University of Virginia Library

Platter Picks

Janis Joplin was warned that if she kept it up, she would
lose her voice in five years. Unfortunately her life went first.
Joe Cocker has no doubt been given the same advice and we
are able to see the demise of his chords. Just listen to the
differences in strength between one of his stronger selections
"With a little help..." and a cut from his new album "Woman
to Woman."

Rod Stewart in a summertime edition of Rolling Stone
mentioned that he once regarded Cocker as his most respected
vocalist but Stewart went on to mention that Cocker doesn't
vocally control his groups as he did in the Mad Dogs era. This
is obvious to anyone who saw Vibrations from England on the
tube this summer.

If in 1968 I was told that in four years Cocker would be
singing in falsettos; I would have laughed. Well, listening to
the album you'll be surprised how often Cocker resorts to a
falsetto.

As far as the music is concerned its what Joe should have
been doing all along. He peaked a bit too early in his career
with the Mad Dogs album which is obviously more of a
super-session than Cocker's group.

On the Mad Dogs album Joe Cocker performed not one of
his own songs and thus gave his fans vaunted expectations for
future Cocker music. On the new album Cocker co-writes all
but three songs and has jumped back into a rhythm and blues
bag that should be more comfortable for him.

The Stainton All-stars are led superbly by Chris Stainton on
piano and organ and they now employ a trumpet and three
saxes, a change from the Russell "All-Stars" that used Bobby
Keys alone on the sax. The weakness of the Stainton group is
that they are without a good lead guitar player. Neil Hubbard
is a good guitar player but a good lead guitar player is a
different animal. There are very few riffs that he is allowed to
take (St. James infirmary is his best as well as the album's);
but usually when he is permitted to lead he plays with the
same feeling he had when his father lent him the family car for
the first time.

Overall, the album is enjoyable and although Cocker might
not be able to wail like he used to, he's still one of the most
provocative vocalists in music today. (Courtesy of WTJU, who
will present this album at 3 this afternoon.)