''Joe Cocker'' is the third studio album by

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances featuring expressive body movements. Most of his best-known singles, such as "Feelin' Alright ...

, released in 1972 in Europe as ''Something to Say'' on

Cube Records Cube Records is an English record label. It was launched on 26 May 1972 by independent music publisher David Platz, and was based at his UK offices for Essex Music. History Platz had entered the arena of record production in the early 1960s, ...

, and in the USA as ''Joe Cocker'' on

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

. It contains the

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

single "High Time We Went", that was released in the summer of 1971. ''Joe Cocker'' signalled Cocker's change of direction into a more jazzy, blues style. The album reached no. 30 in the US album charts. However, although it received a positive response from the press, it made no impression on the British and European charts. One of the album tracks, " Woman to Woman", was the basis for

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

's successful hit single "

California Love "California Love" is a song by American rapper 2Pac featuring fellow American rapper Dr. Dre. The song was released December 3, 1995, as 2Pac's comeback single after his release from prison in 1995 and was his first single as the newest artist ...

". The album, re-titled as ''Something to Say'', was originally released on CD in 1990 by

Castle Communications Castle Communications, also known as Castle Music, was a British independent record label and home video distributor founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane, and Jon Beecher. Its video imprint was called Castle Vision. The label's producti ...

and in 1998 a remastered edition of the album was released worldwide on

. Alan White, soon to be Yes' drummer, played on this album alongside Jim Keltner, after he was featured on George Harrison's ''

All Things Must Pass ''All Things Must Pass'' is the third studio album by George Harrison. Released as a triple album in November 1970, it was Harrison's first solo work after Break-up of the Beatles, the break-up of the Beatles in April that year. It includes th ...

'' and John Lennon's ''

Live Peace in Toronto ''Live Peace in Toronto 1969'' is a live album by the Plastic Ono Band, released in December 1969 on Apple Records. Recorded at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival, it was the first live album released by any member of the Beatles separa ...

'', ''

Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...

'' and '' Sometime in New-York City'' albums. Conrad Isidore played with Steve Stills and

Hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

, among others. Percussionist

Rebop Kwaku Baah Anthony "Rebop" Kwaku Baah (13 February 1944 – 12 January 1983) was a Ghanaian percussionist who worked with the 1970s rock groups Traffic and Can. Biography Baah was born in 1944 in Konongo, Gold Coast. In the Akan culture of Ghana, Kwa ...

was known for his work with

Traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...

and the German band Can.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Joe Cocker and Chris Stainton, except where indicated. ;Side One # "Pardon Me Sir" – 3:17 # "High Time We Went" – 4:25 # "She Don't Mind" – 3:13 # "Black-Eyed Blues" – 4:37 # "Something to Say" (Joe Cocker, Peter Nicholls) – 5:00 ;Side Two # "

Midnight Rider "Midnight Rider" is a song by the American rock band the Allman Brothers Band. It was the second Single (music), single from their second studio album, ''Idlewild South'' (1970), released on Capricorn Records. The song was primarily written by v ...

" (

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman B ...

, Robert Payne) – 4:00 # "Do Right Woman" ''(live)'' (

Dan Penn Dan Penn (born Wallace Daniel Pennington, November 16, 1941) is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s, including " The Dark End of the Street" and " Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" ...

Chips Moman Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman (June 12, 1937 – June 13, 2016) was an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for working in R&B, pop music and country music, operating American Sound Studios and producing hit albums li ...

) – 7:00 # " Woman to Woman" – 4:26 # " St. James Infirmary" ''(live)'' (Traditional, Frank Assunto; arranged by Chris Stainton and Joe Cocker) – 6:10 On the album's release, the tracks that received the most attention on radio were "Black-Eyed Blues", "Woman to Woman", and the

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

's "Midnight Rider", which charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 27. In 1996, the horn-and-piano

riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...

from "Woman to Woman" was

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

in his song "

"; it was a smash hit for Tupac, reaching No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Personnel

* Joe Cocker – lead vocals, arrangements (9) *

Chris Stainton Christopher Robert 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, Stainton is ...

– acoustic piano,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

, arrangements (9) *

Neil Hubbard Neil Terrence Hubbard (born 24 February 1948) is a British guitarist who has performed with Juicy Lucy, The Grease Band, Bluesology, Joe Cocker, Roxy Music, Kokomo, Alvin Lee, B.B. King, Kevin Rowland, Dexys Midnight Runners, Bryan Ferry ...

– guitars *

Alan Spenner Alan Henry Spenner (7 May 1948 – 11 August 1991) was an English bass player who performed with Wynder K. Frog, the Grease Band, Spooky Tooth, ABC, David Coverdale, David Soul, Joe Cocker, Kenny Loggins, Lynda Carter, Peter Frampton, Ted Nuge ...

– bass *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Do ...

– drums * Alan White – drums *

Conrad Isidore Hummingbird were a British rock band, formed in 1974 by Bobby Tench of The Jeff Beck Group. The band recorded three albums which were released by A&M Records in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and Europe and employed Ian Samwell ...

– drums (7, 9) * Felix "Flaco" Falcon – assorted percussion *

– congas (7) * Fred Scerbo – saxophone * Milton Sloan – saxophone *

Jim Horn James Ronald Horn (born November 20, 1940) is an American saxophonist, woodwind player, and session musician. Biography Horn was born in Los Angeles, and after replacing saxophonist Steve Douglas in 1959, he toured with member Duane Eddy for ...

– saxophone (7) * Rick Alfonso (incorrectly spelled Alphonso on the album cover) – trumpet * Virginia Ayers – backing vocals * Beverly Gardner – backing vocals *

Gloria Jones Gloria Richetta Jones (born October 19, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter who first found success in the United Kingdom, being recognized there as "The Queen of Northern Soul". She recorded the 1965 hit song "Tainted Love" and has wo ...

– backing vocals *

Viola Wills Viola Mae Wilkerson (December 30, 1939 – May 6, 2009), known professionally as Viola Wills, was an American pop and R&B singer, best known for her covers of classics and other standards such as Patience and Prudence's " Gonna Get Along Wit ...

– backing vocals, lead vocals (7) (A sticker placed on original issue albums read "Featuring the Chris Stainton Band and the Sanctified Sisters")

Production notes

* All songs recorded in 1972, except "High Time We Went" and "Black Eyed Blues", which were recorded in 1971; "Do Right Woman" and "St. James Infirmary" recorded live. * Denny Cordell – producer (1–6, 9) * Nigel Thomas – producer (6–9) * Roland Young – art direction * John Cabalka – design * Peter Smith – photography

Chart performance

References

All song and personnel information gathered from the liner notes of the album ''Joe Cocker'' as issued by A&M Records in the U.S. {{DEFAULTSORT:Joe Cocker (Album) 1972 albums Joe Cocker albums Albums produced by Denny Cordell A&M Records albums