Joe Cocker (circa 1970) at the height of his career. (Photo: A&M Records)
Joe Cocker, one of the most iconic and most maligned rock artists to come out of the 1960s, will finally get his due in the annals of rock history.
Cocker, who died in 2014, age 70, will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame postumuously this weekend as part of the class of 2025.
The ceremony takes place on Saturday at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, and will be streaming live on Disney+ beginning at 8pm ET.
“Finally, musical justice is being done, by inducting the great Joe Cocker. He is a true legend, and it is about time! Rock on, Joe!” said music author Mark Bego who wrote a seminal 2023 biography, “With A Lot of Help from his Friends – Joe Cocker.”
Read More: Joe Cocker’s Obituary
Bego captures the ups and downs of Cocker’s career, including his struggles with alcohol, depression, and self-destructive behavior.
“Saturday Night Live” star John Belushi brutally mocked him during a 1976 performance on the show that stuck with Cocker for a decade and marked a low point in his career.
In the mid-1970s, Cocker struggled with alcoholism, brought about in part, by his anxiety over live performances. For a time, his career went into a tailspin, before he regained his footing.
During the 1980s, Cocker sobered up and became celebrated for his status as a rock icon. He toured and played numerous charity events.
“Although Joe Cocker died in 2014, he left us with an amazing body of recorded work, and finally the time has come for him to be honored for a true rock & roll life dramatically lived,” says Bego.
“When my book was originally released, I was very verbal to the press about my shock that he was not yet in The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It is gratifying to think that my book has helped him secure this well-deserved induction.”
Indeed, his talent was undeniable.
His life and music legacy have been captured in a new documentary and concert film, “Mad Dogs & Englishmen.” It premiered today on YouTube in its entirety for the first time. (Watch above)
Helmed by director Pierre Adidge, “Mad Dogs & Englishmen” originally debuted in theaters on March 29, 1971. The film famously followed Cocker on his 1970 North American tour accompanied by Leon Russell.
“Mad Dogs & Englishmen” captured Cocker in top form. Following its initial release in 1970, the double-album earned a Gold record and reached No. 2 on the Billboard’s album chart.
The video is being called a captivating time capsule of the seventies, bottling the sights and sounds of the decade within its two-hour runtime.
A split-screen displays Cocker’s full-bodied renditions of classics like “Delta Lady” and “Feeling Alright.”
Drenched in sweat, he projects his bold, bluesy wail with wild-eyed intensity and manic emotion backed by an elite cohort of musicians and Russell’s loose six-string sorcery as sold-out crowds can’t turn away.
The film introduces key characters like tour manager Sherman “Smitty” Jones and infamous figures likr “The International Butter Queen.”
It jumps between moments in tour buses, vans, and on planes and pulls the viewer into the middle of a pre-show huddle led by Russell, who urges, “Feel the energy in the room, circling for a landing”—just until he leads a singalong of “Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)” to warm up his comrades.
Some of the most poignant moments include backstage interview footage. Speaking off-the-cuff, the self-efacing Cocker recalled “I used to sing in front of the mirror with a tennis racket…full of shit I am.”
He also delivers words of wisdom, “If you really want results, you have to forget everything you have of your old self, let’s say, and just surrender to what’s going on.”
In conjunction with his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame® induction, three timeless records from Cocker’s catalog were reissued on vinyl in October.
“With A Little Help From My Friends” [1967] and “Joe Cocker!” [1969] were released along with his live album, “Mad Dogs & Englishmen,” in a two LP standard black vinyl last week.
“During his career, some of the most fascinating songs that Joe recorded were written by The Beatles,” says Bego.
“He did nine different renditions of Beatles’ songs during his career, from his first No. 1 hit ‘With A Little Help from My Friends,’ to the song ‘Come Together’ which he sang in Julie Taymor’s powerful 2007 film “Across the Universe.”
“Just for the record, my favorite Cocker recording of a Beatles tune is his 1991 version of ‘You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,’ which I discovered during my research. It is a little-known Cocker gem worth exploring.”
Crocker, who smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for most of his career, died of lung cancer. He’d quit smoking in 1991.