Joe Cocker Live (180 Gram Vinyl) [Import] (2 Lp's)

Personnel includes: Joe Cocker (vocals); Maxine Green, Doreen Chanter (vocals); Phil Grande, Keith Mack, Earl Slick (guitar); Deric Dyer (tenor saxophone, keyboards, percussion); Chris Stainton, Jeff Levine (keyboards); T.M. Stevens (bass, background vocals); Steve Holley (drums); Crystal Taliefero (percussion, background vocals); Tawatha Agee, Vaneese Thomas, Fonzi Thornton (background vocals); The Memphis Horns.
Producers: Steve Thompson, Michael Barbiero, Michael Lang.
Recorded live at Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts on October 5, 1989.
This in-concert album is fleshed out with two studio tracks, including a Wagnerian, overproduced Diane Warren power ballad. Cocker veers effectively between his '80s output and songs he popularized on MAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN, his first live album from 1970. (Most of those songs--including "A Little Help From My Friends," Feelin' Alright," and "The Letter"--are served up in note-perfect recreations, although only keyboard player Chris Stainton remains from the 1970 band). In any case, Cocker is in fine voice throughout, particularly on the lung-busting "You Are So Beautiful." Oddly enough, he seems most completely engaged during his take on Randy Newman's wry "Guilty"--apparently the song's theme is something he can relate to.

• Genre: Pop
• Format: Vinyl
• Released: 11/25/14