Joe Cocker: Mad Dog with Soul (2017) - full transcript

Yeah, but I was so fortunate.

It must have been fate
or some shit,

but next-door neighbour,
there was only one woman,

she was a widow

and I used to be able
to play the gramophone.

And what I used to do
was sing in front of the mirror

with a tennis racket.

You know, we've all been there.

And when I first started,
an incredible ego.

- Pardon?
- How old were you?

About 12.



Yeah, full of shit.

Still am.

Yeah, we used to deliver
the papers all around this area.

We both worked
for the same paper shop.

But Joe had got
a slightly different round

to the one that I had.

We didn't get much money,
but it was money.

Kept us out of trouble.

Gracious me!

Early in the morning,
at weekends and stuff like that,

after the paper round
had finished

I'd go round and see Joe.

But I would come in and he'd
always be listening to music.

And his breakfast
was always two Weetabix



with a load of sugar
and milk on.

This is Joe looking
incredibly smart

with his mum and me.

And...

Then we get him
slightly more Joe-like,

looking slightly tousle-haired.

Joe and elegance always had
a bit of a dispute.

Joe in his teens
looking reflective,

looking over the cliffs.

A pal of mine, Dave Brooksbank,

said that we were gonna set up
a skiffle group.

I think we were playing
at some youth club

and Joe came up and joined us
on one of the numbers.

And Joe was only, I think,
72 at the time, 72 and a half

he came up
and sang along with us.

I'd really got no idea
up to that point

that he'd got a good voice.

Being an older brother,

you didn't necessarily look
for that sort of talent

in your younger brother.

This is a rare photograph of Joe
in his swimming trunks.

And there he is
showing off his tummy

to great effect.

He used to get on great
with everybody, Joe.

And he was the life and the soul
of the party.

Everybody wanted
to be around him.

He'd got kind of a following.

Wherever he went, he would
create a kind of a party.

He had a little
transistor radio and

I remember one night he said,
"listen to this,"

because he'd been waiting
for it to come on.

He always used to have it
to his ear like this.

And it was "what'd I say"
by ray Charles.

It was a bad reception,

but just the voice suddenly
did something to me.

Everyone disowned me

because I became so obsessed
with listening to the man.

I was singing at nights
and working in the daytime.

Everybody was expecting me
to get a job. My folks did

I didn't know
what the hell I wanted to do.

And this gas fitting thing
came along when I was only 76.

I took this apprenticeship up.

I was a gas fitter

I was like a plumber, only
you're fitting gas appliances.

But the singing bit was always
the strong thing in my head.

But every night, we used to
go out and sing in these pubs.

I can't remember definitely.
You're going back a year or two.

But, I mean, it would have
probably come from Joe,

the inspiration
to kind of get a band together.

My mother, god bless her,

she bought me a guitar
called a "Lucky 7"

which was
a completely white guitar.

Joe used to play a snare drum

and his parents were fine about
us kind of using the back room

to kind of rehearse.

I first learned
how to bend a string

in that room down there
to the right.

I remember that vividly.

"Oh, that's how you do it!"

So, yes, this is where
it all started for Joe, yeah.

I was in a band

and we were playing
at the Locarno in Sheffield

and one night Joe appeared

in the audience
and he came up to me

and he said,
"would you join my band?"

It was like a rival band.

And he was doing blues
and all the good stuff

that I would like to do.

And so I said,
"yeah, I'd love to join you."

He was sort of scruffy.

He didn't really care
about how he looked

he had massive curly hair,

really scruffy-looking,
but I just liked him

because he was a genuine guy.
He was a real guy.

It was strange that
our paths had never crossed

all those years we had lived
in the same town, until 7967

when we both could feel
the twilight.

If we didn't do something fast,
we were going to get lost.

That's when we started
writing songs together.

It was an instrumental
that I'd done at home

on my little tape recorder
in the front room

and it developed from there.

For percussion I had
a brass fruit bowl

of my mum's
which I was bashing on.

My mother was upstairs
in the bedroom,

knocking on the floor
for me to shut up.

It was like two in the morning.

I played it for Joe
and he loved the sound of it.

And about three days later
he came back

and he'd written words to it.

Denny was particularly good
at picking musicians and songs.

I don't think
I ever heard him come up

with a musical idea as such.

I mean, I never heard him
give anybody a part.

I don't think
he could whistle a tune.

But he provided a really,
really creative atmosphere

in the studio
and was a really good producer.

It was awesome for me, really,
this big Olympic studio.

And all this equipment
and fabulous desks and stuff

and Glyn Johns was,
of course, a total genius.

The one thing I remember more
than anything is Chris Stainton

coming in the control room
at the beginning of the session

and saying to me,

"I have a way that I want you
to record my piano,"

which didn't go down very well
with me.

I don't normally like a musician
telling me how to record.

I didn't know who he was
at that point.

He was quite amused by me,
I think.

I told him where to put
the microphone on the piano.

I said, "if you stick it round
the back, it'll sound great."

"If that's what he wants,
I'll do it."

Actually, it was very effective,

so my hat was tipped
to him immediately.

He's not exactly an Adonis, Joe.

He wasn't sort of pop star
material, really,

but I thought his voice
was extraordinary,

which is why I thought
we had a hit.

They put it out as a single,
I think.

I think it actually got
to number 43 or something.

I used to listen to others,
like the Beatles or the stones

and feel he could do
as well if not better.

