Joe Coker总是以他的那没有任何修饰、原始的、伤感的、浑厚的布鲁斯嗓音引起我们的注意。在他的音乐中，早期以一些翻唱歌曲为主，1968年，Joe Cocker翻唱Beatles的歌曲《With a Little Help from My Friends》成为英国排行榜冠军，并在全世界获得成功，同时也发行了同名专辑。1975年3月，录制专辑《You Are So Beautiful》在美国排行榜名列第10。1982年，以专辑《Sheffield Steel》引起了轰动，其中一首与Jennifer Warnes合唱的《Up Where We Belong》更是产生了深远的国际影响。 by Cub Koda & William RuhlmannAfter starting out as an unsuccessful pop singer (working under the name Vance Arnold), Joe Cocker found his niche singing rock and soul in the pubs of England with his superb backing group, the Grease Band. He hit number one in the U.K. in November 1968 with his version of the Beatles A Little Help from My Friends. His career really took off after he sang that song at the Woodstock festival in August 1969. A second British hit came with a version of Leon Russells Delta Lady in the fall of 1969 (by then, Russell was Cockers musical director) and both of his albums, With a Little Help from My Friends (April 1969) and Joe Cocker! (November 1969), went gold in America. In 1970, his cover of the Box Tops hit The Letter became his first U.S. Top Ten. Cockers first peak of success came when Russell organized the Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour of 1970, featuring Cocker and over 40 others and resulting in a third gold album and a concert film. Subsequent efforts were less popular, and problems with alcohol (both on-stage and off-) reduced Cockers once-powerful voice to a croaking rasp. But he returned to the U.S. Top Ten with the romantic ballad You Are So Beautiful in 1975 and topped the charts in a duet with Jennifer Warnes on Up Where We Belong, the theme from the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman. He has survived, still charting into the 90s, albeit with less frequency than he did in the 70s and 80s. He also continued to work throughout the new millennium. No Ordinary World was his first release since 1997s Across from Midnight. Respect Yourself appeared in 2002, and the covers album Heart & Soul followed in 2004. The European release Hymn for My Soul, which features cover versions of songs by Stevie Wonder, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, and John Fogerty, was issued on Parlophone in 2007.