A heart now unchained.

[Ted McGregor]

IN MEMORIAM

Joe "You are so beautiful" Cocker

May 20th 1944 – December 21st 2014

 

"Up were we belong."

[KarenMichelle Lane]

R.I.P Joe, we love ya!

[Perrie Juran]

Thank you for posting. I was going to start a thread too.

We've lost too many greats this year:  Phil Everly, Pete Seger, Dennis Frederikson, Bob Casale, Franny Beecher, Bobby Womack, Johnny Winter, Tommy Ramone, Jimmy Ruffin, Bobby Keys, Jack Bruce, just to name a few. 

But their music lives on in our hearts.

[Madelaine McMasters]

[Dillon Levenque]

Thank  you. I am not usually bothered emotionally when we lose an artist or entertainer but I find I am more than saddened by the loss of Joe Cocker. He's been one of my favorites ever since the moment I first heard his version of 'A Little Help'. Truly a great one. This has always been one of my favorites and I think the melancholy suits my mood right now.

[Perrie Juran]

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Madelaine McMasters wrote:

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That's Bobby Keys (from the Stones) on Sax with Leon Russell on Piano for any who may not recognise.

 

[Heart Brimmer]

[Madelaine McMasters]

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Dillon Levenque wrote:

Thank  you. I am not usually bothered emotionally when we lose an artist or entertainer but I find I am more than saddened by the loss of Joe Cocker. He's been one of my favorites ever since the moment I first heard his version of 'A Little Help'. Truly a great one. This has always been one of my favorites and I think the melancholy suits my mood right now.

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Lennon and McCartney wrote "A Little Help" for Ringo, and it's my favorite Ringo song. Joe's cover (an all time favorite of mine, too) is just wonderful, and it's my favorite Joe song.

And we here aren't the only ones to love Joe...

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=26b_1315119865

[daisybloomer]

RIP Joe Cocker...you are up where you belong...in heaven...

 

Up Where We Belong (1982)

Grammy Award - Academy Award - Platinum - International Hit Song

 

[CheriColette]

Nice tributes....no mistaking his voice. His, You Can Leave Your Hat On, always made me stop and listen then smile. 

[Dillon Levenque]

I listened to all the clips here, and thanks to all who posted them. Because I'm so accustomed to listening, and listening only, it's somewhat of an education to see film of Joe Cocker singing. I'd never, up til now. I inhaled from records and CDs and the radio. Aural, not visual.  Thus seeing the filmed performances gives me a whole new perspective.

I did watch SNL fairly often back in the John Belushi/Dan Aykroyd days but I never saw the episode that Maddy's post included. I loved that. Belushi was clearly a big fan. Perrie mentioned Leon Russell—he was the pianist on "The Letter" which by the way is the one and only hit record by a group called the "Box Tops"; I only hear the original when Naz Fride (my favorite SL DJ) decides to do a 'Garage Band' set. I'd never seen Leon before, either. The more I saw of him, the more I was reminded of a well known pirate. Between watching him and watching Joe Cocker's odd hand gestures, I'd say that Johnny Depp wasn't channeling Keith Richards' grandfather at all. Captain Jack Sparrow looks to me like Leon Russel imitating Joe Cocker.

So. I'll link this, his most famous song, in its original format. This is the way I first 'met' Joe Cocker. The purity of the melody, the singularity of Joe's voice and soul. And maybe the best drum break in the history of recorded rock and roll (there are three drummers listed for that album and I still have not seen definitive identification for the one who backed this song):

 

This has stopped me in my tracks since I first heard it. If a human can love a recorded song, this one's mine.

 ETA: I remembered I had the album; pulled it out tonight and took pix, which can be seen here: http://community.secondlife.com/t5/General-Discussion-Forum/A-heart-now-unchained/m-p/2878925/highlight/true#M199828

I've listened to this song probably fifteen times while doing these posts. There actually isn't a 'drum break'; it's more an unexpected beat right at a climactic moment. The sequence starts at 1:30 and the drum part at 2:40. It was so cool, Joe yelled, "Baby". The whole sequence is wonderful. But listen to the whole song.

 

 

[Kenbro Utu]

 

Getting old has its advantages, it also has its drawbacks; the loss of one's contemporaries, a glimpse at your own approaching mortality, and a predisposition to becoming emotional.  I have experienced all three of these today. 

[Amethyst Jetaime]

 

It's interesting, as I said on the last tour of America, the audience actually came out, they to have been the kind of fans who listened to my music via there parents, you know what I mean?    - Joe Cocker

 

Joe Cocker is a true classic and the world is crying him a river upon his passing.

[Perrie Juran]

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Dillon Levenque wrote:

Perrie mentioned Leon Russell—he was the pianist on "The Letter" which by the way is the one and only hit record by a group called the "Box Tops"; I only hear the original when Naz Fride (my favorite SL DJ) decides to do a 'Garage Band' set. I'd never seen Leon before, either.

 

 

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A side note here: Leon was a member of The Wrecking Crew which many people still don't know about.  There is a great Documentary about them.  Hence Leon's appearance on "The Letter."

[Madelaine McMasters]

Oooh, that's a nifty bit of music history, Perrie. I'll be filing that away for future reference. Dillon introduced me to The Traveling Wilburys some time ago, and I see they shared Jim Keitner with The Wrecking Crew. I love the stories of the behind-the-scenes talent that infuses so much of popular music. Muscle Shoals and the Nashville A-Team also come to mind.

[Perrie Juran]

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Madelaine McMasters wrote:

Oooh, that's a nifty bit of music history, Perrie. I'll be filing that away for future reference. Dillon introduced me to The Traveling Wilburys some time ago, and I see they shared Jim Keitner with The Wrecking Crew. I love the stories of the behind-the-scenes talent that infuses so much of popular music. Muscle Shoals and the Nashville A-Team also come to mind.

---

You've probably heard

play more times in your life than any other musician.

Or 

is Brian Wilson recording "God Only Knows."

Great music doesn't just randomly happen.

[Dillon Levenque]

In the post to which I reply I'd forgotten I had source material. I dug out my album. I do apologize for the wholly amateur look of the images. I was in a hurry, I didn't have proper lights available, and the camera is kinda new to me anyway. What's also new is my computer and I haven't gotten any image manipulation stuff installed on it yet, so I had to just do the best I can with Paint.

Front cover:

From the liner notes on the back:

Not a bad session band there, eh? So B.J. Wilson (Procul Harum) was the drummer. Most of you know about the guitar player. Ms. Bell's name is actually Madeline, they spelled it wrong on the album. I enjoyed googling all of those names; Rosetta Hightower especially. I've heard her before...come on and take a chance and get-a with this dance. She was the same age as Joe, and died just this last August. She was born in the US and died in England, Joe was born in England and died in the US.

[Kelli May]

James 'Master of Telecaster' Burton and Carol Kaye are the two I know most about, and Glen Campbell of course from his solo career. I have some of Carol Kaye's 'learn to play bass' books (although sadly, not nearly enough self-discipline to make good use of them). James Burton I know of through the TCB Band, along with Ronnie Tutt, Jerry Scheff and Glen Hardin. They're not all that well-known either, although maybe a little more so than most of The Wrecking Crew.

Anyone interested should check them out alongside Elvis in the Vegas shows, or backing Roy Orbison on the "Black and White Night" performance.