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JOE COCKER

Joe Cocker (born 20 May 1944) is an English rock/blues singer who came to popularity in the 1960s and is most known for his raspy voice and his cover versions of other performers' songs.

Biography

Born John Robert Cocker in Sheffield, England, Joe was a friend of the family of Jarvis Cocker of Pulp fame, and babysat for him, although the two are not related. He dropped out of high school and never obtained the equivalent of a high school diploma.

He started his musical career in the city of his birth Sheffield, England in some minor bands at the age of 15: the first band was the Avengers (under the stage name Vance Arnold), then Big Blues (1963), and then The Grease Band (1966). His first single was the first of several Beatles covers, "I'll Cry Instead".

After minor success in the UK with the single "Marjorine", he entered the big time with a groundbreaking rearrangement of "With a Little Help from My Friends," another Beatles cover, this time from the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, featuring lead guitar from Jimmy Page, which topped the UK Singles Chart in November 1968 for one week.

In 1969 he appeared at the Woodstock Music Festival. His performance included the following tracks �

1. "Delta Lady"

2. "Some Things Goin' On"

3. "Let's Go Get Stoned"

4. "I Shall Be Released"

5. "With a Little Help from My Friends"

Cocker then had a second UK hit with the Leon Russell song "Delta Lady". He had further success covering Beatles tunes in 1970 with his version of "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" off their Abbey Road album. Though his British success proved difficult to sustain, he enjoyed several chart entries in the U.S. with "Cry Me a River" and "Feelin' Alright" by Dave Mason. In 1970, his cover of the Box Tops' hit "The Letter", which appeared on the live album Mad Dogs & Englishmen, became his first U.S. Top Ten hit.

In 1969 he was featured on The Ed Sullivan Show. Onstage, he exhibited a physical intensity, flailing his arms around and playing an air guitar, occasionally giving superfluous cues to his band. In 1976, Cocker performed "Feelin' Alright" on Saturday Night Live. John Belushi joined him on stage doing his famous impersonation of Cocker's stage movements.

In the beginning of 1970s the "Sheffield Soul Shouter" had problems with drug abuse including alcohol. He managed to make a comeback in the 1980s and 1990s with several hits, including:

* "Up Where We Belong", (Academy Award winning song written by Buffy Sainte-Marie and sung with Jennifer Warnes for the motion picture, An Officer and a Gentleman)

* "You Are So Beautiful"

* "You Can Leave Your Hat On"

* "When The Night Comes"

* "N'oubliez Jamais"

* "Unchain My Heart"

* "Feels Like Forever" from the movie, The Cutting Edge

Cocker performed the opening set at Woodstock '94 as one of the few alumni who played at the original Woodstock Festival in 1969, and was very well received.

He continues to tour sporadically.

Discography

Albums

* With a Little Help from My Friends (1969)

* Joe Cocker! (1969)

* Mad Dogs & Englishmen (1970)

* Joe Cocker: Something to say (1972)

* I Can Stand A Little Rain (1974)

* Jamaica Say You Will (1975)

* Stingray (1976)

* Greatest Hits (1977)

* Luxury You Can Afford (1978)

* Sheffield Steel (1982)

* Civilized Man (1984)

* Cocker (1986)

* Unchain My Heart (1987)

* One Night Of Sin (1989)

* Joe Cocker Live (1990)

* Night Calls (1992)

* The Best Of Joe Cocker (1993)

* Have A Little Faith (1994)

* The Long Voyage Home (1995)

* Organic (1996)

* Across From Midnight (1997)

* Greatest Hits (1998)

* The Anthology (1999)

* No Ordinary World (1999)

* Respect Yourself (2002)

* Ultimate Collection (2004)

* Heart & Soul (2005)

PICTURES

LINKS

Official Joe Cocker Website - http://www.cocker.com/

Joe Cocker, The Ultimate Collection - Click Here To Visit

BUY JOE COCKER MUSIC, DVD\'S AND BOOKS - CLICK HERE

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Biography

a.k.a. John Robert Cocker

Born: 20-May-1944

Birthplace: Sheffield, England

Father: Harold Cocker

Mother: Madge

Wife: Pam (married 1987)

High School: Sheffield Central Technical School

Parodied As A Muppet Moe Cocker

Official Website:

Joe Cocker - one of the truly great rock voices of all time - was born in Sheffield, England on May 20, 1944, the youngest son of a civil servant. In 1961 Joe by day, worked as an apprentice gas fitter and by night, in dark suit and bow tie, became Vance Arnold singing with The Avengers in rough Sheffield pubs. The set included songs by mentor Ray Charles "What'd I Say" and "Georgia On My Mind." Vance Arnold and the Avengers biggest moment came in 1963 when they supported The Rolling Stones at Sheffield City Hall, and brought the house down.

