22 Dec Joe Cocker 1944 – 2014

Alas, Gentle Reader(s), it saddens me that it is tribute time once again at inkyinkinc.com. As I have noted previously, there has been a steady string of tributes this year for the recently departed and they seem to be coming with increasing regularity. On this occasion I come to you to pay homage to the late, great Joe Cocker. Joe Cocker was not an acclaimed songwriter or a notable instrumentalist. His particular distinction was to be what, in an earlier era, was known as a song stylist—a distinctive interpreter of other peoples’ material. Cocker never had any pretentions otherwise: He referred to the process of putting his unique stamp on a song as giving it ‘the treatment.’ At its best, the Cocker ‘treatment’ was extraordinarily effective, such that his versions of certain songs—notable among them, the Beatles’ ‘A Little Help From My Friends,’ the Box Tops’ ‘The Letter,’ and Dave Mason’s ‘Feelin’ Alright’—became the definitive versions of those songs. Good though the originals may be, they all seem pale in comparison to Joe’s volcanically soulful renditions.

Cocker’s galvanic performance at Woodstock in 1969 was one of the true (and relatively few, in my opinion) highlights of that rather soggy event. Of course, it was the film of the festival (and its attendant soundtrack album), not the festival itself, that produced the real sensation and made Cocker an international superstar. Cocker’s debut album, ‘With A Little Help From My Friends,’ released about three months prior to Woodstock, launched his recording career at a level that proved difficult for him to subsequently match. The lineup of musicians who lent their talents to the album indicates the esteem with which Cocker was regarded by his peers: Jimmy Page, Steve Winwood, Albert Lee, Chris Stainton, Henry McCullough, Carol Kaye and others. There are a number of other worthy records in the Cocker discography, including a couple of highly enjoyable live albums, but the one record that I would regard as essential to any serious rock n’ roll collection is ‘With A Little Help From My Friends.’ If you don’t have it, get it—it is a record that will remain with you forever.

Saint Joe at Full Blast

Cocker’s preternaturally soulful, gritty voice seems to have been a gift he was born with, much like his contemporary Steve Winwood who, at the ripe old age of 17, was belting out ‘Gimme Some Lovin’’ with the Spencer Davis Group. But to a degree unmatched by just about any other rock n’ roll singer of his generation, Joe Cocker remained a true stylist throughout his career and that style was unmistakably his own. No one else sounded like him and few others had the ability to communicate the raw emotional depth and sensitivity that Cocker seemed able to tap into at will. He was able to recognize the material that was most appropriate for his talents and that material included belters and sensitive ballads alike. It’s likely that a significant segment of Cocker’s fan base knew him exclusively from his hugely successful duet with Jennifer Warnes on the song ‘Up Where We Belong.’ After bottoming out in a fog of drink, drugs and debt in the 1970s, Joe had a #1 hit in America by November of 1982. ‘Up Where We Belong’  may be rather corny (as is the movie—’An Officer and a Gentleman’) but it’s still undeniably great because Joe’s soulful delivery and conviction compels it to be so. Likewise with another of his huge hits, Billy Preston’s ballad ‘You Are So Beautiful.’ The notion of anyone else singing it makes me cringe.

Joe Cocker’s unpolished persona—stocky, disheveled, wild hair, bug eyes, sweaty and spasmodic, rather like a ‘Furry Freak Brothers‘ character come to life—all added to the authenticity of his art. He was no smoothie, not a crooner descended from the line of other celebrated stylists such as Bing Crosby or Frank Sinatra, and his rawness made him all the more unique. He was someone who I would always listen to—if he was on the radio or television I would always listen or watch until the song was over. I have never been able to resist Joe Cocker—I never wanted to. He was always one of about three or four singers that I wished I could sing like. But I could never sing like Joe and neither could anybody else. He was a true original and the world is a bit poorer today for his loss.