Who is Joe Cocker John Robert Cocker - 20th May 1944 - 22nd December 2014 Better known to us as Joe Cocker. Born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, a steel town in England, responsible for the development of Stainless Steel and Crucible Steel in the 19th century. Joe's main influences were Ray Charles and Lonnie Donegan. Everyone knows Ray, but Lonnie was a famous English Skiffle artist, and was a big influence on the sixties English bands. Joe sang first in public when he was twelve, when his brother, Victor, invited him up to sing with his skiffle group. Joe's first band was with three friends in 1960 and they called themselves the Cavaliers. In 1961 under the stage name of Vance Arnold , he formed another band. He derived the name from mishearing the name of Elvis Presley's character in Jailhouse Rock, Vince Everett, and Country singer Eddie Arnold. Joe developed an interest in blues and sought out recordings of John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins and Howlin Wolf. Vance Arnold and the Avengers got their first major gig in 1963 supporting the Rolling Stones at Sheffield City Hall. In '64 he signed a solo recording contract with Decca and released his first single which was a cover of the Beatles I'll Cry Instead, with Big Jim Sullivan and Jimmy Page on the guitars. Although getting good promotion which lauded his working class roots (Sheffield was a working class city, and it would take pages to explain the English Class System ... and it's just not worth it .... ) the single flopped and at the end of 1964 his contract ended. After he recorded the single, Joe dropped the stage name and formed Joe Cocker's Blues Band. There is only one known recording of Joe Cocker's Blues Band, and it was on an EP handed out during Sheffield College's Rag Week, it was called "Rag Goes Mad At The Mojo". In 1966, after a year long hiatus from music Joe got together with Chris Stainton, who he had met a few years before, and they formed the Grease Band. The band played around the pubs of Sheffield and came to the attention of Denny Cordell, the producer of the Moody Blues and Procol Harum. Cocker recorded the single Marjorine without the Grease Band for Cordell in a London studio. Cocker and Stainton moved to London, and the Grease Band was dissolved. Cordell set Cocker up with a residency at the Marquee Club in London and a new Grease Band was formed, with Stainton and keyboardist Tommy Eyre. Marjorine had a little success in the US as a single. Cocker went on to record a rearranged version of the Beatles With A Little help From My Friends, famously with Jimmy Page on guitar and BJ Wilson of Procol Harum on drums. The song went into the British top ten and remained there for thirteen weeks, eventually getting to number one on the 9th of November 1968. It also reached #68 on the US chart. Paul Mccartney said, upon hearing of Cocker's passing - "He was a lovely northern lad who I loved a lot and, like many people, I loved his singing. I was especially pleased when he decided to cover "With a Little Help from My Friends" and I remember him and Denny Cordell coming round to the studio in Savile Row (central London) and playing me what they'd recorded and it was just mind-blowing, totally turned the song into a soul anthem, and I was forever grateful to him for doing that." Joe is a rock legend, and sadly most folks seem to be stuck in the first two albums and Woodstock performance, and leave it there. He made a lot of great songs and a lot of great albums. For a while Joe struggled with some alcohol issues, I believe, I am not an expert on his life and times, so please bear with me, and please correct me if I am wrong, but in the eighties, he came back with a vengeance and released a series of very successful albums and singles and maintained his popularity pretty much until his passing. His catalog is definitely worth exploring, and with a little encouragement from @footprintsinthesand I have decided to go through and discover these recordings, and hope that some of you will come along with me for the ride. In all honesty a lot of these recordings are new to me, but I have been listening to some of these albums for a few weeks now and there are still a few on the way, so bear with me as I dip my toe in the water .... well dive headlong into the dam really, and see what we find. I am enjoying the stuff I have had a chance to listen to so far and think this could be quite a good thread for folks to discover Joe's music, re-acquaint themselves with Joe's music, and/or hopefully be our information guides, because I