Joe Cocker R.I.P.

Best known for his copy of "with a little help from my friends"

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30582761

Joe is now "Up where he belongs"

I guess Joe's NOT feeling alright?

/too soon?
//great singer and performer
///thought he was already dead from drug abuse

First song my band ever performed in front of an audience was "Feelin' Alright". Easiest song ever to play on guitar (2 chords, same fingering, barred - A9/B9 I think; long time ago), one of the hardest to sound good on, given the repetition, and specialness Joe put into it.

RIP, Joe. Often imitated, never outdone.

sad news indeed...

I saw Joe at the Boston Garden in March of 1972. I remember because my grandmother died the week before and I came to Dorchester for the funeral.

Joe Cocker dies and Elton John gets married. The beat goes on.

I am a little too young to have been a Joe Cocker fan, but I always sort of like "Love lift us up were we belong". Rest easy, Joe Cocker.

Quote: 1BB

Elton John gets married.

This might be the first time I've ever had an anti-gay marriage thought.

Because, c'mon. This dude needs to reproduce.

Please, Elton? At least donate to a bank, fer Chris'ake! I can't spend the last 50 years of my life dealing with the Beibers and Swifts of the world =,(

For fellow fans of the Wonder Years, Joe Cocker sang the theme song.

Quote: Face

This might be the first time I've ever had an anti-gay marriage thought.

Because, c'mon. This dude needs to reproduce.

Please, Elton? At least donate to a bank, fer Chris'ake! I can't spend the last 50 years of my life dealing with the Beibers and Swifts of the world =,(

Elton was married to a woman for a while but I suspect she was just a beard.

Quote: Wizard

For fellow fans of the Wonder Years, Joe Cocker sang the theme song.

Who was the original singer? I think everyone knows who wrote it.

Quote: Mission146

Who was the original singer? I think everyone knows who wrote it.

It was Ringo, the unsung (no pun intended) hero of the Beatles.

With a Little Help From My Friends was on the Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album in 1967 with Ringo singing it.

Darn, too easy!

Quote: Wizard

For fellow fans of the Wonder Years, Joe Cocker sang the theme song.

First thing I thought of. The Wonder Years is in my top 5 TV shows.

What about that song from Officer and a Gentleman.

Edit: Whoops kewlj already mentioned it.

a song he will always be remembered by

I have a Joe Cocker story, I met him
and spoke with him. In 1979 in the
bar in Santa Barbara, on a slow Tue
night, this guy walks in with the most
beautiful woman I had ever seen in
my life. Long blond hair, mid twenties,
tan, stunning.

The guy kind of staggered a little up to
the bar and in a great Brit accent orders
a double Dewar's straight up. I ask if
he's sure if he doesn't want ice and he
says no. He asks how he can go about
playing pool. I don't as a rule serve people
who are obviously drunk, but this guy was
cool beyond description. His whole manner
exuded coolness, I had to serve him. He
also gave me a $10 bill for a $4 drink and
said keep the change.

About 20min later, one of the regulars came
to me and whispered, 'geez, man. That's
Joe Cocker playing pool in your bar!' I
immediately knew he was right. Holy Crap.
I got on the phone and called a few people
and they called a few, and in 15min we had 20
people watching Joe Cocker play pool.

This was 1979, just ten years after Woodstock.
Joe Cocker was an icon, he was a rock
and roll god. I remember being at a party
the year the Woodstock album came out. It
was during my smoking dope days and they
played With a Little Help From My Friends
over and over for hours. Every time he sang
'get high with a little help from my friends'
everybody would sing it along with him loudly.

All those weird moves he makes with his hands
and body when he sings, he does it when he's not
singing too. It's some kind of nervous disorder,
very odd to watch him shoot pool. He didn't
do it all the time, just in between shots.

He had at least 4 more double Dewar's, all
bought by other people, of course, before he
finally just crumpled to the floor and passed
out. The girl said, "oh, Joe, not again." She
asked me with the most beautific smile if we
could carry him out to the curb. I think I would
have killed somebody if she'd asked. I took
an arm and shoulder and others took his other
arm and legs. We carried him out the door to
a new Ford pickup with a full size mattress
in the bed. We gently laid him on the mattress
and I asked the goddess if he did this often.
'Only every night', she replied. She gave me
a $20 bill and said to buy a beer for everybody
and got in the Ford and drove off with Joe Cocker
passed out in the back.

Still the best version of the song ever sung. The
one from Woodstock.

That's a damn good story Evenbob.

Quote: rainman

That's a damn good story Evenbob.

But, did he remember you?

Quote: rainman

That's a damn good story Evenbob.

It was like a church in there, people
were stunned they were seeing him
in person. I'm sure it's a story they
all still tell too. A drunk rock star, who
would have thought.

He got a lot heavier later in life. In those
days, in his 30's, he was skinny. He
weighed nothing when we carried him
out.