All it needed was just some sort
of breakthrough, really,

that was gonna get him
to the public attention.

We were doing gigs in London

and at some point Joe said

he wanted to do
"a little help from my friends",

but not like the Beatles.

For some odd reason,

I thought of "little help
from my friends"

and I was sat on the outside
toilet in Tasker road

with my pants down at my knees.

I don't know why that should
have given me any inspiration.

He liked the six-eights of...

Sort of beat.

A lot of Aretha's records
had that.

I said "why don't you do
a Ray Charles scream?"

I got invited round
to Apple, right?

And George was there.

I think they were just finishing
'Abbey Road', right?

And George sort of played me
something.

And I said
"OK, I'll have that."

Then Paul McCartney drifted in

and he said
"you can have this one."

We'd had this number one record
with "little help" in England

I remember Dee Anthony came
to see us in London in this club

and said "you want
to come to America, guys?

I'll pay you $2,000 a week"

you know, or $2,000 a night.

You can imagine from Sheffield
England to suddenly hear this

and we were thinking, "my god!"

You know, because we always
wanted to go to the states.

We didn't really have any sort
of influence on America

until "little help
from my friends"

which was a hit,
so all of a sudden we were...

We were over there.

We were making money.
We were top of the world.

We were playing to bigger and
bigger audiences across America.

And we were
like schoolkids thinking

the bubble's gonna burst
at any moment.

And there were groupies
throwing themselves at us

and all this stuff.

I ran out and I got the album.

I said, this guy's gotta be
pretty good

if all these people are playing
on this recording.

Jimmy page was on the album.

Steve Winwood was on the album.

They had some
of the best musicians in Britain

on that first album.

We were all curious.
"who's this guy Joe Cocker?"

It was just a brilliant record.

And it was met with great
feeling from the radio people...

That I respected and...

I knew we were on
to something really big.

He was one of the most
articulate people I'd ever met

for just a schoolboy education.

He was charming,
absolutely charming.

He was looking forward
to his career.

He was into the business
and it was just very exciting.

When I booked Joe,
I hadn't seen him perform

and the first time I heard him

I think Denny Cordell had
sent a tape of Joe.

And when I first listened to it,
I thought it was amazing.

I thought he was black.

I thought it was some sort
of black blues singer.

We had to go in by helicopter.

But I threw up
out of the helicopter

because I'd taken some LSD,
I'd taken some acid.

Everybody was taking everything
in those days,

so I'd taken some acid
and it was a bit heavy.

And I don't know
how the hell I managed to play.

I was at Woodstock.

One of the people I was there
to see was Joe Cocker.

It's startling
how strong his voice was.

It was shocking.

He was like a skinny English guy
with scraggly hair.

Kind of making funny moves
with his hands.

He was basically playing
air guitar

before there was air guitar.

And clearly
it was an instrument.

It was part of the way
he produced what he did.

He was kind of shaking
and contorting.

The clenched fist and kind of
the body movements said to me

this guy is at the heart
of what he sings.

This is not some shtick.

This is really the way he is.
Wow!

Right from the beginning,
he was always like that.

He was always like 150%.

He used to go totally frantic
every time

and put his whole life into it.

I don't know how he managed
to maintain such intensity.

That Woodstock moment was
the real breakthrough

in terms of creating his image.

Somehow everybody got it.

They saw what he was about,
really.

There's three things
I remember about 1969.

Woodstock.

The Led Zeppelin album came out
and the Joe Cocker album.

And that's how I sum up 1969.

It seemed to be a fairly
common opinion at the time

that Joe was the number one male
artist in the United States.

He was massive, absolutely huge.

His manager Dee Anthony
had booked an extensive tour

in the United States

and Joe had just come off
of a tour in England

and I know he felt like
he was going to be able

to just kick back
and get some rest.

It was five, six days
before the tour started

and Dee Anthony said, "no.

This is not a time to rest.

If you don't do these dates,
you'll never work

in the United States again."

I could imagine Dee
saying that too, but

I wasn't privy to that,
but all I know is that

everybody was in lockstep

to make this tour
as successful as it could be.

He was saying people's legs
are gonna get broken.

"These contracts are signed,
the venues are booked.

The tickets are sold.
You have to do this.

And if you don't..."

The implied part of that

was that somebody
was gonna hurt Joe.

This is his manager
talking to him,

the guy that's supposed
to be helping him

and building his career.

Maybe Dee was just stating
what he felt might happen.

But to me it wasn't coming
from a warm and fuzzy place.

- What are we circling about?
- I can feel energy in the room.

- I can feel it.
- We're circling before we land.

- Yeah, that's space for you.
- A spaceship.

I met Joe the day that
he came in to record with Leon.

I think he was recording
"Delta Lady"

and I met him that day
and just fell in love with him

because his presence, everything
about Joe was so gentle

and sweet.

Leon came on board and said,
"I'll put the band together,

I'll do the arrangements.
The tour will go forward,

but I have to make
all the decisions."

And at that time
I think Joe felt like

that was not such a bad thing
because he really was exhausted.

So we found ourselves
with Leon Russell

and I'd already sort of
worshipped him from afar

because of all
that gospel stuff.

And I thought, "bloody hell!

That's how a piano
should be played."

Leon said "I'll come out
with you on the condition

I put the rest
of the band together."

And in the space of half an hour

he's got about another
40 musicians lined up.

I was just totally overwhelmed
by how good they all were.

They were brilliant, all of 'em.

I felt not as good as them.

