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The Anthology

Joe Cocker - The Anthology Audio CD

A fair review of the Joe Cocker "The Anthology" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Joe Cocker reviews here, or go back to the Joe Cocker tabs.

Band: Joe Cocker
Title: The Anthology
Rating:

Release Date: 1999-09-07
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: I'll Cry Instead 2: Marjorine 3: Bye Bye Blackbird 4: Just Like a Woman 5: Feelin' Alright 6: Do I Still Figure in Your Life 7: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood 8: With a Little Help from My Friends 9: Delta Lady 10: She Came in Through the Bathroom Window 11: Hitchcock Railway 12: Something 13: Dear Landlord 14: Darling Be Home Soon 15: Letter 16: Space Captain [Live] 17: Honky Tonk Women [Live] 18: Cry Me a River [Live] 19: Let's Go Get Stoned [Live] 20: Pardon Me Sir 21: High Time We Went 22: Black-Eyed Blues 23: Something to Say 24: Put Out the Light 25: I Can Stand a Little Rain 26: You Are So Beautiful 27: I Think It's Going to Rain Today 28: Jamaica, Say You Will 29: Jealous Kind 30: Catfish 31: Song for You 32: Fun Time 33: I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today [With the Crusaders] - Joe Cocker, The Crusaders 34: Sweet Little Woman 35: Many Rivers to Cross 36: Talking Back to the Night 37: Up Where We Belong [With Jennifer Warnes] - Joe Cocker, Jennifer Warnes

This, And THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION, Are The Essential Cocker
While the first three albums are nothing short of essential, You should get both anthologies and the later records I've mentioned as well because contrary to what some fans and critics will tell you, the later years have not been wasted entirely, and Cocker has also grown into a richer, deeper vocalist as he has aged. ANTHOLOGY, JOE COCKER!, WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS, MAD DOGS & ENGLISHMEN, THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION, SOMETHING TO SAY, I CAN STAND A LITTLE RAIN, and RESPECT YOURSELF, taken together, are the essential Joe Cocker. If you get all of the albums I've mentioned, you will not, in spite of what some revisionists might say, be cluttering up your living space. Instead, you will be hearing how a great voice has grown and developed through the years.

Thoroughly covers the gravel-voiced icon's career thru 1982
When this came out, the most-available JC collection was a Capitol best-of that reached no farther back than "Up Where We Belong," though a live version of "With a Little Help From My Friends" was thrown in to snag fans of "The Wonder Years" wanting that TV show's theme song. "Anthology" shows just how much interesting material Joe Cocker has produced between his occasional monster hits. This package changed that, with a thoroughness unmatched by any of the other many Cocker collections released before or since.

Disc one opens with a rare 1964 single, a loyal version of the Beatles' "I'll Cry Instead. " It's fine, but it wasn't a hit, so unfortunately it was back to the pubs for Joe a while (to sing, I mean). In 1969 came 2 albums from which the compilers take fourteen (14) tracks, far more than from any other albums surveyed here. "With a Little Help" is among these, as are "Feelin' Alright" and two more Beatles remakes. One of those, "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window," was Joe's first top 40 hit.

The next songs offered are "The Letter" and "Space Captain. " "The Letter" was Cocker's first Top Ten hit. However, the CD's versions are not the same as the 45. This could disappoint fans who want the the hit version they recall from the radio. The back cover of the CD misleads by referring to these songs as a single release rather than as album cuts from Cocker's next, and by far most famous album, "Mad Dogs And Englishmen. " (I would have missed this had someone not written to ICE Magazine about it, leading to my spending a tedious half hour comparing the 45 to this disc to confirm. ) J. P. Bean's excellent liner notes indicate that the single version came from rehearsals for the "Mad Dog" tour.

Also from "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" are versions of "Honky Tonk Women," "Cry Me A River" (a hit single actually taken from the LP), and "Let's Go Get Stoned. " "Stoned" had been a somewhat unusual hit for the venerable Ray Charles, noted throughout the liner notes as Mr. Cocker's hero and main inspiration. As one might guess upon hearing how many of these songs blend blues and gospel elements with rock. The backing singers on many of these songs often serve as rock Raelettes, sometimes as predominant in the mixes as Cocker.

