Joe Cocker At Cobo Hall

by Ewenna Edwards

British soul singer Joe Cocker entered the popular mu-

sic scène in the late 60's with such impact (via-his classic

With a Little Help From My Friends album) that he was

readily acclaimed an instant superstar. His appearances

brought throngs of admirers. His famous gyrations

through frenzied stage versions of Dave Mason's "Feelin'

All Right" or the haunting poignancy of his voice on

Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman" can still be easily re-

called. There are those of us who remember him lovingly

from the Grande Ballroom days -hanging heavy, feeling

the vibes from the man who gets the credit for starting

the ritual of lighting matches at the end of a concert.

But today Joe is a loser, desperately trying to re-estab-

lish his recording and performing career after long bouts

with alcohol and drugs. Somewhere in there the tremor

in his voice turned into a badly cracked moan, and the

beautifully lyrical interpretations of his well-chosen mat-

erial are now aimless and forlorn exercises in futility.

Joe Cocker tried again in Detroit April 11th at

Cobo Hall, with help from friends like guitarists Eric Gale and

Cornell Dupree, keyboardist Richard Tee, drummer

Steve Gadd, some hot back-up singers and a half-filled

hall of die-hard fans, myself included. The musicians

were spectacular, but the magic was completely missing

as Cocker stumbled through "Feelin' All Right," total-

ly lost his way on "You Are So Beautiful," and kept the

audience uncertain and uneasy from one song to the

next.

Joe's faithful followers love him enough to give him

another chance, but he's simply in no condition to per-

form. He seems to be slowly deteriorating from one con-

cert to the next, and one only hopes he will net enough

money from this tour to be able to check into a hospital

for some rest and recuperation. He needs it too badly

to go on any further without it.