The following year Joe left the Gas Board and released his first single, a cover of The Beatles "I'll Cry Instead." His band, Joe Cocker Big Blues, built up a large following in the north of England and ventured to France for a two month stint, playing on American airbases.

The servicemen, many from America's deep south, loved Joe. The French called him "Le Petit Ray Charles". Unfortunately when he returned home to England the bottom had fallen out of the local scene. Joe Cocker Big Blues folded.

For an entire year Joe never did a gig. Then along came the man Joe has called the greatest musician in the world, Chris Stainton. With Chris The Grease Band was formed.

Songs were written. Soon a demo found its way to Denny Cordell, the producer of The Moody Blues, Georgie Fame, and Procol Harum. Cordell liked what he heard of Joe, and soon set him up in London with a residency at The Marquee.

The following year Joe left the Gas Board and released his first single, a cover of The Beatles "I'll Cry Instead." His band, Joe Cocker Big Blues, built up a large following in the north of England and ventured to France for a two month stint, playing on American airbases.

America loved Joe Cocker from his first television appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in 1969. The Press seized upon him. Life Magazine called Joe "The voice of all those blind criers and crazy beggars and maimed men who summon up a strength we'll never know to bawl out their souls in the streets."

However, Joe wasn't singing in the streets. He was singing at all the major rock festivals of that summer, culminating in the filmed triumph of Woodstock before half a million people (a phenomenal rip-roaring testimony to Joe Cocker in his absolute prime).

Of the ensuing "Mad Dogs and Englishmen," Joe has said: "my thoughts were off to Venus, heading for outer space." Along with Leon Russell and a menagerie of musicians, managers, roadies, wives, girlfriends, hangers on, children, a spotted dog plus a film crew, Joe played forty-eight cities in fifty-six days, to rapturous receptions everywhere.

The tour left Joe battered, exhausted, and far from Venus. He ended up, per his own words, "in a heap in Los Angeles, very disillusioned with the rock business."

In 1970, Joe sold $3 million worth of records in America alone. His first three albums went platinum and Playboy voted him number one vocalist in their annual jazz and rock poll.

Joe continued making albums and songs like "Guilty," "The Moons A Harsh Mistress" and "You Are So Beautiful." Songs that have become Cocker classics, all dating from the darkest days, back in the mid 1970's.

As the 80's dawned Joe was invited by The Crusaders to join them on a song they had written exclusively for him - "I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today." The lyrics said it all and Joe received a standing ovation when he sang the song at the Grammy Awards in February of 1982. His duet with Jennifer Warnes on "Up Where We Belong", the theme from "An Officer And A Gentleman," brought an appearance at the Oscars ceremony in February 1983 and a hit worldwide, including Joe's first American number one.

From that point on, Joe has gone from strength to strength, aided undoubtedly by the love and support of his wife, Pam, who he married in 1987. His Capitol albums from "Civilized Man" onwards have been tremendously successful. "Cocker," "Unchain My Heart" and "One Night Of Sin" all turned platinum, (the latter also delivering Joe's most recent US top ten song "When The Night Comes," written by Bryan Adams). Joe's album "Night Calls," the title single penned by Jeff Lynne, turned gold and headed towards platinum all across Europe within weeks of its release in autumn '91.

Joe has toured extensively and to great acclaim, not the least in Europe where he enjoys a MASSIVE following. There have been awards and accolades galore.Among many prestigious shows, he has played for British royalty at a "Princes Trust Gala," "Nelson Mandela's Birthday Concert," the "Konzert for Berlin" that celebrated the breaching of the Wall and, in his adopted homeland of America, the inauguration ceremony for President George Bush.

Joe Cocker is a survivor, a star and a rock legend. He has had hit records in the 1960's, 70s, 80, and 90s. Success has brought with it a grueling schedule of recording and touring but, after more than twenty-five years on the road he has no plans to take it easy. The future? "As long as being on stage is fun," says Joe, "as long as I enjoy that part and still get a buzz out of performing. Then I'll keep going out there."

Excerpts from Joe Cocker - With A Little Help From My Friends - The Authorized Biography by J.P. Bean, published by Omnibus Press, London and Hannibal Verlag, Vienna

Joe Cocker - In His Own Words

I was a drummer originally, but I never thought I was that good. Trying to sing and drum was difficult. I remember the band saying, "You have to do one or the other, and we'd prefer it if you drum because we'll never find another drummer." And we had this horrible kid singer.