I felt like, "oh..."

Before the tour Joe said, "do we
really need four drummers?"

And Leon said, "well,
which three are you gonna fire?"

I knew it was important
for the label

to be able to mount
something like this

because this was getting the
attention of all the big labels.

And I knew
if we didn't back it up,

it would look as if we weren't
really supporting this artist.

Jerry Moss said this is
something that's different

from anything
that's ever happened

and we've got to film this,

then they start pulling in
the film crew.

Suddenly, instead of 25 people,
there are 50 people

and it just kept growing up to
the minute we got on the plane.

"Mad Dogs & Englishmen", that
was a great title for the tour.

You walk in expecting a circus
and that's exactly what it was,

even complete with a ringmaster
with a top hat on.

Leon Russell

and I had not run into
such a bizarre scenario before

in terms of just the number
of people involved.

I forget how many of us...

There were like 40 people
on stage at times.

But it was the fact when
something becomes so communal,

you're all getting into
the spirit of things, you know

I mean, for me,
it was really Leon's band.

Even Joe looked a bit lost
sometimes on it.

Leon was just simply
a superb showman

and a natural leader.

The main musical arranger,
producer, director,

choreographer, whatever
you might say about him.

The only time
that Joe really fit in

was when he walked
to the centre of the stage

and commanded that stage

because he had such raw,
incredible, god-given talent.

I don't think
that he really realised

that everything was gonna be
out of his control,

that he simply was the guy

that walked to the centre
of the stage and sang the songs.

I think Leon tried to upstage
him a lot of the time,

but he didn't.

He never could

There were always people
clamouring to get to Joe

for whatever reasons.

Let's go.

And he just always had
that little...

"Heh-heh." that little laugh
and that little smile of his.

And his eyes would roll back
in his head

and he just didn't know
what the heck was going on.

"How do I get out of here?
Where's the door?"

There was too many drugs
going around

it was horrible, really.

And it wrecked Joe, you know

nobody was looking
after him at all.

It was just like,
"oh, have this.

Go on, Joe. Good old Joe."

Nobody seemed to care
what happened to him.

It caused me
to have an understanding

of what is the record label's
responsibility here.

Our responsibility basically was
to put out a good record.

But we couldn't manage him

and I remember Bill Anthony
saying to Dee

who was upset over something
Joe had done on the west coast.

Bill was supposed to be on him.

Bill would say to me, "I can't
be with him 24 hours a day.

That's impossible.

How could any manager do that?

I'd have to sleep with the guy.
And I'd rather not do that."

It started out
all peace and love

and by the end of the tour
it was like...

Everybody was at each other's
throats. It was terrible.

It was an experience.
It was something else.

You know, we all thought
we were off to Venus

or heading for outer space,
the next stop after that.

And of course
it didn't evolve that way.

I ended up in a heap
in Los Angeles,

just very disillusioned
with the whole rock business.

It didn't surprise me
that there was no money left

at the end of that tour.

When you look at the number
of people on the road

with the film crew,
the cost of the film crew,

the cost of 50 people,

there was really no way

that anybody could have come
out of that with money.

Leon didn't come out with money.
None of us did.

And Joe had just literally given
all of himself

and there was nothing
to show for it.

And when the tour was over,

he actually went
to Denny Cordell's house

and was staying there
for a while.

And actually sleeping
by the front door.

He didn't have a place to live.

He didn't have enough money
to even buy a guitar.

I do remember him
appearing home.

He just looked
like a wild man, really.

My mum and dad were
very worried about him.

It was quite shocking
to see him, really.

He could hardly talk, you know

he just threw out
the odd little phrase.

It was no complete sentences.

How do you regard Sheffield?

Do you still regard it as home,
a kind of place to escape

from all the pressures
you're exposed to or what?

Not really, no.

I don't believe
you can escape anywhere.

He was in a state.

He was doing heroin, acid,
all sorts of stuff.

Yeah, he was not
in a good state.

That tour left a scar on him.

Originally, he was articulate
and funny and warm

and appreciated the work
that everybody did for him.

He was friendly
with people at A&M

and people liked him and
loved him and wanted to help.

But after that tour,
he was a little less agreeable.

He'd rather become
a bit of a commodity, really.

He was just expected to be
the singer with this band

There was a kind
of innocence about him

which never went away.

He came from Sheffield

and was just thrown
into stardom literally.

And I think
that he never really adjusted

to the clamour and the noise
and the adoration.

I think it's one reason
that he took drugs.

Any time
anyone would hand him anything,

he would put it in his mouth.

Not to be deprecating,

but Joe would get high
with high school kids.

If they were playing a date
somewhere, he'd go out the back

and there were fans waiting
and he'd sit and talk to them.

He was a man of the people
for sure,

but he did have this liking
of the stuff you know

walking to the stage,

if somebody handed him a pill,
it went right in his mouth.

He never looked at it.

I don't know how he performed
and never missed a lyric,

never missed a note.

I said, "Joe, how do you do it?"

He said, "the only difference

in one tab of acid
and 11 tabs of acid

is the pain
in the back of my neck."

Joe had been
in a very high profile

during that tour,
before that tour,

then after that tour, he just
kind of dropped off the map.

We always wondered
"what happened to Joe?

Where's Joe Cocker?"

And the music business
being what it is,

people tend
to just write it off to,

"he dropped off the charts
and that's the end of that."

What happens now to Joe Cocker?
What are you going to do now?

