Joe Cocker

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John Robert Cocker (born May 1944 – 22 December 2014), also known as Joe Cocker, was an English singer.

He was known for his gritty voice, spasmodic body movement in appearance, and many interpretations of famous songs of varying genres in the United Kingdom.

He appeared live at Woodstock in 1969 and performed at the Isle of Wight Festival the same year, as well as at the Palace concert in 2002 for Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee.

His version became the theme tune for the TV series The Wonder Years.

In the United States, his 1974 cover of "You Are So Beautiful" reached the top of the charts.

Several awards, including one in 1983 for his US number one "Up Where We Belong," a duet with Jennifer Warnes, were given to Cocker. In 1993, Cocker was nominated for the British Society of British Males, a bronze Sheffield Legends plaque in his hometown, and in 2008, he was honoured with an OBE at Buckingham Palace for services to music.

On Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest singers, Cocker ranked #97.

Early life (1944–1960)

Cocker was born on May 20, 1944, at 38 Tasker Road, Crookes, Sheffield. Harold Norman Cocker (1907–2001), the youngest son of a civil servant, and Madge (née Lee) at the time of his son's birth as an aircraftman in the Royal Air Force. Joe received his nickname of Joe either from playing a childhood game called "Cowboy Joe" or from a local window cleaner named Joe, according to various family accounts.

Ray Charles and Lonnie Donegan were two of Cocker's key musical influences growing up. Victor Cocker, his elder brother, Stephen, invited him to perform at a gig of his skiffle band, was his first public appearance. The Cavaliers, Cocker's first band formed in 1960, with three associates. They were required to pay the admission fee in advance for the group's first appearance at a youth club. After a year and Cocker's graduation, the Cavaliers then went back to school to become an apprentice gasfitter for the East Midlands Gas Board, later British Gas Corporation, and later still pursued a career in music, the Cavaliers eventually left school.

Despite a rumor to this effect (particularly in Australia, where Jarvis Cocker's father, radio host Mac Cocker, allowed listeners to believe he was Joe's brother), Cocker is not related to Jarvis Cocker, although he was a family friend and did some babysitting for Jarvis when he was an infant.

Personal life

In 1963, Cocker began dating Eileen Webster, who was also a resident of Sheffield. The couple married irregularly for the next 13 years, before finally breaking in 1976.

In 1978, Cocker moved to a ranch owned by Jane Fonda in Santa Barbara, California. Pam Baker, a local summer camp producer and a fan of Cocker's music, advised the actress not to lend the house to Cocker. Baker began dating Cocker in 1987, and the pair married on October 11, 1987. The couple lived on the Mad Dog Ranch in Crawford, Colorado.

While performing in a concert at Madison Square Garden on September 17, 2014, Billy Joel said that Cocker was "not very right now" and recommended him for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and thanked him for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ahead of his tribute performance of "With a Little Assistance From My Friends." At the age of 70, Cocker died of lung cancer in Crawford, Colorado. He smoked 40 cigarettes a day before he quit in 1991. Cocker is buried in Crawford, Colorado, at the town cemetery.

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Career

Cocker, who went by the stage name Vance Arnold, continued his career with Vance Arnold and the Avengers in 1961. Vince Everett, Elvis Presley's character in Jailhouse Rock (which Cocker mistook for Vance), and country singer Eddy Arnold were mixed in the name. The group mainly performed in Sheffield's pubs, performing Chuck Berry and Ray Charles' songs. Cocker discovered a love for blues music and sought out recordings by John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Howlin' Wolf. They had a successful show at Sheffield City Hall in 1963 when they sponsored the Rolling Stones.

Cocker signed a recording contract with Decca in 1964 and became his first album, a recording of the Beatles' "I'll Cry Instead" (with Big Jim Sullivan and Jimmy Page playing guitars). Despite continued recognition from Decca for his youth and working-class roots, the album was a disappointment, and his recording deal with Decca ended in 1964. Joe Cocker's Blues Band, Cocker's Cocker band, renamed himself and formed a new group, Joe Cocker's Blues Band, after Cocker's single. On an EP released by The Sheffield College during Rag Week and titled Rag Goes Mad at the Mojo, there is only one known recording of Joe Cocker's Blues Band.

