Thursday Flashback From Bear’s Vinyl Vault [VIDEO]

Time to dive into Bear’s Vinyl Vault and today I just wanted to make sure that everyone is feeling alright!

Joe Cocker is a great R&B Bluesman! He came into the spotlight during the 1960′s and who could forget his appearance at Woodstock. I think John Belushi did the best impersonation of Joe Cocker. Just stand back and watch him wail! Joe just doesn’t sing…he feels his music and it moves him.

In 1960, along with three friends, Cocker formed his first group, the Cavaliers. For the group’s first performance at a youth club, they were required to pay the price of admission before entering. The Cavaliers eventually broke up after a year and Cocker left school to become an apprentice gasfitter while he pursued a career in music.

Cocker entered the big time with a groundbreaking rearrangement of “With a Little Help from My Friends”, another Beatles cover, which was later used as the opening theme for The Wonder Years.

During his first US tour in 1969, Cocker played at several large festivals, including the Newport Rock Festival and the Denver Pop Festival. In August, Denny Cordell heard about the planned concert in Woodstock, New York and convinced organiser Artie Kornfeld to book Cocker and the Grease Band for the Woodstock Festival. The group had to be flown into the festival by helicopter due to the large crowds. They performed several songs, including “Delta Lady”, “Something’s Comin’ On”, “Let’s Go Get Stoned”, “I Shall Be Released”, and “With a Little Help from My Friends”. Cocker would later say that the experience was “like an eclipse… it was a very special day

In 2007, Cocker appeared playing minor characters in the film Across the Universe, as the lead singer on another Beatles hit, “Come Together”. Cocker was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s 2007 Birthday Honours list for services to music.

On 26 May 2010, Cocker joined Season 9′s American Idol Lee DeWyze and first runner-up Crystal Bowersox, for a version of “With a Little Help From My Friends

He sang the vocals on Little Wing for the Carlos Santana album, Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time, released on 21 September 2010. In the fall of 2010, Cocker toured Europe promoting his studio album Hard Knocks.

Cocker returned to Australia in 2008 and again in 2011, the latter of which featured George Thorogood and the Destroyers as an opening act.

So if you are having trouble “feelin alright” check out this classic from Joe Cocker!