Album
With A Little Help From My Friends
1968 · Rock
4 collectors on Gatefold own this
With A Little Help From My Friends is a Rock album by Joe Cocker, originally released in 1968. On Gatefold: 36 pressings tracked, owned by 4 collectors.
About
Due to the songwriting efforts of the Beatles and Bob Dylan, it became important that true rock “artists” write their own material. Yet, what to make of a singer who could interpret the works of Bob Dylan and the Beatles and make it just as artistically intense? Look no further than the early work of Joe Cocker, who had his first hit in 1968 with a soulful run-through of the Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends” (a song, keep in mind, that had been written as the throwaway for Ringo on <i>Sgt. Pepper’s</i>) and whose first album contained two exemplary Dylan covers (“Just Like a Woman,” “I Shall Be Released”). Cocker’s interpretations are strong, insightful and well-nuanced, the perfect showcase for a raspy voice that carries the weight of experience in its well-worn croak. The Animals’ “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” is delivered as a nightclub slowburner, which, like all tracks here, is supported by a stellar blend of guitar and organ. As for writing his own material, Cocker, with the aid of Chris Stainton came up with “Change in Louise” and “Sandpaper Cadillac,” two strong mood pieces that are augmented in the expanded edition of the album with two more strong, worthy originals, “The New Age of Lily” and “Something’s Coming On.”
via Apple Music
The Clerk says
The Clerk knows this whole record — the pressing quirks, the credits, the take.
Tracklist
- 1Feelin' Alright4:10
- 2Bye Bye Blackbird3:27
- 3Change in Louise3:22
- 4Marjorine (Single Version)2:38
- 5Just Like a Woman5:17
- 6Do I Still Figure in Your Life?3:59
- 7Sandpaper Cadillac3:16
- 8Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood4:41
- 9With a Little Help from My Friends5:12
- 10I Shall Be Released4:35
- 11The New Age of Lily (Single Version)2:15
- 12Something's Coming On (Single Version)2:15
Sound DNA
- Rock
- Blues Rock
- raw
- intense
- soulful
Joe Cocker's version was a radical re-arrangement of the original, in a slower, 6/8 meter, using different chords in the middle eight, and a lengthy instrumental introduction (featuring drums by Procol Harum's B.J. Wilson, guitar lines from Jimmy Page, and organ by Tommy Eyre). It was used as the opening theme song of the American television series The Wonder Years, and was played as wake-up music on Space Shuttle Mission STS-61. and is one of Cocker's most famous songs. Cocker performed the song at Woodstock in 1969 and that performance was included in the documentary film, "Woodstock". His cover was ranked number two in UpVenue's top 10 best music covers of all time in 2009. The version heard in the film Across the Universe segues from the original to Cocker's arrangement at the end of the song.
Credits
The people behind it.
Production & Engineering
- Denny CordellPRODUCER
- Denny CordellPRODUCER [PRODUCED BY]
- Denny CordellPRODUCER [UNCREDITED]
Songwriting
- Lennon-McCartney
- Bob Dylan
- Chris Stainton
- Cocker-Stainton
- Joe Cocker
4 collectors on Gatefold own this · 36 pressings tracked on Gatefold
Start your shelf.
Track your pressings of With A Little Help From My Friends, get the Clerk's take, and see what the record is worth — free.
Start your shelf →Free forever. Works with 10 records or 10,000.