mail: daniel_fjall@hotmail.com
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mad dogs & englishmen
Mad Dogs & Englishmen It is funny, because it’s always the same. Take an artists whom had a couple of huge hits in the 80’s, but you can’t really tell why he is that popular. Often the answer lies some 10 years back. Joe Cocker might have poisoned our everyday lives with hideous “Up Where We Belong”, the cover of Randy Newman’s “You Can Leave Your Hat On” and other various songs, but in the 70’s Cocker was truly something special. He wrote next to no own material, but managed to build a career on covering other people’s songs, perhaps the cover of The Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends” being the most famous. In the early 70’s Joe Cocker probably was one of the most exciting stage acts around. Assembling a fantastic band (featuring Leon Russell and the backbone of the Derek & The Dominos rhythm section among others) Cocker put on a great show, mixing funk, soul, blues and r’n’b into the arrangements of famous songs, making the mind seeking the memory of the late Otis Redding. Only with a thicker backing band. All the energy created along with an enthusiastic audience is captured on Mad Dogs & Englishmen. Being a double album, it can’t escape some flaws. Particularly “Give Peace A Chance” (not the Lennon-song) and Rita Coolidge taking over the lead vocals for “Superstar”. Besides those numbers, the album is more than enjoyable. The only complaint is that it isn’t very diverse and maybe a bit overlong, but the overall impression is nothing but impressive. Cocker gives everything he’s got in each and every number and the tight band manages to follow him wherever he decides to go. No matter if it is a Rolling Stones song (“Honky Tonk Women”) or a slow Leonard Cohen tune (Bird On A Wire). My favorite moment probably appears towards the middle of the album. First things are getting really heated up with a knock out version of Ray Charles’ “Let’s Go Get Stoned” followed by what’s called “Blue Medley”, when Cocker proves himself worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Otis Redding. At first it might be somewhat disappointing to see that the set list is all made up of covers, but this isn’t the local pub band. Remember that. Also, most of the songs are arranged in completely different ways than the originals. Once again, think of the infamous “With A Little Help From My Friends” (sadly not included here, get the Woodstock-album for a mind-blowing experience) and you pretty much got the picture. It is a delight listening to this, arguably the peak of Cockers career. At the same time it is sad, considering how little of his potential he would use later on.
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