Cocker formed the Grease Band in 1966, after a year absence from music, Chris Stainton, whom he had known many years before, and began a year-long absence from music. The Grease Band was formed after Cocker read an interview with jazz keyboardist Jimmy Smith, in which Smith referred to another musician as "having a lot of grease." Cocker's crew, like the Avengers, mainly performed in pubs in and around Sheffield. Denny Cordell, the Moody Blues and Georgie Fame, alerted the Grease Band. In a London studio, Cocker recorded the single "Marjorine" without the Grease Band for Cordell. He and Chris Stainton were then moved to London, and the Grease Band was disbanded. Cordell and keyboardist Tommy Eyre formed a "new" Grease Band after Cordell spent a weekend at the Marquee Club in London, and a "new" Grease Band was formed with Stainton and keyboardist Tommy Eyre.

Cocker found commercial success with a rearrangedement of "With a Little Help from My Family," another Beatles song that, many years later, was used as the opening theme for The Wonder Years. The album features lead guitar from Jimmy Page, drumming by B. J. Wilson, backing vocals from Sue and Sunny, and Tommy Eyre on organ. The single remained in the top ten of the UK Singles Chart for thirteen weeks before eventually gaining number one on 9 November 1968. On the US charts, it also ranks at number 68.

Henry McCullough, who would later perform with McCartney's Wings, was included on the new touring line-up of Cocker's Grease Band. The Grease Band first tour of the United States in 1969 began with touring the UK with the Who, Gene Pitney and Marmalade in autumn 1968, 1969. With a Little Help from My Family, Cocker's album was released shortly after their debut and topped the American charts at number 35, then going gold.

During his US tour, Cocker appeared at many major festivals, including the Newport Rock Festival and the Denver Pop Festival. Denny Cordell heard about the upcoming concert in Woodstock, New York, and pleaded with organiser Artie Kornfeld to book Cocker and the Grease Band for the Woodstock Festival in August. Due to the massive crowds, the group had to be flown by helicopter into the festival. Many songs, including "Feelin' Alright," were performed by the group. "Something's Comin' On," "Let's Go Get Stoned," "I Shall Be Unveiled," and "With a Little Assistance from My Friends." The event was "like an eclipse," Cocker later explained, "it was a very special day."

Joe Cocker, Cocker's second album, came straight after Woodstock, Cocker's second album was released. Paul McCartney and George Harrison, who were influenced by his version of "With a Little Help from My Family," and "Something" was released on the album. The album, which was released during a break in touring in the spring and summer, debuted at number 11 on the US charts and gained a second UK hit with Leon Russell's "Delta Lady."

Cocker appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival in August 1969, on the Isle of Wight, England. He appeared on variety television shows, including The Ed Sullivan Show and This Is Tom Jones, during 1969. He exhibited an idiosyncratic physical apprehension, flailing his arms, and playing air guitar onstage. So, at the end of the year, Cocker was unable to commit to another US tour, so he dissolved the Grease Band.

Despite Cocker's reluctance to venture out on the road again, an American tour had already been booked, so he had to find a new band quickly to fulfill his contractual obligations. It was a large group of more than 20 musicians, including pianist and bandleader Leon Russell, three drummers – Jim Gordon, Jim Keltner, and Chuck Blackwell, as well as backing vocalists Rita Coolidge and Claudia Lennear. After the No.l Coward song of the same name (with its refrain, "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun," Denny Cordell christened the group "Mad Dogs & Englishmen." Cocker's music has morphed into a more bluesy style of rock, similar to the Rolling Stones.

Cocker toured 48 cities, recorded a live album, and received raves from Time and Life for his performances during his ensuing Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour (later referred to drummer Jim Keltner as "a big, wild party"). However, the tour was exhausting. Russell and Cocker had personal issues, and Cocker became depressed and began bingeing heavily as the tour ended in May 1970. In the meantime, he enjoyed several chart entries in the United States with newspaper versions of "Feelin' Alright" (originally recorded by Traffic) and "Cry Me a River).

His version of the Box Tops' hit "The Letter," which appeared on the live album and film Mad Dogs & Englishmen, became his first Top Ten hit in the United States. After several months in Los Angeles, Cocker returned home to Sheffield, where his family became increasingly worried about his physical and mental wellbeing. During this period, Cocker wrote about the overture performed by UK Prime Minister Edward Heath on the occasion that Prime Minister David Cameron conducted a live orchestra while in office. A&M Records' single "High Time We Went" appeared in the summer of 1971. This was a hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, but it wasn't on an album until November 1972 on the Joe Cocker album.

Cocker went on tour with a band that Chris Stainton had formed in early 1972, after almost two years away from music. He opened his show in Madison Square Garden, which attracted over 20,000 people. He began his European tour in Milan and Germany, where he performed to large audiences. In fall 1972, he returned to the United States for another tour. During these tours, the group trimmed the songs that would be included in Joe Cocker's new album. The album, which was a collection of live songs and studio recordings, debuted at number 30 on the US charts.

