I was never a fan of Joe Cocker. Even 40 years ago, he sounded like he was gasping for breath with every verse. At his best, he sounded like a horribly ill man choking on his words. In concert, he looked like a poster boy for autism, his wild, disheveled appearance combining with those herky-jerky hand gestures that I read somewhere were a leftover from a childhood attempting to play 'air guitar.' (Yeah, I saw "Mad Dogs and Englishmen." It was a cheap midnight movie.)
Louis Armstrong got by with a crappy voice by making it sound sweet. His music was modeled to take advantage of the obvious limitations of his voice. Janis Joplin, a sad drug-addled waif, staggered her way through a few recordings where her voice roughly corresponded to the notes on the paper, but her soul warmed it all -- listening to "Me and Bobby McGee" (written by Kris Kristofferson, another songwriter with a voice of sandpaper) you felt as though she had lived it. And maybe she had. Carole King punished us for years with her misguided, horridly off-key attempts to sing her wonderful songs. Yes, the songs she wrote were wonderful! But her voice was just plain awful. (Compare her performances to those of her contemporary songwriter, Neil Sedaka.) Other tortured singing voices have afflicted us over the years. (Kim Carnes, anyone?)
All that said, RIP Joe Cocker (http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/12/22/joe-cocker-dead-at-70/). He was a force. Even a strange force is a force.
(https://conservativepoliticalforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1103.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg463%2Ftbone0106%2Fjoe-cocker1_zpse7f0f453.jpg&hash=68ec4868df6d83d4a571efef0cb9b286fee14aea) (http://s1103.photobucket.com/user/tbone0106/media/joe-cocker1_zpse7f0f453.jpg.html)
Never heard of him. But I am a country boy at heart.
I was never a fan either, and to exemplify his sound as something Frankenstein's monster would painfully regurgitate.
By chance one day, I stumbled across a Cocker video of him doing one of his songs, and just like my vision of the monster, there he was, all rigid as if in an upright seizure belting out his rendition of music.
But that's just one mans opinion of his art, though he did bring joy to others and for that he cannot be faulted. RIP Joe, I'll always fond memories of the moments of others listening and enjoying your music....
Quote from: Solar on December 22, 2014, 01:47:00 PM
I was never a fan either, and to exemplify his sound as something Frankenstein's monster would painfully regurgitate.
By chance one day, I stumbled across a Cocker video of him doing one of his songs, and just like my vision of the monster, there he was, all rigid as if in an upright seizure belting out his rendition of music.
But that's just one mans opinion of his art, though he did bring joy to others and for that he cannot be faulted. RIP Joe, I'll always fond memories of the moments of others listening and enjoying your music....
Here's a taste.
JOE COCKER -With A Little Help From My Friends- 1969 Woodstock.. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRzKUVjHkGk#)
Quote from: TboneAgain on December 22, 2014, 02:16:39 PM
Here's a taste.
JOE COCKER -With A Little Help From My Friends- 1969 Woodstock.. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRzKUVjHkGk#)
Can't watch it, but I''ll assume you found a good one. :biggrin:
I was only a minor fan... only as a UK-interpreter of Mississippi-blues.
He didn't add 'American inflection' though, like Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company, the Firm) did, which was what ears were looking-for then.
Quote from: Solar on December 22, 2014, 01:47:00 PM
I was never a fan either, and to exemplify his sound as something Frankenstein's monster would painfully regurgitate.
By chance one day, I stumbled across a Cocker video of him doing one of his songs, and just like my vision of the monster, there he was, all rigid as if in an upright seizure belting out his rendition of music.
But that's just one mans opinion of his art, though he did bring joy to others and for that he cannot be faulted. RIP Joe, I'll always fond memories of the moments of others listening and enjoying your music....
I got by the Vietnam war with a little help from my friend.....
Joe Cocker - Mad Dogs & Englishmen - With A Little Help From My Friends (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6splB7acXc#)
Quote from: quiller on December 23, 2014, 06:31:29 AM
I got by the Vietnam war with a little help from my friend.....
Joe Cocker - Mad Dogs & Englishmen - With A Little Help From My Friends (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6splB7acXc#)
Yeah, I did with Pink Floyd, and still walked a way with an intact mind.