While Disc 1 focused on just 3 albums over two years, Disc 2 covers 7 spanning from 1972-82. One two-sided hit from 1970, "Midnight Rider"/"Woman To Woman," is bypassed in favor of LP cut "Something To Say. " The standard of quality holds up until we get to, from the LP "I Can Stand a Little Rain" the top 5 hit "You Are So Beautiful. " Back in 1975, this was the first time Joe Cocker came to my attention. As I was about 10 years old, the impression wasn't good; unaware of Joe's rock credentials, we brats failed to distinguish this from "Feelings" and mocked it just as harshly. And seeing him freakishly contort his arms and face and arms while singing on TV made it worse. As if singing it hurt him as much as hearing it hurt us. Efforts to warm up to the song over the years ultimately failed upon the realization this has no verses, just the same two lines repeated with varying levels of angst, sank it forever for. . . or. . . meee. . . eeee.

The remaining songs are well worth hearing if you're still reading this far. There are reggae and very slight dance influences in some. There are no disco songs here, despite the complaints of an earlier reviewer who must be a lousy dancer and so fears anything with a beat. He's probably talking about "Fun Time," a good song which is way more rock than disco. That this is the only song included from 1978's "Luxury You Can Afford," however, does not bode well for the rest of that disc.

A nice inclusion is the minor hit with the Crusaders, called "I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today". Beautiful and inspirational. No wonder radio didn't play it (it stopped "climbing" at #97 in 1981).

This ends on a high note (mmph) with the Number One, Richard Gere sweeping Debra Winger into his arms and we liked it, "Up Where We Belong" from "An Officer and a Gentleman. " I liked it, in part because I think Jennifer Warnes is a woefully underrated artist and also because I am able to separate this, mentally, from the deluge of godawful power ballads that followed in its wake.

I sense this will fall out of print soon. I think if you've read this far you need to buy it. And Amazon didn't even tell me to say that (will they edit this quip?).

Joe Cocker (Anthology)
I HAVE ALWAYS ADMIRED HIS STYLE OF VOCALS, AND I CAN SAY THAT I APPRECIATE THE
MUSIC THAT HE HAS GIVEN TO THE WORLD. THIS IS A BRILLIANT COLLECTION OF JOE COCKER. THIS MAN IS NOT ONLY A PART OF THE MUSICAL WORLD, HE IS A PART OF MUSICAL HISTORY. *****.

High Time We Went
There's some rough stuff here, some soulful Blues, some vaguely Psychedelic tunes, and some truly awful light Pop. Having been a long time fan of Cocker without actually buying any of his stuff, I never realized what a bipolar artist he is.

For me, the Mad Dogs & Englishmen stuff and Woodstock-era live stuff is Cocker's best. Heavily influenced by Ray Charles and other American soul acts of the 1950s and 60's, Cocker could growl with the best of them and knew how to wrestle a melody to his own uses.

I would have been willing to pay the same price for a single CD if it would have meant the exclusion of a couple of disco-ish tunes and that train wreck of a song from "Officer and A Gentleman. ".

GREAT COLLECTION BUT...
SURE IT BEATS BUYING THEM ALL BECAUSE MANY OF HIS RECORDS HAVE A LOT OF FILLER AND JUST A FEW GREAT CUTS (AND THERE AREN'T TOO MANY STINKERS IN HIS CATALOG) BUT FOR A ONE-STOP OVERVIEW YOU CAN'T DO BETTER. THIS IS PROBABLY THE BEST 2-DISC COLLECTION WE'RE GOING TO GET OF ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNIZABLE VOICES IN ROCK N' ROLL BUT IT'S MISSING ONE HIS BEST SONGS, You Can Leave Your Hat On, AND THE PRICE SHOULD BE UNDER $20.

You can see a complete list of all Joe Cocker discography, or go back to the Joe Cocker tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.