am sure there must be some Joe Cocker experts on here, and your participation will be greatly appreciated. I discover Joe Cocker in the late seventies or early eighties via a record my dad bought, and I loved it.... when it comes to music there was never a generation gap for me, I either liked something or I didn't. This album was an Australian pressing of Joe Cocker's Greatest Hits, and it was fantastic. A1 Delta Lady A2 She Came In Through The Bathroom Window A3 Hitchcock Railway A4 Darling Be Home Soon A5 Marjorine A6 Feeling Alright A7 Something A8 She's So Good To Me A9 Dear Landlord A10 The Letter B1 I Shall Be Released B2 With A Little Help From My Friends B3 Bird On The Wire B4 You Are So Beautiful B5 Just Like A Woman B6 Put Out The Light B7 Hello, Little Friend B8 Black Eyed Blues B9 St James Infirmary B10 Hi Time We Went Like a lot of folks I had the Joe Cocker cd, and With A Little Help From My Friends, but for some reason never went further. Well now I have, and it is a great collection of work. Over the years folks have always made jokes about the way Joe performs, and some folks even were offended by him early on because of his stage movements. The thing is though if you really watch the guy, he is playing all the instruments, perhaps he invented air guitar, I don't know, but when I first saw him, at first I thought "what!" but as I watched and listened, this guys was playing all the instruments with his hands and squeezing every last ounce of passion that he could muster out of his throat. He has an unmistakable and brilliant voice, that squeezes life into just about everything he sings. Anyway. The way I do these threads is Monday to Saturday we post an album, and then day by day, go through the songs, one or two songs per day. Sunday is a day off, for people to catch up, and for me to indulge in my surround sound thread. Generally I post in the US central time morning, but for this thread, as I have had to squeeze it in to my schedule, and gladly so I must say, I will probably end up posting in the evenings. All I ask is stay with where we are at, so as not to confuse people who have a look as to where we are. That doesn't mean don't reference anything, just keep with us on the thread in the main. If you join later and want to comment on something we have already done, by all means do so. Participation is what makes a thread like this work best, because between everybody's knowledge and everybody's input it ends up being a great learning experience for us all. I want to post this today and get you guys ready, and post your overall thoughts on Joe and his pretty large catalog. In the next couple of days I should get the Vance Arnold and the Avengers cd, and that's where we'll be starting. So please feel free to wax lyrical about Joe Cocker and we'll be getting underway soon folks. @Hiraeth - I think you were interested too.
Just a little history to wet the appetite. This is the Joe Cocker Blues Band from Rag Goes Mad At The Mojo. I've Been Trying and Saved
I love this. I am a fan, but I only have a “Best of” collection (The Anthology), the great Mad Dogs and Englishmen (Deluxe Edition, which came out a few years back), and a wonderful 2007 album called Hymn For My Soul that I highly recommend. Looking forward to this, and taking a deeper dive into Joe’s catalogue! Ridiculous that he isn’t in the Rock Hall of Fame.
Here’s that Joe collection I have, The Anthology. Released in 1999, but only covers 1964-1982. Still, it’s an excellent two-CD set. Can’t beat the current price at Amazon (U.S.)! https://www.amazon.com/Anthology-JO...=1583977794&sprefix=Joe+cocker,aps,181&sr=8-7
Classic Joe (and friend) on SNL: The full clip isn’t available on You Tube, but on the guy who posted it apparently has the full link here, as a redirect: YouTube Pay close enough attention and you’ll see why his name was “Cocker.”
As yet I haven't found them. the album is on discogs, but there are none to buy. I assume it's a super limited release, being a gig handout. Perhaps the record company will release a serious compile of early sixties stuff.
Ok, slowly but surely lets ease into this. Joe's first single. I'll Cry Instead Essentially, you can only just tell this is Joe, and you need to listen really closely to pick it. This is a fairly straight cover, and it shows a certain amount of promise, but doesn't deliver in the way that we know Joe can. I assume that the influence of the Blues really moved Joe in another direction, and years of pub gigs probably gave the voice its famous rasp. A good debut single, but we have a lot of development to come.