I'm still not that sure.
I'm just gonna...

Rock on in one way or another.

Jim price had run into Joe

and he wanted to produce
the next record with Joe.

I was happy to have any kind
of record and I said, "great."

Here's a song,

a little taster from Jim Webb,
Jimmy Webb.

Somewhere out of the blue
came this call from Jim price,

saying, "Joe Cocker wants
to do this song."

I never missed a beat
because I thought,

"of course, he's the guy
to sing this song."

One night,
Jim price called me and he said

"I'd like you to come down to
the studio and meet Joe Cocker."

And I said
"wow, I'd love to do that."

And Jim price greeted me
at the door

and it seemed like the studio
was almost deserted.

I walked towards the back
and he said,

"well, yeah, Joe's been
very, very excited to meet you."

And he took the control room
door and flung it open

and said, "ladies and gentlemen,
meet Joe Cocker."

And there were these two legs
sticking out

from under the console

with these size 15, like,
brogans, work shoes.

And he was sleeping very soundly
under the desk.

However he spent his time,
it was not getting sleep

and getting up in the morning

to understand that he was going
to work, to say the least

we couldn't help it.

All we wanted to do was make
as good a record as we could.

I don't want to rub salt
in the wound, but Joe was...

You know, he was wild.

He was showing up at odd hours.

Sometimes he was able
to perform.

Sometimes he wasn't able
to perform.

And in some crazy way,
it's all on the record

it was like splicing a tape,

one take from another take
and how we assembled the record.

And Joe approved it,
but that's what it took

to get the best out of him
at that time

because he was a bit addled.

He was like a big Teddy bear.

He was all frowzy and his hair
was going in all directions.

He radiated nothing but
goodwill and sweetness to me.

After we did the album,

Jim said
"how about doing a showcase?"

It had been two, almost three
years since I'd been on a stage.

It's not so great
to remember this one,

but it was at the Roxy,
you know,

and this was put together just
to present Joe to everybody,

to prove that he was back.

And night before that weekend
a friend of Joe's showed up

who we know he used
to get drunk with

and we tried to get this guy to
go to palm Springs or something.

We offered him a free weekend
in palm Springs

and he said, "no, I want
to be with Joe."

And Joe showed up for that show
not prepared to perform.

It was kind of a rough concert

because I remember going out
on stage

and he's in the middle
of the stage

and he's weaving slightly
and I'd go...

And Joe doesn't sing.
He doesn't do anything.

He's just kind of like...

I'll tell the whole truth here.

He had a bottle
of Napoleon Brandy in his hand.

And the place was packed.

And so he didn't sing,
so I went...

And he didn't sing again.

The evening ended

with him kind of sitting down
in the middle of the stage

and the show was over.

He ended up on the stage
in a sort of foetal position.

People were crying
and feeling for him.

Some very famous people.
I don't want to mention names.

But it was a colossal failure,
this show.

I asked the curtains to be
closed and just forget about it.

Everybody sort of drifted
into the night.

And Jim price came up
and announced,

"I don't know what you guys are
doing, but I'm going fishing."

I think he did because he
disappeared for about two years.

He had really destroyed himself
in the eyes of the industry.

With the entire business there,
to see him come back.

It was just an unbelievably
tragic period for him.

I was on my way to an airport
with Billy Joel

and "you are so beautiful"
came on the radio.

Billy said, "how many times
do they count this guy out?

He keeps getting up."

I remember thinking to myself,
"he's like a cockroach.

Joe Cocker-oach."

I didn't mean it in a mean way.
I meant like you can't kill it.

I didn't know where he was.

I never heard from him
for years.

I was driving along
in my little car, broke.

And all of a sudden,
on the radio comes

"you are so beautiful".

And I burst into tears.

It was fantastic.

And there was this magic note
at the end of the song

where he goes,
"you are so beautiful to me!"

He can barely hit the note,
but he hit it in a way

that just defined everything
he had gone through.

Thank you very much.

Well, it was weird.

I went through this phase.

I was sick on stage
just about every night.

- Every date we did.
- Yeah.

It was a bit embarrassing.

I had to leave
in the middle of the song,

go round the back of the stage,
bring it up and back out again.

I felt comfortable enough

to probe about, "why were you
getting sick at your shows?

Why are you getting this press

that is saying that Joe's career
is pretty much over,

that he is a pathetic mess,
that he is wasted

that he is ripping off the fans
by not doing a show

or not being in condition
to do a song properly?

And you have to respond to that

because you are charging people
money to see you perform.

Not to see you plastered
and unable to work."

He had been painted
broad-brushed with this image

of being this unreliable,
drunken, drugged-up,

washed-up performer.

Jerry moss was saying to get you
back on the road at first

was more or less
a hard thing to do

after such a long period
of being off.

He got these worries that I was
turning into an alcoholic.

And he asked me to go into
this hospital to get a check-up.

And the doctor wouldn't
let me out for three days.

Nothing wrong with me.

He came to my home
here in San Francisco

and he showed up by himself

carrying a six-pack
of Heineken beer

and proceeded
to sit and drink and talk.

And this was
before his engagement

that evening at the night club.

And that just knocked me out.

That of course opened up
the question of...

You're enjoying quite a
few beers before showtime, huh?"

"Well, it keeps my whistle wet.

That's basically it.
It's just a professional tool."

"All right, fine, Joe,
you're the performer, not me."

People are reading a lot
into the new album,

saying that you chose these
songs, they're confessional

and self-exposing.
That kind of thing.

