« Back to Top Level | Joe Cocker

Joe Cocker - Mad Dogs & Englishmen (1970)

Track listing:
  1. Introduction Honky Tonk Woman 4:31
  2. Introduction 0:19
  3. Sticks And Stones 2:42
  4. Cry Me A River 4:01
  5. Bird On The Wire 4:58
  6. Feelin' Alright 5:48
  7. Superstar 5:02
  8. Introduction-Lets Go Get Stoned 7:46
  9. Blue Medley 12:47
  10. Introduction Girl From North Country 2:53
  11. Give Peace A Chance 4:18
  12. Introduction 0:47
  13. She Came In Thru The Bathroom Window 3:04
  14. Space Captain 5:15
  15. The Letter 4:46
  16. Delta Lady 5:39

Notes

Listening to this CD — especially in the 1999 remastering — brings back a lot of memories. Mad Dogs and Englishmen was just about the most elaborate album that A&M Records had ever released, back in 1971, a double-LP in a three-panel, fold-out, gatefold sleeve, with almost 80 minutes of music inside and a ton of photos, graphics, and annotation wrapping around it. A live recording done in tandem with a killer documentary film of the same U.S. tour, it was recorded at the Fillmore East, where the movie was a cross-country affair, and the two were, thus, completely separate entities — also, as people couldn't "buy" the film in those days, the double-LP has lingered longer in the memory, by virtue of its being on shelves, and also being taken off those shelves to be played. Unlike a lot of other "coffee table"-type rock releases of the era, such as Woodstock and The Concert For Bangladesh, people actually listened to Mad Dogs and Englishmen — most of its content was exciting, and its sound, a veritable definition of big band rock with three dozen players working behind the singer, was unique. The 1999 CD offers a seriously good sound, whether it's just Cocker and a pianist and organist in the opening of "Bird on a Wire," or the entire band going full-tilt on "Cry Me a River"; the remastering was set at a high volume level and there was a decent amount of care taken to get the detail right, so you can appreciate the presence of the multiple drummers, and the legion of guitarists and singers, plus the multiple keyboard players — the lead guitar and solo piano on "Feelin' Alright," for example come through — but so do the 34 other players and singers behind the lead. This record was also just as much a showcase for Leon Russell as it was for Joe Cocker, which A&M probably didn't mind a bit, as Russell was selling millions of records at the time. As we now know, and it's recounted in the new notes, the tour from which this album was drawn all-but-wiped out Joe Cocker — on a psychic level — the music was presented on such a vast scale (and there is a moment in the movie where he mentions breaking up his former backing group, the Grease Band, with a hint of regret in his voice) and his own contribution was so muted by Russell's work as arranger and bandleader. He may well have been the "victim" of a "hijacking" of sorts, but the musical results, apart from the dubious "Give Peace a Chance," are difficult to argue about upon hearing this record anew, 30-plus years after the fact — it's almost all bracing and beautiful.