Random Record Revisited:

With A Little Help From My Friends – Joe Cocker [1969]

   I have known this record as long as I can remember. My parents had a copy and it was one of those that got played a lot. Or maybe I played it a lot. Even though the hand drawn cover – a portrait of Cocker tinted almost blood red – scared the crap out of me. But it also kind of looked like my uncle Louie.

   What makes this such a great record? Well, Cocker’s incredible voice of course. Cocker’s distinctive too much whiskey and too many cigarettes throaty vocals are singularly his. You know it’s Cocker withing a few words, even if he’s softly crooning [as he would on the 80s hit Up Where We Belong] or belting out a rocker like the opening song here, a cover of Traffic’s Feelin’ Alright that eclipses the original. Cocker’s cover has become the definitive version.

   While Cocker and keyboardist / bassist Chris Stainton would write originals, it’s Cocker’s choice of material that also stands out. The Bob Dylan catalog was always open for interpretation, and Cocker covers three Dylan songs on his first two records. On this record, Cocker and producer Denny Cordell reimagine Just Like A Woman as a long floating dream driven by Procol Harum’s Matthew Fisher on organ. The alum closes with a lovely take of I Shall Be Released which the Band released on Music From Big Pink the previous year. Of course Cocker is not going to match Richard Manuels high plaintive falsetto so he brings it down to an earthy key, slowly riding the great keyboard work by Steve Winwood [from Traffic, another one of those friends Cocker gets help from] and guitarist Henry McCullough [who would join Cocker’s Grease Band and also have stint in Paul McCartney’s band Wings].

  Cocker and company also cover the Nina Simone song [made a big hit by the British Invasion band the Animals] Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood. Again, Cocker takes this down to slow burning closer to Simon’s version than the Animals. Again, Henry McCullough adds a guitar lick that just make the song, an incredible little wah-wah thing that just make the song. A cover of the 1920s standard Bye Bye Blackbird approaches Ray Charles territory. The incredibly sloppy solo is one James Patrick “Jimmy” Page who would unleash Led Zeppelin a few months before Cocker’s album hit the stands. Page plays on half the album but the only other noticeable bit he plays is some tasty fuzz tone guitar on the Cocker-Stainton original Sandpaper Cadillac.

  Of course, the other daring cover is the Beatles With A Little Help From My Friends. Thanks to the Woodstock film / soundtrack and then the song being used for the opening credits of the hit TV show The Wonder Years, Cocker’s version is probably as equally well known as the Beatles original. Page add the guitar here although he is mostly lost under the backup vocals.

   The album is rounded out with a cover of Honeybus’ [Do I Figure] In Your Life [retitled Do I Still Figure In Your Life] and three originals – Sandpaper Cadillac, Marjorine and Change In Louise. The originals are good but not earth shattering. The arrangements showcase Cocker and the album flows very smoothly. Marjorine was the lead single but only hit # 48 in the U.K. With A Little Help… was a U.K. # 1 and a top ten in other countries but only hit # 49 in Canada and # 68 in the U.S.!

   It’s hard to be objective about an album so burned into my brain from almost 60 years of listening. But With A Little Help rom My Friends IS a classic. It’s the perfect spot of soul and rock and definitely features one of the best interpreters of songs of the rock era.