Did you feel that yourself?

If I'd written the songs,
I could see it that way.

But the fact that it was
other people's material,

I can't read it like that.

I got a call from Michael
Rosenfeid his attorney,

who said "Joe really needs
help, he needs a manager.

He needs someone who will care
about him. Are you interested?"

And I remember the first time
I went to his house.

It was in Hollywood.

And...

There were 20 people
living in his house.

And he'd be drunk
under the piano.

He was completely out of it
and paying for everything

and not having really an income.

People were encouraging
his drinking and his drugging.

I knew my first mission was
to get him out of that.

I'd go to that place,
got a bit scary, Nichols canyon.

You'd end up knowing about nine
or ten dealers in no time

with it being so close
to Hollywood

these cats would come round

"do you mind if we use your piano?"
You know, they'd be rehearsing.

So it got ridiculous, you know

while I was away,

they learnt how to take
the window out and everything.

- Oh, no.
- Just go in.

I remember coming down one day

and they were all sat
in the living room.

I thought, "oh, oh,
this is getting a bit weird"

had he continued I can't see him

living for much longer
at that pace.

Cos the amount of drinking and,
I'm sure, drugs was huge.

Good night!

I thought a fresh start
would be good

and I talked to Jerry about it
and just told him that, really.

He needed to get out
from under all this debt and

Jerry agreed and said,
"go. Do it. Good luck."

Well, I said,
"you're a brave man, you know.

We've had a lot of ups and downs
with Joe.

At his best, he's unbelievable,
you know,

but to get him there
is a difficult road, you know."

And I felt very strongly about
Joe as a talent

I'd gotten to know him over
the years and I believed in him,

but Mike said and I agreed that
he needed to go somewhere else.

In thinking about putting
a band together for him,

to start working again,

I didn't want to get
a bunch of rock'n'rollers

who were out there
in the rock'n'roll world.

So I found this band in Boston
called American Standard Band

they were good musicians,
solid kids. They were straight.

They didn't drink.
They didn't do drugs. Nothing.

I remember clear as day
that we were playing at a club

in Worcester called
the last chance saloon.

And I'd seen Woodstock
a few days before.

And in walks Michael Lang.

And I said,
"yeah, I know that guy."

I brought Joe up there
to meet them and that went...

You know, he was a little
out of it, but it went OK.

They determined
they wanted a younger group

without any baggage, I think.

Again there was always
this elephant in the room,

try to not have
Joe be around people

that were gonna drag him down.

The plan went awry
rather quickly

because they augmented the band

with Bobby keys
and Nicky Hopkins

who were coming right out
of the rolling stones.

So now Joe had playmates.

Welcome to Australia
for a start.

Thank you, Ian.

What does it feel like
to be back in a band

like Joe Cocker's band?

Well, it was a compromise.

I knew that I needed
the basis of the band

to be straight, upright,
some what innocent.

But I also knew that for Joe
and for the world at large

to put him in the right frame

that you needed some
heavyweight people with him,

that he'd feel comfortable with,

that he wouldn't feel like he
was going back to high school.

And to a degree, you know,
it worked pretty well.

I mean, you know,
if it had been a bunch of

Nickys and Bobbys
in the rest of the band,

it would have been
a complete disaster.

And I don't think Joe
would have been able

to relate to just the band
on their own.

You know, he needed guys
to hang with.

Hello! Hello, Mabel!

We made a deal

that if he was ever drunk
before a show,

I was gonna cancel the show.

We found out rather quickly,

and certainly I found
over the years,

the last thing you'd tell Joe

is not to do something.

Joe was a guy
that there was no stop

and if he wanted to drink,
he was gonna drink.

If he was gonna do drugs,
he was gonna do drugs.

And if anybody said no to him,
he did more.

Joe never copped an attitude,
never once was the diva.

He wasn't that way.
We were all in it together.

Charming, charming guy.

We used to talk about the fact

that our nine or 72 square feet
on stage was sacred

you can fool with us out there.

Not here.

He was pretty strong
and his voice was coming back.

And the shows were pretty good

not that the drinking
was in hand

but it was certainly
in hand enough,

so that he was a stronger person

and could deliver a better show

I had taped the shows and
I was able to make a record deal

based on those tapes.

When I first moved
to Santa Barbara,

I rented a house
from Jane Fonda.

He didn't have all that great
a reputation at the time!

In fact,
there was a lawsuit against him

for a house that he had been
staying in in Malibu

that got trashed totally trashed

but you know,
I was a fan of Joe's and

I just really wanted to meet him
and so I really pushed for it

and I was the one speaking
with his management at the time

and I said, "well, maybe
if he put up a really large

security deposit,
we could work something out."

He was just very dear.

He was really, really,
very sweet, a really nice man,

and over the course
of the next six months or so

we just became better friends
and started going out to dinner,

and yeah, dating a little bit,

but then he'd be off
and he'd be gone

for six, eight, ten weeks
while he was on the road.

Then he'd come back and we'd
start to see each other again.

So it went on like that
for quite a few years, actually.

The first time we ever met her,

I was just totally surprised
at the sort of person she was.

You know, so organised
and together,

compared to a lot of the people
he'd been with.

I'd never quite seen Joe ever
having that sort of partner,

but it was what he needed

and it was partly, I guess,
the English upbringing,

but he would always introduce me
as his "old lady".

And I just hated that,
as you can imagine.