Joe Cocker – Vance Arnold And The Avengers Label: Voiceprint – VP214CD Format: CD, Album Country: UK Released: 1999 Genre: Rock This is a gig recorded in 1963 by then manager and club owner Terry Thornton. Thornton recorded this as a demo tape to use for promotion. This is essentially the cd that was released in 1999 and 2016. One released through Voiceprint (as pictured) and One released through Gonzo Medio in 2016 Joe Cocker - Vance Arnold And The Avengers Joe Cocker - Vance Arnold And The Avengers 1 Sixteen Tons 2 Money 3 Georgia 4 News Is Out 5 Ride On Josephine 6 You'd Better Move On 7 I'm Free This is a live gig, and the band is pretty decent, and Joe comes across well. For a rough demo in 1963, the sound is pretty decent as well The gig starts off with a track I am not very familiar with ... Sixteen Tons This is a very early sixties type song, with the bouncy beat, the "yea yea" backing vocals. Joe sounds like Joe immediately, but his voice is also slightly more smooth for the majority of the song.
FUN FACT: Jimmy Page plays guitar on this track! I love this version. Joe doesn’t have that famous, gravelly voice yet but you can still tell it’s him. As we’ll find throughout this thread, he was always a perfect match for Beatles songs, including solo Beatles! Can’t wait to move forward... I just hope it isn’t only you and me discussing Joe for the next year or so.
It's fine with me mate. I need to explore these albums, and if it's just you and me, that's fine with me
Really happy you've started this thread, Mark and I almost missed the heads up during these crazy last few days. I know close to ten of Joe's albums, so plenty of material to explore on this thread as it develops.
Just for the record, I had got some spare time and hunted down the b-side to I'll Cry instead. Precious Words This track was written by C Robinson, and it is very sixties sounding, in a sort of soul groove kind of way. I actually think this is stronger than the a-side, and Joe has a really nice delivery of the song here. I am assuming if Page played on the a-side, he played on this b-side also. Anyway there are some nice guitar fills here. I really like this track, and it is really very new to me, today being the first time I have heard it.
Interesting rendition of “Sixteen Tons.” There are many versions of this one, but most people who know it probably know Tennessee Ernie Ford’s version that went to to # 1 in the U.S. in 1955. Ford’s version wasn’t the first, but certainly the biggest. other versions include Merle Travis (Who wrote it), Frankie Laine, Bo Diddley, Johnny Cash, and, oddly, Eric Burdon recorded it in the early 90’s for the Tom Hanks film “Joe Versus the Volcano.” ZZ Top apparently covered it just a few years ago too. Joe’s recording here sounds pretty rough but already you can hear that it’s him. It does sound early 60s, and it’s kind of amazing to think how far he’d go from this in just a few years time. Fascinating.
Could well be Page on this song too! Not sure which one song I like better. I mean, “I’ll Cry Instead” is great, but “Precious Words” does seem to fit the sound we’d come to associate with Joe more than its A-side. Bluesy riffs from Page, or whoever played on this one, and Joe’s got more room to let loose with that soulful voice of his. Sounds pretty raw, but it points in the direction we’d associate with Joe a few years later. Great find, Mark!
Sounds like Joe wasn't familiar with the tune either. "I owe my soul to the confidence store." Haha! But I love his arrangement, and, yes the gravelly voice is already there. You can really appreciate what he did with this track, by checking it against the original hit: I would say that I am but a casual Joe Cocker fan at best. First thing I ever heard from him was You Are So Beautiful. But I am loaded for bear once we get to Midnight Rider! Great thread, @mark winstanley !
I didn’t catch that! That is funny. What would a confidence store even be? Speaking of different words, that “Midnight Rider” cover will be an interesting discussion when we get there. I dig it too, but apart from the chorus it bears little resemblance to the original.
Joe Cocker Blues Band (from Rag Goes Mad At The Mojo EP). Is this a collector's item? I've Been Trying (Mayfield) Great live track and Joe's typical style and voice is already there. Saved (Leiber-Stoller) Cocker already played the audience at the Mojo, slowing down and speeding up.
I'll Cry Instead Typical uptempo 60's beat song, just like thousands of others. Precious Words Really a lot going on on this one. Joe apparently not yet fully in control to create breathing space to truly shine.
