The beloved, Grammy Award-winning, blues-rock singer who created nearly 40 albums in a career spanning 6 decades passed away yesterday (December 22nd) from lung cancer at 70 years of age. We miss him already! His agent Barrie Marshall confirmed the news, saying that he was “simply unique” and that “it will be impossible to fill the space he leaves in our hearts. He was without doubt the greatest rock/soul voice ever to come out of Britain – and remained the same man throughout his life.”
John Robert Joe Cocker was born on May 20, 1944, in Sheffield, England where he lived until his early twenties. In 2007 he was awarded the OBE by the Queen of England. He gave his final live performance at London’s Eventim Apollo on May 13, 2013, following a tour in support of his 2012 album Fire It Up.
He is survived by his wife Pam Baker, who he married in 1987. They lived together on their ranch in Crawford, Colorado.
Here’s our Top 10 Joe Cocker songs:
(To open this playlist in C5, just tap here.)
1-With a Little Help From My Friends – Woodstock 1969
This is the song that Joe will always be remembered for. Cocker’s cover of this Beatles track went to No. 1 in the U.K., and then became his most memorable moment from a career-making performance at Woodstock the next year. Paul McCartney said “It’s really sad to hear about Joe’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 Saville Row and playing me what they’d recorded and it was just mind blowing. He totally turned the song into a soul anthem and I was forever grateful for him for doing that. I knew him through the years as a good mate and I was so sad to hear that he had been ill and really sad to hear today that he had passed away. He was a great guy, a lovely guy who brought so much to the world and we’ll all miss him,” McCartney concluded.
2-Feelin’ Alright
Cocker covered this Dave Mason original with Traffic and gives the song an endlessly funky vista. Cocker’s version hit the charts twice, first in 1969 and then again – finishing at a peak of No. 33 – in 1972.
3-The Letter – 1970 (Mad Dogs and Englishmen)
Cocker’s cover of the Box Tops’ No1 from 1967 rocks the song up, knocks the smooth edges off and mixes a bit of bluesy grit into this big, blaring arrangement. This was Joe’s highest-ever charting US single, until You Are So Beautiful raced to Nº5 five years later.
4-Delta Lady (Mad Dogs and Englishmen)
Delta Lady was written by Cocker’s future touring partner Leon Russell and was released on the subsequent Mad Dogs & Englishmen. It topped the charts in the UK at Nº10.
5-She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
Another Beatles cover which had just been released on the Abbey Road album but it had a lot less impact then With a Little Help From My Friends, and didn’t even chart in the UK. However, it was one of Cocker’s highest charting singles in the US at the time. It was taken from the album Joe Cocker! and released in 1969.
6-Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Written by Bennie Benjamin, Gloria Caldwell, and Sol Marcus for the jazz singer/pianist Nina Simone, who first recorded it in 1964. Cocker’s version was taken form his 1969 debut album and played over the ending credits of the 2004 film Layer Cake. Future Wings guitarist Henry McCullough plays the closing guitar.
7-When the Night Comes
Taken from Cocker’s 12th studio album One Night of Sin (1989) this track has a sleek, modern sound and peaked at Nº11 on the Billboard hot 100 – it was his last US Top 40 hit.
8-You Are So Beautiful
This great song was first recorded by Billy Preston and is from Cocker’s album I Can’t Stand The Rain (1974). In Cocker’s hands this song is impossibly gorgeous. It was a slowed-down arrangement, courtesy of producer Jim Price, which just worked so well. Beginning in quiet contemplation the strings sweep in and just carry you away.
9-Up Where We Belong
This platinum-certfied, Grammy-Award winning hit duet with Jennifer Warnes was Nº1 in the US, and held the position for 3 consecutive weeks, plus Noº1 in Australia and Canada and a top 10 hit in the UK. It featured in the heart-melting climax of the hit movie An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). The song sold over two million copies in the US.
10-You Can Leave Your Hat On
Written by Randy Newman this song appears on Cocker’s 1986 album, Cocker. Released as a single it peaked at Nº35 on the Mainstream Rock Songs chart and was featured in the 1986 Adrian Lyne film 9½ Weeks during the striptease scene. A music video was also released with footage from the striptease scene plus scenes of Cocker and his band performing the song.
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