John Robert Cocker was born in May of 1944, in Sheffield, England. He began his musical career under the name of Vance Arnold, however, by 1964 this had been changed again, to that of Joe Cocker.
Initially, Joe worked as a gas fitter but once he was signed to Decca Records he resigned from this job and embarked on a tour that featured the group, Manfred Mann. He joined the soul combination, Grease Band, but it was to be his own interpretation of The Beatles’ song, “With A Little Help From My Friends”, that even made the ‘Fab Four’ sit up and take notice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEdV-zK8UOQ
The single went to N0.1 in Britain, towards the end of 1968, and entered the American charts, albeit in a minor capacity. Joe, with his distinctive bodily movements, was popularly received when he appeared at Woodstock, where he met Leon Russell.
Joe covered Leon’s “Delta Lady”, and the pair combined to lead a rock ‘n’ roll tour called ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’, across America, at an exhaustive pace. A cover of The Boxtops’ “The Letter”, afforded Joe his first entry to the American Top 10.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd8B90ccfFU
Los Angeles became Joe Cocker’s place of residence in 1974 and, in the following year, he entered the American Top 10 for a second time with “You Are So Beautiful”, a song written by Billy Preston. Nevertheless, it was to be 1982 before Joe would experience what it was like to have a No.1 hit in the United States, when “Up Where We Belong”, the theme from the film, ‘An Officer And A Gentleman’ — and recorded in duet with Jennifer Warnes — allowed Joe to experience the euphoria associated with such an achievement. A feat, perhaps, made even more special in knowing that he had lived a life in which his personal problems had almost brought him as much notoriety as his recordings.
For the names of more recordings by Joe Cocker please refer to the suggested playlists.