Joe Cocker: Mad Dogs & Englishmen (Deluxe Edition) - Disc 2 of 2 CD Track Listing

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Joe Cocker Mad Dogs & Englishmen (Deluxe Edition) - Disc 2 of 2 (1970)
Mad Dogs & Englishmen (Deluxe Edition) - Disc 2 of 2\n2005 A&M Records, Inc.\n\nOriginally Released August 1970\n2CD Edition Released 1987 ??\n2CD MFSL Silver CD Edition MFCD 2-824 Released ??\nMFSL Gold 1CD Edition Released November 17, 1998 (January 1998 ?)\nRemastered 1CD Edition Released October 5, 1999\n2CD Deluxe Edition Released October 18, 2005\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Listening to this CD brings back a lot of memories. Mad Dogs & Englishmen was just about the most elaborate album that A&M Records had ever released, back in 1971, a double LP in a three-panel, fold-out, gatefold sleeve, with almost 80 minutes of music inside and a ton of photos, graphics, and annotation wrapping around it. A live recording done in tandem with a killer documentary film of the same U.S. tour, it was recorded at the Fillmore East, where the movie was a cross-country affair, and the two were, thus, completely separate entities -- also, as people couldn't "buy" the film in those days, the double LP has lingered longer in the memory, by virtue of its being on shelves, and also being taken off those shelves to be played. Unlike a lot of other "coffee table"-type rock releases of the era, such as Woodstock and The Concert for Bangladesh, people actually listened to Mad Dogs & Englishmen -- most of its content was exciting, and its sound, a veritable definition of big-band rock with three dozen players working behind the singer, was unique. The CD offers a seriously good sound, whether it's just Joe Cocker and a pianist and organist in the opening of "Bird on a Wire," or the entire band going full-tilt on "Cry Me a River"; the remastering was set at a high volume level and there was a decent amount of care taken to get the detail right, so you can appreciate the presence of the multiple drummers, and the legion of guitarists and singers, plus the multiple keyboard players. The lead guitar and solo piano on "Feelin' Alright," for example, come through, but so do the 34 other players and singers behind the lead. This record was also just as much a showcase for Leon Russell as it was for Joe Cocker, which A&M probably didn't mind a bit, as Russell was selling millions of records at the time. As is now known, and it's recounted in the new notes, the tour from which this album was drawn all but wiped out Joe Cocker -- on a psychic level -- because the music was presented on such a vast scale (and there is a moment in the movie where he mentions breaking up his former backing group, the Grease Band, with a hint of regret in his voice) and his own contribution was so muted by Russell's work as arranger and bandleader. He may well have been the "victim" of a "hijacking" of sorts, but the musical results, apart from the dubious "Give Peace a Chance," are difficult to argue about upon hearing this record anew, decades after the fact -- it's almost all bracing and beautiful. [In 2005 Mad Dogs & Englishmen was reissued in a two-CD deluxe edition with eight previously unreleased live performances inserted throughout the discs and four rare studio recordings tacked onto the end. The new live performances are longer and looser and Russell plays an even bigger role. They're excellent, as are the stereo studio mixes of "The Letter" and "Space Captain," available for the first time here.] -- Bruce Eder\n\nAmazon.com Editorial Review\nThe rock & roll road show never really caught on, which is surprising given that Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen revue showed tour dogs how it's done. Recorded live at New York's Fillmore East in the spring of 1970, this CD (as well as a film of the same name) documents a slapdash extravaganza (the whole thing was conceived, organized, and abandoned over the course of two months) that overflows with big, brassy, rockin' soul. Front and center is Joe Cocker, a spastically charismatic Brit soul shouter. The bandleader is Leon Russell, playing some of the best rock piano ever waxed. And the crack company (boasting 21 singers and players) features the Rolling Stones' future horn section and Derek & the Dominoes' rhythm-section-in-waiting. Cocker shines on "Cry Me a River," "Give Peace a Chance," "The Letter," and a slew of other covers that benefit greatly from the volcanic arrangements whipped up by Russell and Chris Stainton. It may have been the Ray Charles revue for the Woodstock Generation, but, shockingly, the Genius himself hasn't made too many records that surpass this one. --Steven Stolder\n\nAmazon.com Album Description\nIn the pantheon of classic live albums as well as concert films, Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen is near the top, alongside Woodstock and The Last Waltz in defining