The Energy Of Cocker

I first landed eyes of Joe Cocker on an old episode of Saturday Night Live. He performed a Traffic cover song called Feeling Alright, one of his most popular songs. In the middle of the song he was surprised to see legendary comedian John Belushi join him on stage impersonating him, lip syncing along. Later Joe would say that Belushi did a better Joe Cocker than Joe Cocker. It was a turning point in Joe's career after he was in huge debt to A&M records. He would then embark on a huge world tour. But how can a man with such a gritty, drity, thunderous voice not become looked up to and gazed upon, alcoholism plagued Joe's life for many years. But he battled back and still performs to this day. In this video Joe plays the famous Woodstock festival, he was actually thought to be a roadie when musicians saw him backstage because of his hippie/hobo look. He did not look the part of a fantastic singer but boy did he ever perform. Theres no way you can walk out of a Joe Cocker show and be disappointed. He does do alot of cover songs but he has a nack for making those cover songs his own. Im sure many people thought Feeling Alright or With A Little Help From My Friends or The Letter were Joe Cocker songs. He has covered a humongous array of different bands such as Traffic, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Ray Charles, Leon Russell, Chuck Berry just to name a few. Every performance Joe gives it his all, the energy he releases is second to none. The movements of his body can be looked upon as abnormal but he gets really into the music, so much that the music moves him in ways that no one else can really comprehend. Hes a musician true and true, lived the life more than once and came back to punch it in the face. I am a huge Joe Cocker fan and even today you can see him at a show and lay it all on the line, he still has the voice to move you or stand you still.

Muddys Birthday

Today is the great Muddy Waters birthday. The innovator of the electric blues, up there with T Bone Walker. Muddy has done more for the blues in Chicago than any other musician there is, rival of Howlin Wolf and friend of Willie Dixon, he has exploded the careers of Johnny Winter, Little Walter, Jimmie Rogers, and James Cotton. Growing up he would go to shows and learn from the greats such as Son House, Robert Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy, etc. His career would flourish and drop from the 60s to the early 80s. Ups and downs ravished Waters but he never said die, he even taken his music to a whole new level after joining up with Johnny Winter in the 80s and releasing two great albums. Muddy passed away on April 30, 1983 but his influences are immense, millions have covered his songs from Led Zepplin, Humple Pie, Bob Dylan, Allman Brothers, Jeff Beck, Cream, Jimi Hendrex, just to name a few. Even the Rolling Stones named their band after the Muddy Waters hit of the same name. Even The Beatles reference him in their song Come Together. There's no denying Muddy's influence in not only blues but rock from 40 years ago to today. He shall never be forgotten and his great contribution to music will forever be appreciated.

First cut is the deepest

How great is vinyl? Well to me its the greatest way to enjoy any kind of music be it old or new. Record collecting has been an addiction that I've embraced for about 8 years now, with a collection of well over 2000 albums. I am constantly adding as well as enjoying the sound the needle makes as it rotates around that crisp wax until it reaches the middle. I really enjoy the snaps and crackles of old records as it adds to its history. There's nothing better to me than closing my eyes while the record is spinning and just imagining how great would it be to be there in the studio, how personal it must have been for the artist/artists to have just finished the last cut and listen to their final product, their heart and soul poured into the songs, be it pain or love or both.

In my opinion vinyl is much better sounding than a digital cd can ever sound. Don't get me wrong, I must admit that I do have a cd collection of my own, not nearly as vast as my record collection though. As it is with vinyl you can find albums that are not and will not be released on cd, same goes for cds especially newer music. For instance Neil Young (one of my favorite artists by the way) has two albums (Time fades away, Journey through the past) that he has openly announced that will never be released on cd. Why you ask? Because he has said that those albums will never sound as good digital; which I agree with on most albums.

The first thing that drew me to love vinyl is the sound. It's just untouchable and never bettered. Second is the history and collectabilty of albums. There are so many different sub versions of records; be it first pressings, colored vinyl, imports, promos, etc. These can make the same album go from being $10 to $150. There is always that chance of finding a diamond in the rough, the thrill of the search. Thirdly its the Art. You can never truly appreciate a well thought out album cover by just a tiny cd picture.

A record cover is the perfect size to pick out the details of a brilliant cover. For instance Iron Maiden's Powerslave album. Its Egyptian flavor is great but the amazing part is when you get really up close and you can pick out all the details in the pyramids (a hidden Mickey Mouse head on the bottom left hand corner above the sphinx); a stoners paradise. There are banned covers such as Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland British import that had a fold out of nude women of all shapes and sizes (which I have in my personal collection) to the Beatles infamous Yesterday and Today Butcher cover that has all four Beatles sitting and standing, smiling, with baby doll parts laid out on their body's covered in blood. Not good for publicity so it was yanked from the shelves. Then you have the great cover art of Pink Floyd, King Crimsom, Mahogany Rush, Yes, Rush, so on and so on. In my blog which I will be posting to mostly every day, I will be discussing my love of music, from my album collection to video postings to live music that I have enjoyed that day. I love a huge array of music from classic rock to blues to folk to jazz to gypsy to country to celtic to prog to punk... so I can promise you there's something for everyone in my collection. Music is my passion and I really enjoy sharing that passion with everyone I meet and now people I may never meet.