Joe Cocker

Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback!  I'm Bill Price, and in this episode of Rock and Roll Flashback, I will feature the career of the English singer Joe Cocker, who rose to fame in the late 1960's.

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Transcript

In this episode of Rock and Roll Flashback, I will feature the career of the English singer Joe Cocker, who rose to fame in the late 1960's.

John Robert Cocker was born on May 20th, 1944 in Sheffield, England.  There are two versions as how he got the nickname Joe. One version claimed the it was from playing a game called "Cowboy Joe", while another account attributed the name to a local window washer, whose name was Joe. 

While growing up, his primary musical influences were Ray Charles and Lonnie Donegan. At the age of twelve, his brother Victor invited him to the stage to sing with Victor’s skiffle group. In 1960, Joe formed his first group called the Cavaliers. Interestingly at their first gig at a youth club, they were required to pay the admission fee before entering the club, even though they were the performers.  After a year had gone by, the Cavaliers disbanded and Joe left school to become a gas fitter apprentice, but also pursued a music career.

In 1961 he began using the stage name Vance Arnold and formed a new group called Vance Arnold and the Avengers. The group performed primarily in the pubs of Sheffield, playing Ray Charles and Chuck Berry songs. He then became interested in Blues music, listening to the music of John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf. By 1963 the band got their first gig supporting The Rolling Stones at the Sheffield City Hall.

The following year Joe signed with Decca as a solo artist and released his first single, a cover of The Beatles’ “I’ll Cry Instead”, which featured future Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. However despite substantial promotional efforts by Decca, the single was a failure, causing Decca to terminate the contract. Joe then formed a new group and changed the group’s name to Joe Cocker’s Blues Band. Interestingly, there was only one known recording by the group, which has vanished into lost history. During the following year there was no activity until 1966, when Joe and Chris Stainton formed the Grease Band and also performed in pubs around Sheffield. Eventually the band caught the attention of Denny Cordell, who was the producer for Procol Harum, The Moody Blues and Georgie Fame. Joe then moved to London and disbanded the Grease Band. Cordell then obtained a residency at the Marquee Club for Joe and a new Grease Band.

Then in 1968, Joe finally achieved success with a cover of The Beatles’ “With A Little Help from My Friends”. The single again featured the lead guitar of Jimmy Page, along with backing vocals by Sue and Sunny. The release reached the top ten in the UK Singles Chart and remained there for thirteen weeks, eventually becoming a number one hit on November 9th. In the US it reached number sixty eight.  In the UK, Joe and the Grease Band toured with The Who in 1968 and with Gene Pitney and Marmalade in 1969. Podcast number 145 covers the history of Marmalade. During Joe’s first tour, he performed at several venues that included the Newport Rock Festival and the Denver Pop Festival. He also was booked to perform at the Woodstock Festival in 1969. After Woodstock, the album titled “Joe Cocker” was released.  Paul McCartney and George Harrison were so impressed by Joe’s version of   “With A Little Help from My Friends”, that they permitted Joe to use “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window” and “Something” in the album. The album reached the number eleven position in the US chart. 

Here is an excerpt of Cocker’s cover version of  “With A Little Help from My Friends” 

Here is Joe’s cover of “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window”, which reached the number thirty position in the US in 1969.

Cocker also performed at the Isle of Wight Festival in the UK and in the US on The Ed Sullivan Show and on This Is Tom Jones. Toward the end of the year Joe was not interested in any more US tours, and as a result the Grease Band was disbanded yet again.

