leon Russell, a musician, singer and songwriter with whom he worked for a few years intimately. It was Russell who band together to put Cocker in 1970 by the United States attracted a motley crew of about thirty musicians and singers that Mad Dogs & amp; Englishmen was named after a song thirties of Noël Coward.
As it went, were used excessively many drugs during the tour. But beautiful music was made: the live album Mad dogs & amp; Englishmen is arguably the best in Cockers oeuvre. 44 years later they still sound as exciting as when: the covers on the album Joe Cocker sings songs from the Stones, Traffic and Dylan, but also just as easily by Ray Charles, Otis Redding and Sam and Dave.
Kindness itself
On himself he did not write, but he knew numbers of others fully to his. With heroin addiction he had acquired in America, Joe Cocker managed to Rely, but alcohol was a big problem. Partly because of the seventies Joe Cockers dark years. He came too late or not at all show up at gigs and sometimes insulted the audience.
A rare highlight in that time, in 1974 the album “I can stand a little rain” with Cockers version of Billy Preston’s “You are so beautiful.” The sensitive ballad sung anticipated the kind of music that Cocker in the eighties and nineties regained success. The duet with Jennifer Warnes singing “Up where we belong” (from the film “An Officer and a Gentleman”) in 1982. He had a huge hit.
And after he had renounced the drink he was kindness itself, a kind of dear old uncle. A hard worker who prefers night after night was on stage, he was then also. He was not on tour, he retired to his secluded ranch in Colorado. Referring to wilder times was called the The Mad Dog Ranch.
(By: Peter Brummelen)
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