No white singer had a voice as immersed in black soul as his. Hardly any of his colleagues landed so fast after the breakthrough so hard on the ground of the facts, but also only few fought their way back after the way by the drug and alcohol hell again so impressively to the top as Joe Cocker. His last fight, however, he could not win: On December 22, the 71-year-old Englishman died of lung cancer at his ranch in Colorado.
John Robert Cocker, born on 20 May 1944 in a suburb of the industrial town of Sheffield in central England, left school at the age of sixteen and completed an apprenticeship as a plumber, but already had a musical career in mind. Appearances as singer in the band of his brother Victor, from 1963 as frontman of Vance Arnold & The Avengers as supporting act for more famous acts like the Hollies and even at a concert of the Rolling Stones in their home town hall led to a record deal with Decca Records in 1964.
But the single with the Beatles title "I'll Cry Instead" as its A-side made little impression - in contrast to the next Lennon/McCartney cover four years later: his version of "With A Little Help From My Friends", also the title of his first album in 1969, catapulted him to the top of the British charts, his interpretation of the title at the Woodstock Festival made him a world star.
