If you're a Joe Cocker fan, and maybe even if you're not, this is a well organized and unflinching look at the energetic blues/rock singer who's interpretations and covers of other musicians made him legendary in his own time. Everyone knows about his breakout at the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival in 1969 with that mesmerizing performance of the Beatles classic, "With a Little Help From My Friends". The thing is, Cocker's performance and soulful expression of the song almost makes the Beatles version irrelevant. Which one do you think of when you hear the title?
The downside of the Cocker story comes into play following Woodstock, and his emergence on the American music scene when he began touring the States. Under Leon Russell's leadership, the Cocker entourage grew upwards of forty or fifty performers backing him when he appeared in concert. It's incomprehensible but at the same time logical to believe that the cost of touring with so many people and so much equipment left Cocker with no money and no place to live, winding up for a time left to sleep on the floor at the home of Denny Cordell, the producer of his first album.
With the Seventies, Cocker took up alcohol and drugs in a big way, forcing him to abandon touring for a period of two years. But even with a major comeback, it wasn't unusual for Joe to drink heavily, and one of the running gags was how many buckets he would use while breaking in the middle of a performance to hurl his guts. It got so bad that eventually, his wife Pam gave Joe the ultimatum. After two years of sobriety, Pam states in the documentary that she got mad over how easily he was able to do it going cold turkey, questioning why he couldn't have done it fifteen years sooner.
The documentary is peppered with reminiscences from folks close to the singer over the years, people like singer/songwriter Jimmy Webb, Rita Coolidge, Woodstock organizer Michael Lang, Joe's long time keyboard man Chris Stainton, and as mentioned earlier, wife Pam Cocker. Brother Vic had an amusing comment regarding Joe's sartorial preferences - "Joe and elegance always had a bit of a dispute". If you've seen him early in his career, you'll know exactly what that was all about.
The only downside for me with the documentary was the omission of any single performance from beginning to end; that would have been welcome for this fan of the singer. A clip of Joe and John Belushi from that notorious 'Saturday Night Live' guest spot would have been an amusing inclusion as well. It might not have been a bad idea either to mention Cocker's return to the site of the original Woodstock Festival for a concert performance on August 4th, 2012. I was at that one, and the guy could still belt it out. Rest in peace, Joe.
The downside of the Cocker story comes into play following Woodstock, and his emergence on the American music scene when he began touring the States. Under Leon Russell's leadership, the Cocker entourage grew upwards of forty or fifty performers backing him when he appeared in concert. It's incomprehensible but at the same time logical to believe that the cost of touring with so many people and so much equipment left Cocker with no money and no place to live, winding up for a time left to sleep on the floor at the home of Denny Cordell, the producer of his first album.
With the Seventies, Cocker took up alcohol and drugs in a big way, forcing him to abandon touring for a period of two years. But even with a major comeback, it wasn't unusual for Joe to drink heavily, and one of the running gags was how many buckets he would use while breaking in the middle of a performance to hurl his guts. It got so bad that eventually, his wife Pam gave Joe the ultimatum. After two years of sobriety, Pam states in the documentary that she got mad over how easily he was able to do it going cold turkey, questioning why he couldn't have done it fifteen years sooner.
The documentary is peppered with reminiscences from folks close to the singer over the years, people like singer/songwriter Jimmy Webb, Rita Coolidge, Woodstock organizer Michael Lang, Joe's long time keyboard man Chris Stainton, and as mentioned earlier, wife Pam Cocker. Brother Vic had an amusing comment regarding Joe's sartorial preferences - "Joe and elegance always had a bit of a dispute". If you've seen him early in his career, you'll know exactly what that was all about.
The only downside for me with the documentary was the omission of any single performance from beginning to end; that would have been welcome for this fan of the singer. A clip of Joe and John Belushi from that notorious 'Saturday Night Live' guest spot would have been an amusing inclusion as well. It might not have been a bad idea either to mention Cocker's return to the site of the original Woodstock Festival for a concert performance on August 4th, 2012. I was at that one, and the guy could still belt it out. Rest in peace, Joe.