the spirit of a generation. The tour, album and film catapulted Cocker, Leon Russell, and Rita Coolidge to stardom. Now, for the first time, the album, originally issued in 1970, is heard with previously unreleased tracks and studio cuts. The two-CD Mad Dogs & Englishmen: 35th Anniversary Deluxe Edition reveals in full for the first time the repertoire of the craziest, loudest, longest rock 'n' roll circus to have ever hit America. Along with already-legendary performances of "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window," "The Letter," "Delta Lady," "Bird on a Wire," "Cry Me a River," "Feelin' Alright," "Let's Go Get Stoned," and "Space Captain" are seven previously unreleased live performances (whose inclusion now reflects the actual sequence of the show's set list) and four rare studio recordings.\n\nThe debuting live performances are of Cocker's "The Weight," "Something," "Darling Be Home Soon," and "With a Little Help from My Friends"; Leon Russell's "Hummingbird" and "Dixie Lullaby"; and Don Preston's "Further On up the Road." In addition, Claudia Lennear's performance of "Let It Be," a single B-side, makes its album premiere. That recording, as well as Rita Coolidge's "Superstar," were taped at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium; the other performances took place earlier at the Fillmore East. Added too are the studio singles sessions of Russell's "The Ballad of Mad Dogs & Englishmen," the previously unreleased "Warm-Up Jam" (including "Under My Thumb"); the album debut and stereo debut of the single B-side "Space Captain" as well as "The Letter."\n\nThe tour rolled across America, from Detroit to New York to California, from March to May 1970. With Cocker in his prime, driven by a phenomenal band; ringmaster Russell; three drummers; horn section; 10-strong choir; wives, lovers and children; film crew; roadies; and a black-and-white-spotted dog, the tour was one of the greatest and most colorful in history. Thirty-five years later, the excitement of Mad Dogs & Englishmen remains. \n\nAmazon.com Customer Review (1CD Remastered Edition)\narrrrggghhh--and not because I don't Love Joe. cause I DO., July 2, 2001\nReviewer: J. Yates "jean" (United States)\nWhen I ordered this album, I wanted three songs specifically. One, sung, ironically, not by Joe Cocker, whom I adore, but rather by the inimitable Rita Coolidge--the "Delta Lady herself--accept no substitutes!!!!-- was "Superstar" . IGNORE Karen Carpenter's version. This is true early 70's groupie loooove passion oooo yeah, as sung by a fullbodied WOMAN. I loved that song, as a kid. Ok, so that's on here. Great so far. On the other hand,TWO OF MY FAVORITE SONGS, SEE TRACK LISTINGS HERE: # 12, "When Something is Wrong with my Baby" AND #13, "I've Been Loving You Too Long" HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN REMOVED. Just..arbitrarily. I bought this and returned it, "digitally remastered" or not. I am furious. What idiot dared to fool around with the origional album just for the sake of shoehorning one CD into what should have been two, and then charged 17 bucks for it??? Worst thing that happened to me all day was opening this CD and getting ready to listen to it, and then discovering what had been done to it. BLEECH. Caveat Emptor.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nTerrific but flawed, September 19, 2005\nReviewer: johnshade "johnshade" (Falls Church, VA United States) \nWell, there are indeed a lot of high points on this, but there are some low points too. Joe and Leon's rendition of "Girl from the North Country" sounds like they're reading the lyrics off the back of an envelope and having a hard time seeing them. And Rita Coolidge is so out of tune on "Superstar" that she makes my ears bleed. If you like her singing on that track, you will love the collected recordings of Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. Skip those two tracks and enjoy the rest.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nMore than just a tambourine-shaker, April 16, 2004\nReviewer: Juan La Princi "Mr. F. Bombalate" (livin' just enough)\nSo much happened in pop music from 1964-73 that looking back at it, all most people see are the highest peaks. We tend to forget the overall sense of discovery and excitement as the musicians of that time pushed ever forward to try something new, or to revive something old in a new way.