Joe Cocker rose to instant stardom in 1968 with his first album featuring, “With a Little from his friends” written by the Beatles.
By re-interpreting songs written and performed by well known musicians, Joe gave the songs a uniquely, quirky, gospel feel. His gritty, bluesy voice became legendary, as did his musical compositions and dynamic stage performances, Woodstock, The Isle of Wight, The Television series based on the sixties “The Wonder Years” The movie “nine and one half weeks“, “You are So Beautiful”, ”Up Where we belong”
The Mad Dogs and Englishmen Tour
Cocker received an OBE in 2007 for services to music
He received a Grammy for “Up Where We Belong”
Joe Cocker was born 1944 in Sheffield, UK
His love of music began in primary school. He became known for incessantly tapping out rhythms on his school desk and singing at an unmissable volume all the way home!
In 1959, Joe's first band was called the "Cavaliers".
It was a somewhat rocky start! Arriving to play, they were told entry was 3 pence. When they exclaimed "But we're playing", they were told "Yes, and you're paying"!!!
He quickly developed an ability to reinterpret songs written by many of the world's best musicians & make them his own. Both his musical compositions & voice became legendary
His career went on to span 5 decades.
I first discovered Cocker when I was a 30-year-old Accountant turned Musician, my Show Band has been celebrating the life of Joe Cocker for, at least, the last 12 years.
Our sets will cover many of the songs from Joe's
Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour back in 1970.
The tour lasted 2 months. It achieved a mythical status amongst fans and marked the beginning of Joe's addiction to a cocktail of both licit and illicit drugs.