In October 1972, when Cocker was touring Australia, he and six members of his entourage were arrested in Adelaide for smoking marijuana. After a brawl at the Commodore Chateau Hotel, Cocker was charged with assault in Melbourne, and the Australian Federal Police gave him 48 hours to leave the country. Cocker was a high-profile overseas artist with a loyal fan base, especially amongst the baby boomers who were coming of age and able to vote for the first time. It sparked a lot of controversy about the use and legalization of marijuana in Australia, giving Cocker the nickname "the Mad Dog."

Stainton resigned from his music career to open his own recording studio less than a year after the Australian tour. Cocker's friend's death and his estrangement from his long-time producer Denny Cordell, sank into depression and began using heroin. He quit smoking in June 1973, but he continued to drink heavily.

Cocker returned to the studio to record a new album called I Can't Take a Little Rain, which was released at the end of 1973. The album, which was released in August 1974, debuted at number 11 on the US charts and one single, a compilation of Billy Preston's "You Are So Beautiful," which landed at number 5 in the top 10 and a single. Despite positive reviews on the album, Cocker performed poorly on live shows, owing to his alcohol use. In a 1974 issue of Rolling Stone, one such occurrence was recorded, saying he threw up onstage during two West Coast performances in October of that year.

I Can withstand a Little Rain, Jamaica Say You Will, a British musician who recorded two albums in January 1975. Cocker embarked on another tour of Australia, which was made possible by the country's new Labour government's ability to promote his latest album. In late 1975, he appeared on a number of tracks on Bo Diddley's The 20th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll's The 20th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll all-star album. In a Kingston, Jamaica studio, Stingray, he also recorded a new album. However, record sales were disappointing; the album debuted at number 70 on the US charts, where it debuted at number 70.

On Saturday Night Live in 1976, Cocker performed "Feelin' Alright." John Belushi joined him on stage as he performed Cocker's well-known impersonation of Cocker's stage movements. Cocker was $800,000 in debt to A&M Records and struggling with alcoholism at the time. Several months later, he met producer Michael Lang, who agreed to supervise him on the condition that he remain sober. Cocker embarked on a tour of New Zealand, Australia, and South America with a new band. Rob Hartley, a young bassist from Scotland, recorded a new album with session songs by Steve Gadd and Chuck Rainey, as well as a new, young bassist from Scotland. In 1977, Hartley briefly toured briefly with Cocker's family. Cocker toured North America in 1978 to promote his album, Luxury You Can Afford. Despite this effort, it received mixed reviews and only about 300,000 copies.

Cocker appeared on "Woodstock in Europe" in 1979, which featured artists such as Arlo Guthrie and Richie Havens who had appeared at the 1969 Woodstock Festival. He also appeared in Central Park in New York City to a 20,000-strong crowd. Live in New York was captured and released the concert as the live album Live in New York. Cocker also toured Europe and appeared on the German television recording amphitheatre Rockpalast, the first of many performances on the program. On their album Standing Tall, Cocker recorded two songs with the Crusaders in 1982. At the awards ceremony, Cocker performed "I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today," one of his songs, was nominated for a Grammy Award, and Cocker performed it with the Crusaders. The Crusaders wrote this poem with Cocker in mind to perform it. Sheffield Steel, a new reggae-influenced album by Cocker, was released by the Compass Point All Stars, which was produced by Chris Blackwell and Alex Sadkin.

For the soundtrack of the film An Officer and a Gentleman, Cocker recorded the duet "Up Where We Belong" with Jennifer Warnes in 1982. The song was a worldwide hit, peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and winning a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo. The duet also received an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and Cocker and Warnes performed the song at the awards ceremony.

In a television tribute to the musician, he was invited to perform "You Are So Beautiful" with Ray Charles several days later. In 1983, Cocker joined a celebrity-studded line-up of British musicians, including Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Steve Winwood, and Bill Wyman for singer Ronnie Lane's 1983 tour to raise funds for the London-based charity Action for Multiple Sclerosis, particularly because Lane was still suffering from the degenerative disease. The tour included a preview at Madison Square Garden in New York. Cocker was arrested by Austrian police after refusing to perform due to poor sound equipment when on another tour this year. The charges were eventually dismissed, and Cocker was released.