\n\nA case in point is this utterly enjoyable album by Joe Cocker, a document of a brief but memorable tour with a band that featured about 10 singers, 3 drummers, 2 horn players, and a great piano-organ-guitar-bass section featuring Leon Russell, Chris Stainton and Carl Radle. There were a lot of musicians on stage, making a stew of music that combined tambourine-shaking white and black gospel, sophisticated Ray Charles-type blues, and British rock. Very quickly, this style went out of style. Leon Russell's time in the limelight was short, as was Delaney and Bonnie's and they were the primary exponents of this sound. In truth, Joe Cocker was probably a strange choice to front a band like this--it's more of a Leon Russell production in many ways. But the combination works magically on this album. Cuts like "Honky Tonk Woman," and "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" rock out, while the middle section of the album featuring a couple of Ray Charles classics, "Drown in My Own Tears" and "Let's Go Get Stoned," and other R&B songs seem very close to Cocker's heart. Russell gives us the great "Delta Lady" and "Superstar" (sung by Rita Coolidge), and his piano dominates the album's biggest hits, "The Letter" and "Cry Me a River," in which he proves that almost any pop song can be sanctified. A few cuts fall short--the version of Dylan's "Girl from the North Country," sounds terrible, and Russell's "Give Peace a Chance" is the kind of repetitive chant that quickly became a self-parody of this style. But another hippie gospel number, "Space Captain" is a lot of fun, with the choir's well-timed oohs and aahs.\n\nThe thing that continually lifts up "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" is the quality of the musicianship. Cocker is in great voice, the choir is very effective, the horn players make 2 players sound like 10, and the rhythm section is tight as a frog's eyelids. It's not surprising--there is a direct line on this album extending from Delaney and Bonnie, where a lot of the backup musicians came from, to George Harrison, who used many of the same rhythm players on "All Things Must Pass," and who played live in the Bengla Desh benefit with Leon Russell, to "Layla" in which Eric Clapton teamed with several of these musicians to become Derek and the Dominos. Like Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker was just passing through this musical community, but when they came together, brief as it was, they made something rather magical.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review\nIf you are going to listen to Joe Cocker, listen to him live, May 9, 2003\nReviewer: Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City: Duluth, MN United States) \nThere are those that insist that "Mad Dogs & Englishmen," the 1970 record of the Joe Cocker tour, is the high point in the music career of the gravely voiced soul singer. I can see the reasons for the argument, but even with his once powerful voice worn away by alcohol abuse there is something to be said for his sense of phrasing in the later years. He still came up with a great howl on "When the Night Comes" and if I am only allowed to listen to one Joe Cocker track for the rest of eternity I am going to take the monster 9:27 long live version of "With a Little Help From My Friends" that is on "The Best of Joe Cocker." That being said, if you are talking about an entire album, then "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" is the one to go with, because Cocker live was always better than Cocker in the studio, not that this pronouncement is exactly news to anyone.\n\nIt helps to set the scene for the 1970 tour. Two years earlier Cocker had hit the top of the charts in the U.K. with his cover of the Beatles' "A Little Help From My Friends," and when he sang the song at Woodstock he made a name for himself in the colonies. Leon Russell became Cocker's musical director and provided a second hit in England with "Delta Lady." Two albums came out in 1969, "With a Little Help From My Friends" and "Joe Cocker!", both of which went gold. What makes this live album so amazing is that Cocker only sings one song form his first album (and it is not even the title cut but "Feelin' Alright") and only three cuts from the second: "Bird on a Wire," "Delta Lady" and another in a series of classic Beatles coves, "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window." So out of 16 songs on the album, a dozen of them are "new" material for Cocker.\n\nOf course such things are a lot easier when you are a cover artist rather than a singer-songwriter. This frees Cocker to come up with songs by the Rolling Stones ("Honky Tonk Woman") and Bob Dylan ("Girl From the North Country"). But whatever the songs a lot of the credit for Cocker's career and this album have to go to Leon Russell and Chris Stainton for coming up with the greatest live arrangements on the Sixties (Give me George Martin in the studio and Leon Russell). The concert was recorded at New York's Filmore East in the spring of 1970 (as a film as well as an album). There were almost two dozen musicians involved, giving a whole new meaning to Noel Coward's famous song title, and the result is the definitive mixture of rock 'n' roll soul with a big brassy sound and Russell's awesome piano playing behind Cocker's powerful vocals.