And I said, "you know,

call me your partner,
call me your significant."

Anything! And so it ended up
he started doing it

just more as a joke to make me
mad than anything else,

but I'll never forget
when he did ask me to marry him.

We were down in Australia
and he goes, "I guess

I'll have to marry you if
I can't call you my old lady."

So, he says,
"then I can call you my wife."

And that was really sweet.

After a number of years,
he was back as a person

and getting his confidence back

and it was like watching someone
come back to life, frankly,

someone who you kind of knew
was heading the other way.

When you go on tour,
is it only hard work?

- No, no...
- Or is it fun?

We do have a lot of fun.
That's the danger.

You can have too much fun.

A lot of musicians...

We look at singers like,
"they're just yelling in key."

Joe had an instrument in there
and we appreciated it,

we understood it, we got it.

Wow, nobody sounds like that.

For me, it was just pure soul,
whatever that means, you know.

Pure heart. I don't think
he could sing any other way.

Somebody described him
as "the original man",

which was the man...

This is how the average bloke

would like to sound after he'd
had three or four pints, yes.

To me, he was
like a jazz singer, really.

He literally got inside

the piece of music
he was performing

and it sort of took him over.

The actual voice just has
something in it.

I mean, if it wasn't
indefinable,

then everybody else would be
able to do it, I suppose.

Let's go back to number 25
with a song

which is destined
to be number one,

being sung live by a gentleman

who hasn't been on
"top of the pops" for 15 years.

Welcome back to Joe Cocker
with Jennifer Warnes.

I got a call about a film called
"An Officer and a Gentleman".

And they wanted Joe
to do a title song.

We were on tour and
Joe wasn't that excited about

stopping the tour
to go and record.

Actually, he hated it
when he was asked to do it.

He thought at the time, he
wondered whether it was right.

Finally they found a space
and got him

slipped him right into
the studio one day

and just, you know,
"Joe, we're here, we're going."

The first time I heard it,

he sort of pulled it out
of a bag and put it on.

It was immediately clear
to me that it was a hit.

And he just sort of nodded.
I think he knew it was as well.

One thing we can do right here,

we're going to solo up Joe

and hear how he started
the song.

This is the ad lib.

You hear a little squeaking
in his voice. Hear that.

We'd always sort of been looking
for a ray song to do.

I think it was Charlie and I
were on an airplane going to la

when it struck me,
"unchain my heart".

Perfect for him.

I have to give
Michael Lang credit.

I would like to take credit,

you know, because we are
in show business

and you're supposed to take
the credit whenever you can.

Well, Ray's been called
a genius.

That word's been slung around
a lot.

I mean, you know,
he's a god to me,

but, I mean,
a genius he certainly is.

Always hitting at me, "don't you
think he sounds like you?"

And I say, "well, if he does,

he's the best replica
in the whole world."

- And I mean that.
- God bless you for it.

You know, they were definitely
soul brothers.

Ray said, "this kid's been
sleeping with my albums."

It was true! He had been.

You know, he would always
go back to ray Charles,

he'd go back to Aretha,
back to Donny Hathaway.

You know and study those guys.

He loved the blues and
that's all he would listen to.

He had a big voice and
he had instincts for the blues

that were impeccable.

- Yeah, baby.
- He's always got...

I always wanted to sing
like ray Charles.

That was my guy.
I thought he had the best voice.

A lot of other people thought
the same thing,

they thought ray Charles
was the best singer.

And we were all trying to sound
like ray Charles.

The only guy who even got close
was Joe Cocker.

"Some fella."

Watching Joe in the studio
was like watching a concert.

It was the same movement,
just like he was on stage.

And he would just sing
with every ounce

of sweat and blood
and whatever else he had.

Joe could do an album

of all songs that have been done
by other people

and it could be a great album

because when he sings a song
and the song's arranged for him,

it takes a different turn.
It takes on a life of its own.

It's an honour when someone
of that quality does your stuff.

There aren't many people
of that quality, really.

No, really. That have some
emotional impact every time out.

There are very few singers

who have made it by covering
other people's material

and therefore that has to take

a particularly
extraordinary talent, really.

And Joe certainly is
at the forefront of that.

I started thinking of
a 20th anniversary for Woodstock

and what I'd sort of
come up with was

this idea of doing a show
at the Berlin wall.

Actually, over the Berlin wall.

There had been concerts
at the Reichstagsgelande,

which was a big building just on
the western side of the wall.

Michael Jackson, a lot
of big acts were playing it,

but kids on the eastern side of
the wall were close to rioting,

you know, just to hear
the music.

The army built the site
in east Berlin.

An hour before the show, there
was nobody in the audience.

An hour later, a couple
of hundred thousand kids there.

Thank you, Joe!

Greetings, Joe Cocker

after that, Joe was
well-established in Germany

and they did embrace him.

And it was the cornerstone
of Joe's European success.

Joe, you know,
he gave everything

for that two hours on stage.

It didn't matter if there was
ten people or there was 76, 000.

Joe would just come alive
on the stage.

In fact, he would go
into a trance on the stage.

Once he was on stage,
he was another person.

I'd be at the side of the stage

and Joe would come off twice
during the show.

And it was my chance to say,
"Joe, how's the lights?

The mics? Everything good?

Is the bass too loud?
The drummer..."

We would go through that.
And Joe would be in a trance.

He would just turn around
and go right back out there

towel himself off
and go back out.