At the time we were called Vance Arnold and the Avengers, and we were playing the pubs, which was a great upbringing. We'd go to these pubs every night after our day jobs and drink a lot of beer and play until the pubs closed. Kept us in beer money. We weren't in that big a hurry to be successful.

After the Beatles, the scouting rush was on. People came north and saw the Avengers and said, "We don't like your band," as usual. I remember doing an orchestrated version of "Georgia on My Mind," which was never released.

Then they had me go in and do a cover of the Beatles' "I'll Cry Instead," which died a death. I was still living at home at the time, and my parents said, "OK, you had your shot. Now grow up and go out and get a proper job." My older brother, Victor, turned out to be an economist. He did really well on the straighter side of life.

I never smoked pot when I was young. I was a very late bloomer in that I sort of made up for it after. I always swore I'd be a drinker to the end. But then, when someone turned me on to some black hash, musically speaking, it was such an opening to the ears and senses.

When I got popped, busted, in 1968, it was an incredible sensation to find yourself on the evening news busted for pot. It was almost like the fuss they made over Boy George, the kind of fuss now over heroin that smoking a joint was then.

Those early tours of the States were the greatest. Like the gig at the Atlanta Raceway with Spirit and Janis Joplin and Hendrix. I remember going on at, like, six in the morning, and all these kids acid-blazed. It was a very warm occasion.

And the hotel, too. One of the floors caught on fire, four days' wait for room service. But they were great times, hippie times.

After Woodstock, I laid low. I did an album with Delaney and Bonnie, but there was nothing much for me until I heard Leon Russell. Leon came up with the idea for Mad Dogs and Englishmen. We all lived up at Leon's house. We all ran around in the nude and had some pretty wild times. But it was strange. Leon was into this revivalist sort of thing. He'd always have to have a meal before the show. We'd all sit down and he would say a little prayer.

Having come out of the Mad Dogs tour with no money never really bothered me. Back then, the feeling was, it was a crime to have money anyway. We were into this trip of stripping off our worldly goods.

I remember giving money to various people -- $70,000 here, $40,000 there, to people that I had known for years who wanted houses. I said, "If you ever make it back, you can pay it back." Of course, I never heard from them. But five years later I did hear from the tax people who demanded I come up with all the money I thought I could give away like the Magic Christian.

This thing about me being spastic is something I can't get away from. I did The David Letterman Show not long ago, and he is still going on about me being spastic. I can't talk about anything else when I go on those shows.

During the time of "You Are So Beautiful," I was working at Village Recorders, in Los Angeles, and someone comes into the studio and says, "Joe, we've got this video to show you that you're not going to like." I don't know how long Saturday Night Live had been on the air, because I never watched much TV, but when I saw this video of John Belushi doing me being spastic and pouring beer, I became hysterical.

Everyone else said, "Joe, you're not supposed to find this amusing. You're supposed to find this gross and inoffensive."

I said, "Oh, come on. You can't not laugh at this." I didn't even know who Belushi was.

Moving my hand around is subconscious with me. A lot of the time I'm more or less conducting the band, just keeping a feel. I don't know why I do it. It's just one of those things.

I didn't know where I was by the time Jim Price came around to my house asking if I'd be interested in making another record, which turned out to be "You Are So Beautiful." After we finished the album, Jim booked the Roxy for me in L.A. Everyone was there. Somebody should have kept an eye on me, but some dealer found me backstage and filled me up with cocaine. I hadn't performed live in a couple of years. I drank a whole bottle of brandy, and then went out there and got through two songs, and then I sat down on stage with a total mental block to all the words. It was rather embarrassing. Everyone just sort of closed the curtain and said good night. That was supposed to be my return.

The worst feeling in the world is to lose your voice before a concert. Happened to me in Germany. We were doing this show for, like 90,000 people, televised all across Europe, and that morning I wake up with no voice. So I go to this doctor and he gives me a shot so powerful I thought he'd turned me into a woman. It was that big a dose.

That night, I opened my mouth and I couldn't believe it. I sang like a bird. I was so scared of the power coming out of me that I realized why people are so afraid of drugs.

I get called a fossil, which is OK when I start thinking of some of the musicians I've known who are dead. People talk with morbid fascination about who is most likely to die next. I'm sure I've been talked about as the next potential dead candidate.

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Buggered if I'm reading all that :rolleyes: so this may be a repeat of information, Joe was from Tasker Road, Crookes, Sheffield - near the Church

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I once saw Joe during his tough times on his own pushing his gear in a large trunk along the platform at Leicester Station.

It wasn't all easy

One of my favourite artists

An all time great

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Guest Miami Don8

I worked at the Gas Board with Joe,and have seen him bring grown men to tears,sitting on the lockers,singing Georgia on my Mind.

