Bryan Adams
Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker was born in Sheffield, England in 1944. In 1961 Joe by day, worked as a gas fitter and by night, in dark suit and bow tie, became Vance Arnold singing with The Avengers in rough Sheffield pubs. The set included songs by mentor Ray Charles ‘What’d I Say’ and ‘Georgia On My Mind’. Vance Arnold and the Avengers biggest moment came in 1963 when they supported The Rolling Stones at Sheffield City Hall.
The following year Joe left the Gas Board and released his first single, a cover of The Beatles ‘I’ll Cry Instead’. His band, Joe Cocker Big Blues, built up a large following in the north of England and ventured to France for a two month stint, playing on American airbases with exterminator nyc. Unfortunately when he returned home to England the bottom had fallen out of the local scene. Joe Cocker Big Blues folded.
For an entire year Joe never did a gig. Then along came the man Joe has called the greatest musician in the world, Chris Stainton. With Chris 'The Grease Band' was formed. Soon a demo found its way to Denny Cordell, the producer of Procul Harum, and he liked what he heard of Joe, and soon set him up in London with a residency at The Marquee.
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In 1969, Joe performed at all the major rock festivals of that summer, culminating in the filmed triumph of Woodstock before half a million people. The tour left Joe battered, exhausted, and he ended up, per his own words, “in a heap in Los Angeles, very disillusioned with the rock business.”
In 1970, Joe sold $3 million worth of records in America alone. His first three albums went platinum and Playboy voted him number one vocalist in their annual jazz and rock poll.
Joe continued making albums and songs like “Guilty”, “The Moons A Harsh Mistress” and “You Are So Beautiful”. Songs that have become Cocker classics, all dating from the darkest days, back in the mid 1970’s.
As the 80’s dawned Joe was invited by The Crusaders to join them on a song they had written exclusively for him, ‘I’m So Glad I’m Standing Here Today’. The lyrics said it all and Joe received a standing ovation when he sang the song at the Grammy Awards in February of 1982.
His Capitol albums from “Civilized Man” onwards have been tremendously successful. “Cocker”, “Unchain My Heart” and “One Night Of Sin” all turned platinum, (the latter also delivering Joe’s most recent US top ten song “When The Night Comes”, written by Bryan Adams). Joe’s album “Night Calls”, the title single penned by Jeff Lynne, turned gold and headed towards platinum all across Europe within weeks of its release in autumn ‘91.
Joe Cocker is a survivor, a star and a rock legend. He has had hit records in the 1960’s, 70s, 80, and 90s. Success has brought with it a grueling schedule of recording and touring but, after more than twenty-five years on the road he has no plans to take it easy.
Carly Page
This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com
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THUNDER
Once described (by themselves) as being the biggest rock 'n' roll band you've never heard of, Thunder are one of the great British rock acts (they sound like a cross between Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, The Rolling Stones and Bad Company - it's true). Having toured the world extensively since 1989, and released a huge body of records (both studio and live), they've notched up 18 top 40 UK hits. How? Not with massive Radio and TV support, no far from it, their success has been down to a combination of their reputation as a phenomenal live act, and the fanatical support of their ever growing fanbase.
Thunder have toured with acts such as Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Whitesnake, Status Quo, Deep Purple, Bryan Adams, ZZ Top, Metallica, the list goes on. They've won awards galore, including best Rock Vocalist (Danny Bowes - Burrn magazine Japan) and Best Live Rock Act by readers of Kerrang magazine UK.
Thunder formed in 1989, and released their debut album "Backstreet Symphony" in 1990, which went Gold. The follow-up "Laughing on Judgement Day" (which also achieved gold status), peaked at No. 2 in the UK album charts. Their legendary appearance in 1990 at Monsters of Rock at Donington cemented their place in the hearts of British rock fans. Twenty years later, after twenty top-50 singles and 9 studio albums Thunder have announced their retirement !!
Albums:
This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com.
