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Joe Cocker
 The
ex gas fitter from Sheffield, Yorkshire, reached the British Top
30 in 1968 with his record Marjorine. Six months later he
recorded The Beatles' With A Little
Help From My Friends and caused a sensation on both sides of
the Atlantic.
Cocker achieved a rare thing with that record - taking a Lennon/McCartney
song and improving on The Beatles' version so much that Cocker's
is now considered the classic recording.
In 1969 Cocker and the Grease Band (Henry McCullough, Chris
Stainton, Alan Spenner and Bruce Rowland) crossed the Atlantic to
establish 'Cocker Power' in the US, where they made a star
appearance at the Woodstock Festival.
In September that year Cocker hit the charts again with Delta
Lady, written by Leon Russell with whom Joe teamed up the
following year for a US tour billed as "Mad Dogs &
Englishmen". This rock & roll circus produced a live
album and a film, but left Cocker exhausted and confused, and he
retired home to Sheffield.
In 1972 he went out on the road again with a new band formed by
Chris Stainton. Cocker and six of his bandmates were arrested in
1972 while on tour in Adelaide (Australia) for possession of
marijuana, heroin and syringes. He then spent much of the 70s in
alcoholic and career oblivion.
In 1981, act just about cleaned up, The Crusaders offered him a
leg-up with I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today. Soon, a
new deal, and - once he'd proved he could handle an American tour
- global success beckoned.
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