It was a big awakening to me
of what this job entailed

because it entailed
looking after Joe and I had

some idea
of what that may have been,

but it definitely was
an eye-opener for me.

It was up to me
to keep Joe in line,

to know where he was,
to make sure he was eating,

just everything about him.

You know, as Pam would say,

"his other wife."

Cos when we were gone, she'd
say, "you've got him now, ray."

You know those nights
when you can't face the world?

And someone wakes you up
and says,

"Joe, you're on stage
in five minutes."

Thank god I got some friends.

We were somewhere in Europe
and..

I think Michael added
some extra dates in,

moved things around
and Joe didn't want to do it.

And he...
He'd really had enough.

And he just decided to make
a move after that tour was done

and change management.

I got a letter.

From a lawyer.

That was it.

I would have expected him
to have been the one

to pick up the phone
and say something,

but once it was done
I think he just went on.

I have to give
Michael Lang credit

because he was responsible

for Joe being alive
at that time.

I mean, Michael was the man.

I loved him as an artist
and as a person.

It certainly went
beyond business, I'd say.

You don't go through the things
that we went through

for all those years
just as a business.

But I have no regrets.

When he left Michael Lang, he
never talked to Michael again.

And I saw that with band members

and with other people
that were close to Joe.

Once he closed the door,
that was it.

He could be very emotional
about certain things

and other times he could be very
cold about things.

Especially relationships.

So it was hard
to really know him.

To really know him.
Know his heart.

So here we are with Roger

and Roger had been
with Tina Turner now

and had brought her
from almost obscurity

back into view of the world
basically,

as an international artist.

So we followed in that track.

You know, we cleaned..
I say cleaned Joe up.

We dressed him now
with more flashy clothes

and we had more production.

And it brought everything
up another level,

which supported Joe
into finding his way

to being
this international artist.

Today

We, literally, were on the road

doing 170 shows maybe a year.

Really pumping it.

The 90's were when he was
just touring almost non-stop.

And we had moved here
to Colorado

by that time in '94.

But it was never more than,
I'd say, four or five weeks

that either
he didn't get to come home

or I went to visit him.

But that's how it was
our entire marriage,

our entire 38 years
that we were together.

Joe just was really crazy
about it.

He just loved it here
in Colorado.

And loved the hiking.

And we got our first dog,

which was very important
for Joe.

He got into gardening.
That became such a passion!

It was the isolation,
it was the fact that he could

walk out this door
and walk into those mountains.

He could walk for days
and never see another soul.

And when he did see people,

he was just a neighbour,
he was just Joe.

He could just totally forget

that he was even involved in the
music business when he was here.

Joe was still drinking.

He was drinking a lot.

And..

It was really difficult
for everybody involved

because the shows were good,

and some weren't so good.

He would be drinking on stage
while performing and

he would go through seven, eight
beers at the time on stage.

I remember guys running out as
soon as Joe's cup was empty.

One of the roadies would run out
to fill the cup with beer again.

And between the lights,
the stress, the heat,

Joe would get sick all the time.

He'd suddenly disappear
in the middle of a song

and run round the back

and some guy had a bucket
for him, ready to throw up in.

And we would gauge the show
by how many buckets,

meaning how many times
did Joe throw up

and the crew had to clean it up.

Then after the show,
we'd go out to eat

and he'd start the drinking.

I'd be in a restaurant with him

and he'd down a bottle
before the food came.

Then he'd get another bottle
of Bacardi and start on that.

There were times that
we'd have to keep an eye on him,

every minute.

I would have to have
a key to his room.

It was frightening at times.

You know, I never knew

what I was going to find
when I walked in that room.

And sometimes it was really bad.

It was rare when Joe drank
to excess here,

when he was home.

He knew I didn't like it
for one thing

and, you know,
the pressure was off.

But when he started gearing up
for another tour

or working on a new album

and the pressure
would start to build

then he would tend
to drink more.

He had the demons, you know

Joe had the demons that would
come out every now and then.

And he would get dark and
wouldn't come out of his room

or would prefer to just be
by himself and just walk

or just wander, I should say.

You know, we always thought
maybe you should go to AA,

see a psychiatrist.

You know, some help.

But Joe was totally against
any of that.

He says, "no, I can control it
myself I can do it."

We'd come back here
and he'd be fine

and then it was just like, well,

he's just a social drinker
when he's here.

He never really takes it
to extremes.

So then you'd forget about it,
until the next situation.

We had a party here.
It was the first of march.

And we were getting ready
to go on tour

and, for some reason, Joe
started drinking that afternoon.

And was drinking and drinking
and drinking.

By the time the guests arrived
around six o'clock,

he was already
pretty well drunk.

Before we even sat down
for dinner,

I had to help him upstairs
to bed.

Pam sort of gave Joe
an ultimatum.

You know, "either you shape up
or it's over."

And Joe shaped up.

He called me and said, "I'm
gonna quit drinking this week,

so don't schedule anything.
I wanna try this."

I spent about a year
in disbelief,

thinking
this is not going to last.

And then I think I spent
the second year

being really mad at him.

Not mad that he wasn't drinking,

but mad that he could do it
so easily.

Why hadn't that happened
15 years before?

And then I finally realised
"no, he's serious.

This is it. This is the new
Joe. This is our new life.

This is our new relationship."
and I just was so thankful.

Joe realised after he had
stopped drinking for a while,

and Roger was really
instrumental in showing Joe,

"Joe, if you pull this together,

you can be a major
international artist"

and he also realised

that, "I can sing 'little help'
every night."

