One of the very best bluesy rock voices of any era had to be Joe Cocker and members of his band (Cliff Goodwin, Mitch Chakour and Deric Dyer) as well as other musicians pay tribute to the great man who died almost three years ago now in this great live document ‘Mad Dogs Unchained’ under the name ‘Cocker Rocks’ which will also see them touring the show.
If like me you thought that Joe Cocker was one of a kind you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you hear the pipes of the man who has to step into his shoes – Elliott Tuffin whose heartfelt love and respect for his great idol shows in every second of this live album.
What you get of course is the hits – and in these 12 tracks there’s hardly a moment’s let up and not a single song you couldn’t accuse of being a bona fide ‘classic’ aside from perhaps oddly the opening number ‘Don’t Talk to Me’ which Cocker himself played live less than half a dozen times in his long career.
The rest of course are timeless and virtually all Joe’s own interpretations of real classics from the wonderful ‘Cry Me a River’ (here a duet) to The Beatles ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’ and The Box Tops ‘The Letter’ which closes the set. In between there are songs that are so identified with Cocker now that few remember the originals – like ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On’ (Randy Newman) and ‘Unchain My Heart’ (recorded first by Ray Charles).
This is a great live album and the ‘Cocker Rocks’ show looks like being an amazing night.
In March 2018, Cocker Rocks will finally play shows in Europe: In addition to the German tour dates, the band has officially confirmed shows in the UK and the Netherlands.
COCKER ROCKS
“Mad Dogs Unchained”
Tour 2018 Dates:
20.02.2018 – (UK) London, Nell´s Jazz & Blues
22.02.2018 – (DE) Bensheim, Musiktheater Rex
23.02.2018 – (DE) Worpswede, Music Hall
24.02.2018 – (DE) Erfurt, HsD
25.02.2018 – (DE) Plauen, Malzhaus
26.02.2018 – (DE) Berlin, Columbia Theater
28.02.2018 – (DE) Hamburg, Downtown Bluesclub
01.03.2018 – (DE) Dresden, Alter Schlachthof
02.03.2018 – (DE) Hannover, Capitol
03.03.2018 – (DE) Freiburg, Jazzhaus
04.03.2018 – (DE) Stuttgart, Im Wizemann
05.03.2018 – (DE) Bonn, Harmonie
07.03.2018 – (NL) The Hague, Paard van Troje
08.03.2018 – (NL) Den Bosch, Oranjerie
09.03.2018 – (NL) Rijssen, Lucky Live
10.03.2018 – (NL) Vlissingen, CCXL
11.03.2018 – (NL) Leeuwarden, Neushoorn
13.03.2018 – (NL) Utrecht, Tivoli Vredenburg
