''With a Little Help from My Friends'' is the debut album by singer-songwriter Joe Cocker, released in late April 1969. It was certified gold in the US and peaked at number 35 on the ''Billboard'' 200. In the UK, the album charted in May 1972 at number 29 when it was re-released as a double pack with Cocker's second LP ''

Joe Cocker! ''Joe Cocker!'' is the second studio album by English singer Joe Cocker, released in November 1969. Following the template of his first LP, the album features numerous covers of songs originally performed by Bob Dylan ("Dear Landlord"), the B ...

''. The

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may a ...

was written by

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

and originally performed by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

on the album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''; it has been inducted into both the Grammy Award Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–2006'', Joel Whitburn, ed., Record Research, p. 180. Cocker's version was the theme song to the television series ''

The Wonder Years ''The Wonder Years'' is an American coming-of-age comedy/drama television series created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black. It ran on ABC from January 31, 1988, until May 12, 1993. The series premiered immediately after ABC's coverage of Super ...

'' during the 1980s and 1990s. In 2015, the Audio Fidelity company released a limited reissue of the album in hybrid

SACD Super Audio CD (SACD) is an optical disc format for audio storage introduced in 1999. It was developed jointly by Sony and Philips, Philips Electronics and intended to be the successor to the Compact Disc (CD) format. The SACD format allows mul ...

format as a tribute to Cocker.

Reception

''With a Little Help from My Friends'' met with a favourable review from ''Rolling Stones John Mendelsohn. Mendelsohn stated that "Cocker has assimilated the ayCharles influence to the point where his feeling for what he is singing cannot really be questioned. And, in answer to the question of why someone should listen to Cocker when there is Charles to listen to – how many times in recent years has the latter applied himself to such exceptional modern material ..or such contemporary Dylan... ?" He also stated that "Cordell's success in fusing a consistently marvelous backing unit out of America's premier studio soul singers and England's most famous rock musicians and delicate egos cannot be exaggerated." He concluded that "it's a triumph all around. And the thought of Cocker's next album ..is an exceptionally pleasant one." In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', Robert Christgau wrote: A retrospective review from Allmusic's Bruce Eder was fairly positive. Eder stated that the album "holds up extraordinarily well across four decades, the singer's performance bolstered by some very sharp playing, ..It's Cocker's voice, a soulful rasp of an instrument ..that carries this album and makes "Change in Louise," "Feeling Alright," "Just Like a Woman," "I Shall Be Released," and even "Bye Bye Blackbird" into profound listening experiences." He concluded that "the surprises in the arrangements, tempo, and approaches taken help make this an exceptional album. Tracks like "Just Like a Woman," with its soaring gospel organ above a lean textured acoustic and light electric accompaniment, and the guitar-dominated rendition of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" ..all help make this an exceptional listening experience."

Track listing

*Note: the timings on the album sleeve (and reissues) have 3 tracks incorrect by about 1 minute: Marjorine (3:38), With a Little Help from My Friends (4:05) and I Shall Be Released (3:38). The above timings are correct.

Personnel

*Joe Cocker – vocals *

David Bennett Cohen David Bennett Cohen (born August 4, 1942) is an American musician best known as the original keyboardist and one of the guitar players for the late-1960s psychedelic rock and blues band Country Joe and the Fish. Early life and influences ...

– guitar (track 1) *

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

– guitar (track 2) * Jimmy Page – guitar (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7 & 9) *

Henry McCullough Henry Campbell Liken McCullough (21 July 1943 – 14 June 2016) was a Northern Irish guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was best known for his work as a member of Spooky Tooth, The Grease Band and Paul McCartney and Wings. He also perf ...

– guitar (tracks 3, 6, 8 & 10) *

Albert Lee Albert William Lee (born 21 December 1943) is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked, both in the studio and on tour, with many famous musicians from a wide range of genres. He has also mai ...

– guitar (track 4) *

Chris Stainton Christopher Robert "Chris" Stainton (born 22 March 1944) is an English session musician, keyboard player, bassist and songwriter, who first gained recognition with Joe Cocker in the late 1960s. In addition to his collaboration with Cocker, St ...

– piano (tracks 2, 3, 4 & 7), organ (tracks 2 & 7), bass guitar (tracks 2-10) *

Tommy Eyre Tommy Eyre (5 June 1949 – 23 May 2001) was an English session keyboardist from Sheffield, England, who appeared on records by Joe Cocker, John Martyn, Gary Moore, Michael Schenker, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Greg Lake, B.B. King, ...

– piano (track 5), organ (tracks 8 & 9) * Artie Butler – piano (track 1) * Matthew Fisher – organ (track 5) * Steve Winwood – organ (tracks 6 & 10) * Carol Kaye – bass guitar (track 1) *

Paul Humphrey Paul Nelson Humphrey (October 12, 1935 – January 31, 2014) was an American jazz and R&B drummer. Biography Humphrey was born in Detroit and began playing drums at age 8, taking private lessons in Detroit. In high school he played baritone hor ...

– drums (track 1) *

Clem Cattini Clemente Anselmo Agustino Cattini (born 20 August 1937) is an English rock and roll drummer of the late 1950s and 60s, who was a member of The Tornados before becoming well known for his work as a session musician. He is one of the most prolifi ...

– drums (tracks 2, 4 & 7) *

Mike Kellie Michael Alexander Kellie (24 March 1947 – 18 January 2017) was an English musician, composer and record producer. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Kellie was a member of the rock bands the V.I.P.s, Spooky Tooth and the Only ...

– drums (tracks 3, 6 & 10) * B. J. Wilson – drums (tracks 5 & 9) *Kenny Slade – drums (track 8) *

Laudir de Oliveira Laudir Soares de Oliveira (6 January 1940 – 17 September 2017) was a Brazilian musician and producer mostly renowned for his time as percussionist with the band Chicago. Oliveira grew up in Rio de Janeiro, and started working professionally in ...

– tumba, congas, maracas (track 1) *

Brenda Holloway Brenda Holloway (born June 26, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter, who was a recording artist for Motown Records during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings are the soul hits, "Every Little Bit Hurts", " When I'm Gone", and "You've Ma ...

– backing vocals (track 1) *

Patrice Holloway Patrice Yvonne Holloway (March 23, 1951 – October 3, 2006) was an American soul and pop singer, and songwriter. Career Patrice Yvonne Holloway was born on March 23, 1951 in Los Angeles, California, the youngest of three children born to Wade ...

– backing vocals (track 1) *

Merry Clayton Merry Clayton (born December 25, 1948) is an American soul and gospel singer. She provided a number of backing vocal tracks for major performing artists in the 1960s, most notably in her duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones song " Gimme S ...

– backing vocals (track 1) *Madeline Bell – backing vocals (tracks 2, 6 & 9) *Rosetta Hightower – backing vocals (tracks 2 & 9) *Sue Wheetman – backing vocals (tracks 3, 6, 9 & 10) *Sunny Wheetman – backing vocals (tracks 3, 6, 9 & 10) *Nick Harrison - string arrangement (track 10)

Production

*Denny Cordell - producer *

- mixing engineer *Tom Wilkes - album design *Martin Keeley - front cover photography *Eric Hays - back cover photography *Herb Greene - back cover photography

Chart performance

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:With A Little Help From My Friends (Album) 1969 debut albums Joe Cocker albums Albums produced by Denny Cordell Regal Zonophone Records albums A&M Records albums Stateside Records albums Polydor Records albums Albums recorded at Trident Studios Albums recorded at Olympic Sound Studios