RIP Joe Cocker

http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/update/2014-12-22/joe-cocker-has-died-after-a-battle-with-lung-cancer/

rip, didn't know you were still here

WHAT WOULD YOU DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Oh maaaan.

Fuck

Shocker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5t_uHnvzsw

I've always been fond of this piece of hackwork, his last American top 40 hit.

(rhyme not intentional) (xp)

Terrible news. RIP. :(

"When The Night Comes" is great, the Joe Cocker Live album from around the same time was a big staple in my mom's house

I never really had much feeling for his music--I do like "With a Little Help"--but one of those deaths that makes me sad more for a world disappearing.

Did you ever listen to Mad Dogs and Englishmen?

RIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5h02ZmeB5c

RIP

this may well become ilm's first decent joe cocker thread. sigh.

James (if that was meant for me): no. I just know a handful of songs. As I often do, I made a quick and possibly unfair assessment early on that he wasn't for me. Anyway, he was always there, and when I first started listening to music, he had an aura of being really famous and important, and that stayed with me.

Didn't know he was sick. Just picked up Mad Dogs recently because Bobby Keys and currently have in the CD changer in the truck.

RIP

Joe Cocker is one of those artist who I know, and know several hits from, but who I literally have never listened to on purpose.

Which'd be me too. But just that Belushi could (affectionately/reverently) parody him in the mid-'70s, a few years removed from Woodstock, and everyone got it, that's a good indication of what a cultural touchstone he was.

Eh, just five years in between, that's not so far. It's more impressive that Cocker had hits through the '80s.

Thing was, I was 14 when Belushi did that. All I knew was "The Letter" and the two Beatles covers. Yet it immediately confirmed my sense that Cocker was somehow more important than whatever presence he had on the radio. Not sure if that makes sense, or if there's anyone comparable today.

Not sure if this will convert the unconverted, but:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeVMVgiIEl0

btw Belushi's impression originated onstage in Lemmings in 1973

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Lampoon_Lemmings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15addI6Es30

"Joe Cocker was the biggest influence on my stage presence and character." -- Ian MacKaye

Perhaps you will prefer Wales/Yorkshire duet, with Turkish titles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NirFiAApl0s

I guess up is really where he belongs now

Seeing all those people on stage it's amazing that there wasn't a stage collapse on this tour...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKNJj6MsGfI

I had a lot of love for his beer-commercial 80s revival style -- felt like his AOR radio stuff then was really pleasant, and that was a time when I was starting to question the whole "It's rock and roll! It's not supposed to be pleasant!" handed-down stuff I'd sort of been raised on. "Unchain My Heart" sounds good on a jukebox in a bar with friends in 1989 on a cold night, good enough to remember later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j04mQ6UnGTI

Heavy groove song. No surprise it's been sampled three million times.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=26b_1315119865 1976 Joe Cocker with John Belushi on Saturday Night Live

"Joe Cocker was the biggest influence on my stage presence and character." -- Ian MacKaye

?! bigger than TED FUCKING NUGENT?

"[insert name here depending on who we're talking about] was the biggest influence on my stage presence and character." -- Ian MacKaye

"Donald Duck was the biggest influence on my stage presence and character." -- Ian MacKaye

you're right it totally works!

It's sad he only became famous covering some other people's songs. RIP, but barely a musician imho.

why is that sad? what does it matter tjat he was "barely" a "musician"?

it's sad Dusty Springfield only became famous covering other people's songs

Meant it in a "it's sad he was a x/y" ILX meme way :-/

Sad Elvis

are there any singers these days outside of jazz who are primarily known for interpreting other people's songs?

the joe cockers and linda ronstadts of this world?

susan boyle, i guess, but i mean good ones.

Many country and R&B performers.

well, yeah (sez don), but i guess i mean people who reinterpret popular hit songs, like "the letter" and "a little help from my friends." country singers my have hits with songs written by pro writers, but typically they aren't previously-established hits.

Feel like the wobbly optical film soundtrack via youtube does not quite do justice to these tunes. Doubters please seek out properly mixed versions of MD & E.

Aah, just heard the news. Surprised no mention yet of Marjorine - a family favourite in my house, guaranteed to raise a smile every time it pops up on a playlist. RIP, great man.