Civilized Man, his ninth studio album, came shortly after the shooting. Madge, his mother, died while recording in the studio with producer Terry Manning, who died on his next album. In the 1986 film 912 Weeks, a track from the album "You Can Leave Your Hat On" was included. The album eventually ranked Platinum on the European charts. In the 1987 film Harry and the Hendersons, his song "Love Lives On" was featured. His 1987 album Unchained My Heart was nominated for a Grammy Award, but it didn't win. One Night of Sin was also a commercial success, topping Unchain My Heart in sales and yielding his last Top 20 hit in the United States, "When the Night Comes," written by Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance, and Diane Warren, who reached number 11 in January 1990.

Cocker went on tour around the world in the 1980s, selling to large audiences in Europe, Australia, and the United States. He first met Zucchero Fornaciari, an Italian musician who dedicated a song (Nuovo meraviglioso amico) to the English bluesman in 1986. Cocker performed in several concerts of the albums Blue's (1987) and Oro Incenso & Birra (1989). He appeared on The Tonight Show in 1988 and 1988 at Royal Albert Hall in London. In East Berlin and Dresden, Cocker was the first to host rock concerts in the German Democratic Republic, after Barclay James Harvest and Bob Dylan. The Blüherwiese, which is located next to the Rudolf-Harbig–Stadion, has been given the nacular name Cockerwiese (Cocker meadow) today. In February 1989, he appeared at an inauguration concert for US President George H.W. Bush. Bryan Adams' "Feels Like Forever" made the UK Top 40 in 1992.

Joe Cocker appeared on The Bodyguard soundtrack in 1992 with Canadian rocker Sass Jordan. Cocker was nominated for British Male Solo Artist at the 1993 British Academy Awards. As one of the few alumni who attended the original Woodstock Festival in 1969, Cocker was honored at the Saturday opening set at Woodstock '94 as one of the few alumni to attend the festival in 1969 and was highly regarded.

At the Palace concert in honour of Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee, Cocker performed "With A Little Help From My Friends" on June 3, 2002. In 2007, Cocker appeared in minor roles in the film Across the Universe as the lead singer on another Beatles' hit, "Come Together." In the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours list for services to music, Cocker was given an OBE. In mid-December 2007, Cocker performed two concerts in London and in Sheffield, where he was given a bronze Sheffield Legends plaque outside Sheffield Town Hall.

Cocker conducted a North American tour in favor of his album Hymn for My Soul in April and May 2009. He performed on "Little Wing" on Carlos Santana's "Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time," released on September 21, 2010. Cocker's studio album "Hard Knocks" was promoted in Europe in the fall of 2010.

Cocker was the opening act in select cities in the United States and Europe for Tina Turner's Twenty Four Seven Tour in 2000. In 2008 and then again in 2011, the former of which featured George Thorogood and the Destroyers as an opening act.

Cocker appeared in a benefit concert for Cornell Dupree at B.B. on 20 March 2011. In New York City, King's Blues Club meets. Dupree appeared on four Cocker albums: I Can Take A Little Rain (1974), Jamaica Say You Will (1975), Stingray (1976), and Luxury You Can Afford (1978). On a tour supporting Stingray in 1976, Duprée's band Stuff was also Cocker's backing band.

Cocker continued recording and touring into his later years. Fire it Up, 2012, which would be Cocker's last studio album, was followed by a lengthy tour that included a trip to the United States in 2012 and a European run in 2013. On the European leg of the tour, he appeared in 25 shows in Germany alone, which reflects Cocker's enduring popularity. The complete show of 22 April at Lanxess Arena in Cologne was shot and released on CD and DVD under the heading Fire it up Live later this year. On September 7th, Cocker's last live performance on the tour was at the Loreley Open Air Theatre in Sankt Goarshausen.

Cocker was their "hero" in 1994, according to fellow Yorkshire musician Philip Oakey, who spoke on behalf of his cause, the Human League.

McCartney commented:

Tedeschi Truckers, Leon Russell, Rita Coolidge, Claudia Lennear, Pamela Polland, John Bell, Warren Haynes, and Chris Robinson were among the many acts on the Lockn' Festival on September 11, 2015, Joe Cocker's "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" tribute act to Joe Cocker. Linda Wolf's event-broadcasting created a Joe Cocker Mad Dogs and Englishmen Memory Book in honor of the occasion. Learning to Live Together, a two-length documentary based in late 2021, was released describing the reunion concert.

Joe Cocker, a full-length documentary film about Cocker was released in 2017. Mad Dog with Soul: A Cocker documentary film.

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