PASSWORD:
BAISTOPHE

DEAD LINKS

NOTE : DEAD LINKS
We'd like to thank everyone for preventing us of dead links. For the moment, we are note able to re-up them.

Feel free to keep on preventing us of those dead links. We will update them when we (I and Jeb-E-Diah) have more time to (understand : from september). Some of them will be partially or completely repacked considering albums which would have been issued thereafter and surely with new and improved artworks.

Stay tuned !







Wednesday, January 12, 2011

JOE COCKER (ABO#405)


SOUL SURVIVOR, THE LEGEND OF
JOE COCKER
(1968-2010)

Joe Cocker is not a rock'n'roll singer. That's probably the mistake everyone make about him and that's why so few people have really understood the change in his career in the late 70s. Of course there was this problem of drug abuse and, over all, of alcoholism. Very early in the 70s, Cocker was convinced of that kind of addiction and his inspiration has rapidly decreased beacause of that. When he returned in the early 80s, he had become a cleaner and wiser person and his music sounded like him then. It may or may not be in some people's tastes but Cocker's music has always been true to his values. Joe Cocker is more a Soul Man than a Rock'n'Roller. You will be convinced by listening his whole discography as I did. What a surprise for me to discover that! Of course that couldn't helped me to like much his later career but that changed my point of view.
To me, the heart of his career is his very first years, until 1973 or 1974. Somewhat because his music is more powerful, more energic. This is also in that period that Cocker's albums were majoritarily composed of covers song. This particularity may be one other reason people don't like him. To me, who am not really found of covers, this has however never caused any problem because his works on his covers have always been a good work of recomposition. Very often, the song had been completely become another one.
Just give him a try, you'll see he's not only made two hit singles like With A Little Help From My Friends and You Can Leave Your Hat On.














The
best album


COCKER! (1969)
The first album, With A Little Help From My Friends was a great album with good tracks on it but its follow up blows it away. This is nearly a zero fault.



The worst
album


COCKER(1986)
If I had to be bad, I would have said that their are lots of albums that could have been stamped "Worst Album" but this one is truly a worst one. While the others are not that bad, just useless, this one is really hard to listen to, at the exception of the Hit Single You Can Leave Your Hat On. The music is something hardly no one has ever done worse. Of course, this is the 80s but this sounds pretty uglier than I would have ever guessed



The best live
album


LIVE IN L.A. (1976)
I'm a bit dishonest because every one knows the best album is Mad Dogs And Englishman but I really wanted to make the highlights on that forgotten live album recorded in 1972. This album is pretty amazing, really sound different as Mad Dogs and is a good complement to this one. This really a must have album!



The best alternative to this baistophe

THE ABSOLUTE BEST 1968-1974 (1994)
Many compilations have been made but so many (too many) only focus on his later works. This collection exists on both 1 and 2CDs. The 1CD is only a reduction of the 2CDs that have the particularity to be a 1 CD studio + 1 CD live. Really great work done on that part of Cocker's Discography. The 1CD can be the best choice for a Cocker Comp'.






wait if it's temporary unavailable

4 comments:

Don said...

This looks like it will be good. I was afraid that it would include the soft-rock hits that I really hate. I have never heard anything that he did after 1975 because his style seemed to have turned 180 degrees.

Anonymous said...

It has.

From the beginning (up until 1972-1973) the music was much more Soul-Rock / Blues-Rock.

But if you like I Can Stand A Little Rain (1974) which is a simply soul album, you may not be offended by his latter works even if this is really less good (not to say worse).

My Opinion remains the same : his last good album is Stingray, after, this is just not my cup of tea. But I do much understand his career now that I have listened to his complete discography.

If you don't know his LIVE IN LA LP, you must hear it, as I said.

wackystuff said...

Thanks for the Joe Cocker selection. I've never heard many of these songs before and have enjoyed the experience!

Prof. Moses said...

Man, I am diggin' what's goin' on here...Thanks!