That was always an indicator,
"a little help",

because of the scream
at the end.

I think that was a factor
in Joe's sobriety.

When Joe realised
he couldn't hit the high note,

the scream,
that he had to do something.

What they wanted Joe to perform
was "A Little Help".

Which Joe would never perform
outside of a stage performance,

meaning it took Joe 19 songs
to warm up

in order to hit the scream
at the end of it.

What changed Joe's mind was
the queen! As simple as that.

"It's my queen.
I'm gonna do it."

Joe's adrenaline was working
and I think that did it for him.

Joe was so proud
to be a part of it.

With all his peers.

Between Clapton, McCartney,
Paul, sir Paul and Phil Collins.

Just everybody was there.

You know, Joe was very pleased

and felt like he still had
his heart in England

Here in Colorado, our neighbours

and people that became
our friends

certainly knew his history,

but they weren't obsessed by it.

It didn't matter to them at all.

It mattered
that we were good neighbours,

that we were
part of the community

and Joe really liked that.

He liked being part
of a community.

He liked that his friends were
the local plumber

and the electrician
and the real estate agent

and the little country lawyer.

He just loved those guys.

And it made Joe a better person
to have that kind of support.

He loved the air, he loved
the blues in the sky

he'd just go, "look at that sky.
It's just so incredible."

So I think it made him happy.
It really made him happy.

He was content with himself
and he said,

"I think I've become
a mountain man."

That was when he was most
at peace,

walking the trails
with his dogs.

He was on the road and he'd been
playing for seven nights.

And he came in
on the eighth day.

It's kind of biblical!

He came in on the eighth day

and recorded "The Moon's
a Harsh Mistress" with us.

His voice reminded me of

a civil war battle flag.

You know, it's still intact,
it's completely intact,

but it's been shot at
and it's got some torn bits

at the edges
that are sort of streaming off.

It was like a voice
that had been through a war.

This voice has fought
the good fight.

This voice has never given up

and it's not giving up
today either, you know

I kept thanking him
over and over for coming in.

I kept hugging him
and hugging him.

You know,
I didn't want to let him go.

We did a wonderful show
in Cologne.

And it just was spectacular.

Everything went off
exactly as we wanted it.

It looked fabulous,
Joe sang well.

76,000-plus there that night.

But as this happened
Joe was starting

to feel pains in his sides.

He would come off the stage.
"Ray, my sides are killing me.

I can't catch my breath."

He made it through the tour.

As heroic as he can be.

And bull-headed.
He just fought it.

Good night, Germany!

We love you! Keep on rocking!

Everywhere!

He came home on September 8th

he just looked awful.

And he was completely exhausted.

I'd never seen Joe
that exhausted.

This was a Sunday.
Pam takes Joe in on Tuesday.

By Friday,
he's diagnosed with stage four

small cell lung cancer.

I don't know
that I would have...

Been able to be
as strong as he was.

He didn't complain.
He never complained.

He never said, "oh, why me?
Why is this happening to me?"

In fact,
he was almost kind of like,

"well, considering my background
and my history

and smoking for all those years

and drinking
for all those years,

why not me?"

We just kept it quiet.

The word was that Joe has just
taken an extended vacation.

But we were trying
to have Joe be nominated

for the rock and roll
hall of fame.

With all of Roger's power, all
the label power lobbying them.

We had signatures from fans
around the world.

This is dated September 10th,
2014.

To members of the rock and roll
hall of fame committee.

"As a member of the rock and
roll hall of fame since 1999,

it has been one
of my fondest hopes

to see Joe Cocker inducted
into it as well.

When I first heard him in 1969,

I was very inspired by the sound
of his incredibly raw

and soulful vocal style.

In my opinion, no one has since
come even close to him

as one of the great, primal
rock vocalists of all time.

I hope you will consider
putting his name

on the voting ballot this year.

Sincerely, Billy Joel."

Just for his performance
at Woodstock,

he should be
in some hall of fame.

Because it was transcendent.

It was a performance
for the ages.

He isn't in the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame?

Why could that be?

I think Joe was
as big a talent as anyone

in the industry.

I think, really,
in the history of rock'n'roll,

I think his talent was unique

and certainly a match
for anyone's.

He was an interpreter.
Like Sinatra was an interpreter.

Like all the great, really great
singers were interpreters.

They did it their way.

So, hats off to Joe.

I knew that he was ill,

but I had no idea
that it was that far along.

And so it really did come as

quite the unpleasant surprise
to me.

I was watching CNN at the time

and there was just a crawl
across the bottom of the screen

that said something like,

"rock singer Joe Cocker dies."

All the accolades were very warm

and people were very kind

so it was it was very touching.

He could be difficult,
but everybody loved him.

Everybody.

Those who knew him, had
the privilege of knowing him,

know actually what
a sweet, kind man...

He was a lovely man.
He was a lovely man.

You can't really get past it.

Which I try to do,

but, no, I just accept it
that that's what happened

and I was happy
I was part of it, for sure.

We were looking forward
to our old age, you know

and doing some travelling
just on our own,

but, yeah...

That's life, you know.

You get thrown
all kinds of things, don't you?

He was born to be a star,
to be up front in a band

you know, that's him.

What else is he going to do?

Looking like that,
singing like that.

From the Blues Band and myself,
thank you all very much indeed.

See you again. Beautiful.

A big thank you to Joe Cocker!