Regardless of Joe’s reluctance to tour again, a US tour had been previously booked, so a new band had to be formed. It turned out to be a rather large group comprising twenty musicians, who included bandleader and pianist Leon Russell, backing vocalists Rita Coolidge and Claudia Lennear. Producer Denny Cordell named the band “Mad Dogs and Englishmen”. The band performed in forty-eight cities and recorded a live album. However the tour schedule was exhausting, which lead to personal problems between Cocker and Russell. During this time Joe had several singles that entered the US charts that included cover versions of  “Feelin’ Alright” and ‘Cry Me a River”. In 1970, a cover version of The Box Tops’ “The Letter” was his first US Top Ten hit, reaching the number seven position. In 1971, the single titled “High Time We Went” reached the number twenty-two position on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Then in early 1972 Joe went on tour in the US and performed in Madison Square Garden. After the US tour, he then went on a European tour that included performances in Germany and Italy. Then later that year, he returned to the US for an autumn tour.  During this time several songs were recorded that were included in the album titled “Joe Cocker”. The album managed to reach the number thirty position in the US charts. In October he embarked on a tour of Australia, however trouble soon began when Joe and six other members of his entourage were arrested for possession of marijuana in Adelaide. On the following day, assault charges were issued after a brawl at the Commodore Chateau Hotel in Melbourne. Joe was then given forty-eight hours to leave the country.

After the Australian tour, Joe stepped away from his music to establish his own recording studio. However, Joe became depressed and starting using heroin. By June 1973 he managed to kick the drug habit, but continued to drink heavily. Then at the end of 1973, he recorded a new album titled “I Can Stand a Little Rain”, which was released in August 1974 and reached the number eleven position on the US charts.  In live performances, he struggled on stage due to his drinking problem.  In January 1975 the album titled, “Jamaica Say You Will” was released, but it only managed to reach the number seventy position on the US charts. However a cover of Billy Preston’s “You Are So Beautiful” climbed to number five in the US. 

Here is Joe’s cover version of  “You Are So Beautiful”.

In May 1976 he headlined an eleven date Canadian tour and on October 2nd he appeared on Saturday Night Live and performed “Feelin’ Allright” with John Belushi joining him, impersonating Joe’s stage gyrations. Unfortunately during this time, Joe was struggling to stay sober, plus he also owed  $800,000 to A&M Records. After meeting producer Michael Lang a few months later, Lang agreed to be his manager, as long as Joe stayed sober.  So with a new band, Joe embarked on a tour that included Australia, New Zealand and South America. Then in the autumn of 1978 he began a tour of North America promoting his latest album, “Luxury You Can Afford”. However, the album received mixed reviews and only managed to sell 300,000 copies.

From the 1980's to 1990, Joe continued to record and perform. In 1982 he recorded a duet with Jennifer Warnes titled “ Up Where We Belong”. The song was part of the soundtrack for the film An Officer and a Gentleman and won an Academy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo plus they also won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. After receiving the award, Cocker and Warnes performed the song. The single also became an international hit and reached the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100.

Here is an excerpt of Joe and Jennifer’s number one hit  “ Up Where We Belong”.

While on tour in 1982, Joe was arrested by the Austrian police for refusing to perform due to poor sound equipment. However, the charges were dropped, and he was released from custody. After the incident, several albums were released which included the albums titled “Civilized Man”, “Cocker” and “You Can Leave Your Hat On” which achieved Platinum status on the European charts. The album titled “ Unchain My Heart” was nominated for a Grammy Award, but failed to win the award.

From the 1990's until 2014, Joe performed in various venues including the Woodstock ’94 concert, as one of the alumni who appeared at the Woodstock Festival in 1969.  In 2000 Joe was the opening act for Tina Turner’s “Twenty Four Seven Tour”. On September 20th 2001, I attended the concert where Joe appeared along with the Guess Who in Fairfax, Virginia.  On June 3rd, 2002 Cocker performed at the Party at the Palace on the grounds of Buckingham Palace, accompanied by drummer Phil Collins and Queen guitarist Brian May. The event commemorated the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II.  In 2007 Cocker received the OBE award in the Queen’s Birthday Honors List for services to music.

In 2012 Joe’s last studio album titled “ Fire it Up” was released, followed by a tour in the US and Europe in 2013. His last performance took place on September 7th, 2013.

On December 22nd, 2014, Joe Cocker passed away at the age of seventy. In November 2025 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Joe’s discography encompasses 22 studio albums, 9 live albums, 14 compilation albums, 68 singles, 17 video albums and 32 music videos.

Here is Joe Cocker’s cover version of The Box Top’s 1967 hit “The Letter”.

This has been a look back at the forty-five year career of Joe Cocker on Rock and Roll Flashback. And until next time, I’m your host Bill Price.