\n\nPart of the impressive result was a couple of Cocker standards in "Cry Me a River" and "The Letter." It was the cover of the later, originally by the Box Tops, that broke Cocker into the U.S. Top 10 for the first time. Other standout tracks include the slower "Superstar" and "I've Been Loving You Too Long, " along with "Give Peace a Chance." Of course, "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" went gold as well as if there are those who want to argue that Joe Cocker's first three albums were his best, it is hard to argue with them. My preference for this one as the best of the lot is based almost on much as it being a double-album as it being live, but the live part is still the key consideration.\n\nAmazon.com Customer Review (1CD Remastered Edition)\nThis is the SECOND BEST (of four) CD releases., July 24, 2000\nReviewer: MG Nagy (Hays, KS United States)\nNot much more can be said about the quality of these performances. Ragged in places, the energy more than makes up for any short comings (real or imaginary) with respect to the players. Leon Russell is a god, but that's getting into a whole other conversation. Simply put, this performance never disappoints. I wish I could say the same for the technical side.\n\nMad Dogs has been released on CD four time. The first two times were both 2CD sets, with the Mobile Fidelity gold set beating the A&M release easily. This was a small consolation. The 2CD A&M set was muddy, with poor separation, and plenty of hiss. The MoFi set was better, only in the fact that it was less muddy, and had a bit less hiss. The overall quality of both releases was poor, and because the MoFi release was on gold, the price of 2CDs would take a bite out of your wallet so big that you'd sit funny for a week.\n\nThe next two releases were both 1CD packages. The A&M release (the releae this review is being attached to) has significant improvements in some areas, and new problems in others. With this release, A&M seems to have over compensated for the earlier release. There is much more definition through the middle and high end, and at least as much hiss as last time. Between the two A&M releases, your better off getting the new one, and making system adjustments to compensate for the lack of low end.\n\nThe best solution, however, is to track down the 1CD gold (newer) release on MoFi. The dynamic range is good, much less distortion. There's actual depth to the recording, with something vaguely resembling a soundstage. There is quite a bit of background chatter and what-not that remained hidden (to me) until this release. This will become increasing difficult, as they have gone out of business earlier this year and MoFi's more popular titles (Mad Dogs was one) are getting very expensive.\n\nHalf.com Details\nContributing artists:\tDave Mason, Jim Keltner, Leon Russell, Rita Coolidge\n\nAlbum Notes\nPersonnel: Joe Cocker (vocals); Leon Russell (guitar, piano); Don Preston (guitar, background vocals); Bobby Keys (tenor saxophone); Jim Price (trumpet); Chris Stainton (piano, organ); Carl Radle (bass); Chuck Blackwell (drums, percussion); Jim Gordon, Jim Keltner (drums); Bobby Torres (congas); Sandy Konikoff (percussion); Rita Coolidge, Claudia Lennear, Daniel Moore, Donna Weiss, Pamela Polland, Matthew Moore, Donna Washburn, Nicole Barclay, Bobby Jones (background vocals).\n\nProducer: Denny Cordell, Leon Russell.\nReissue producer: Bill Levenson.\nRecorded live at The Fillmore East, New York, New York on March 27 & 28, 1970; A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA\n\nOriginally released on A&M Records (6002). Includes liner notes by J.P. Bean.\n\nDigitally remastered by Theresa Malham (MCA Music Media Studios, Los Angeles, California) and Suhu Gur (Universal Music Studios, Edison, New Jersey)\n\nOne of the first classic post-Woodstock albums, MAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN was recorded at precisely the moment that Cocker and his bandleader Leon Russell found themselves, however briefly, at the epicenter of the rock & roll universe. The big hits here--the juiced-up version of Traffic's "Feelin' Alright," the Memphis soul revamp of the Box Tops "The Letter"--have been ubiquitous for years, and remain as potent as ever.\nSome of the less familiar tracks are equally rewarding though, particularly the Cocker/Russell duet on Dylan's "Girl From the North Country" (with the composer in attendance), and the obscure early Ray Charles raver "Sticks and Stones." This one shot ensemble (including veteran British musicians and the cream of then current L.A. sessioneers) was a great band, however unwieldy (twenty-one members!) and we're lucky to have this document of its only tour.\n\nIndustry Reviews\nQ (4/97, p.142) - 5 Stars (out of 5) - "...there's an organised abandonment and sense of spiritual pilgrimage in this set that remains virtually unrivalled."
This rock cd contains 14 tracks and runs 79min 32sec.
Freedb: cf12a20e
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