We were once working together on the,then new,flats on St Phillips Road.In those days the council sent in cleaners to get the flats ready for letting.

I went into the flat where Joe was fitting the gas meter,and he was singing away, playing his air guitar.One of the cleaners asked me if he was OK.

She thought he was crackers! I told her "One day this lad will be famous".How right I turned out to be!!!

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Went out of our way to see Joe, a popular regular at Shire Green (pub) as Vance Arnold & the Avengers, amazing.

My cousin same age as him, still tells everyone he lived opposite her on Tasker Road, was bullied at school & became only a gas fitter.

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Used to see him regularly having his breakfast in a cafe at the end on Pond Street, I was with the GPO and he was Gas.

He got some funny looks when they played one Sunday night at the Catholic Church Hall in Firvale when he brought a case of Pale Ale onto the stage!

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Guest mansellb

Used to see Joe at the Park and Arbourthorne club during his Grease Band / Marjorene days - I was a regular and knew him well enough to buy him a pint and chat at the bar. Then he just dissapeared and I didn't hear of him until his MASSIVE performance at Woodstock - have followed Joe ever since. "Local Sheffield Boy" does Really Good indeed

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Used to see him regularly having his breakfast in a cafe at the end on Pond Street, I was with the GPO and he was Gas.

He got some funny looks when they played one Sunday night at the Catholic Church Hall in Firvale when he brought a case of Pale Ale onto the stage!

Good Story but I don't recall a Catholic Church Hall at Firvale - do you mean St Cuthberts? That had a stage now demolished.

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Used to see Joe at the Park and Arbourthorne club during his Grease Band / Marjorene days - I was a regular and knew him well enough to buy him a pint and chat at the bar. Then he just dissapeared and I didn't hear of him until his MASSIVE performance at Woodstock - have followed Joe ever since. "Local Sheffield Boy" does Really Good indeed

100% this

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Hi,

I used to live in Gleadless in the late 50's & very early 60's and a young man called Vernon Nash lived opposite our house, I believe he played keyboard for Joe Cocker in the Big Band/Grease Band days - don't know what happened to him after that as I left Sheffield shortly afterwards.

I also met Joe & the band in a pub on Abbeydale Rd one Saturday night during that period as they were playing in a Church? hall somewhere opposite - wonderful bloke.

 

 

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Marketing video from the estate sale that followed his death.

His mansion on Colorado's western slope.

I like that he had a proper snooker table.  None of that pool rubbish.

 

 

 

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19 hours ago, neal m said:

Marketing video from the estate sale that followed his death.

His mansion on Colorado's western slope.

I like that he had a proper snooker table.  None of that pool rubbish.

 

 

 

Can't find how much it sold for. Was on at $7 million then dropped to $5.75 but no record of what it got at auction.

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1 hour ago, holdensimon said:

Can't find how much it sold for. Was on at $7 million then dropped to $5.75 but no record of what it got at auction.

It didn't sell. The MLS listing (9199722) is still live. 

They are currently seeking $4,295,000 - but it's been up for sale (on the current listing) for over a year now. So you might be able to low ball them!

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Joe Cocker - 'Sheffield Steel', 'Mad Dog With Soul' - oh yes, he was both and a whole lot more. He's the kind of stunning original talent that surfaces once in a lifetime in your home town and who else from here are you honestly going to say comes anywhere close to him? His talent is unique.

From those Black Swan gigs where everybody who saw him said that the closer it got to last orders the better he was - and that must've been something else - to Woodstock and conquering America whilst wearing himself out on the 'Mad Dogs & Englishmen' tour and exploitation by US promoters - and, it has to be said, Leon Russell, who could not and would never outshine this awesome talent - drugs or no.

First saw him in May 1971 at the Byrds City Hall  gig where he did an impromptu walk on to sing with Rita Coolidge - returning the compliment to her as she'd sung on the aforementioned US tour.

 And then, while I was working at the old Price-Kene in Crookes in the summer of '73 he appeared at the cigarette kiosk and bought 200 Bensons.

Countless times I'd walk past his mum and dad's house on Tasker Road on the way to my girl-friends house in Crosspool

Joe died from lung cancer on 22nd December 2014 and he's buried in Crawford, Colorado. He was rightly described, at the time, as "without doubt the greatest rock/soul singer ever to come out of Britain"

 

As a bit of a footnote to the questions from previous writers concerning 'Mad Dog Ranch' - according to the Delta County Assessors Office, the property sold on 12/12/2017 for $3,875,000. Someone observing, 'it went for a song'.

 

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