Feeling Alright/Bye Bye Blackbird/Change In Louise/Marjorine/Just Like A Woman/Do I Still Figure In Your Life/Sandpaper Cadillac/Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood/With A Little Help From My Friends/I Shall Be Released
With A Little Help From My Friends was the debut album from the Sheffield vocalist noted for his peculiar hand movements and anguished vocals. The title track cover was a UK No. 1 hit single. (US:35)
“Although he had been treading the boards since the early 60s, this was Cocker's debut and just reading down the writing credits, it was plain that all was not well. Granted, even the top artists occasionally padded out their own material with judiciously chosen covers, but Cocker's writing credits on this were sparse to say the least. Cocker throws his singularly recognisable vocals into each one, but for me, this LP demonstrates why Joe Cocker was always going to fall short of greatness.”
“While a potent vocalist, Cocker's voice rarely leant itself to subtlety, particularly at this stage of his career. While he may have the definitive male white soul voice, he has a habit of over-emoting, something which makes it very difficult to invest any belief in what he is singing.”
“In all, this is a very consistent album. Joe Cocker's singing is absolutely top-notch and his choice of songs is superb. I can recommend this.”
“Everybody knows Joe Cocker, especially because of his cover version of the Beatles classic, With A Little Help From My Friends, which is also the title of his debut album. Take a look at the track listing. Yes, seven covers out of ten. Two Bob Dylan covers, one Beatles cover and so on. And this is debut album. So I won’t be giving it many stars even though Jimmy Page plays the axe on five songs.”
“There are a number of reason's that Joe Cocker never made another album as good as this soulful debut. First of all, he was in the best shape he'd be in for a long time. Also, he would never again assemble such a group of musicians as appear on this one. The songs are good, with lots of covers.”
“You can judge this LP by its cover. He sings like he looks: unapologetically. He's never fakes for a second. Some good songs with great attitude.”
No comments:
Post a Comment