As rock’s perennial comeback kid, Joe Cocker managed to turn a whiskey-soaked, gritty voice into a throbbing instrument of his own. His ability to take other people’s compositions and put his own spin on them was legendary. From Lennon and McCartney’s “With A Little Help From My Friends” and “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window” to Leon Russell’s “Delta Lady” and Dave Mason’s “Feelin’ Alright,” Cocker always has his own brand of soul and fire brought in the music. The same goes for his modern day soft rock hits – from the 1982 song “Up Where We Belong” by Jennifer Warnes from the soundtrack An officer and a gentlemanto Ray Charles’ Unchain My Heart and Randy Newman’s You Can Leave Your Hat On.
On No Ordinary World from 1999, Cockers 17th Studio release, the singer expertly snarls and grunts through a modest 14-track selection and still comes out fragrant with roses. As Cocker continued his career with a lot of light and airy material, No ordinary world doesn’t really go too far. Still, with songs from world-class hitters like Steve Winwood, Michael McDonald and Bryan Adams, there’s an air of substance behind the slick, pop-infested arrangements.
Leonard Cohen’s “First We Take Manhattan” starts off pretty well, with solid piano work from Chris Elliot pumped into high gear by Cocker’s seamless vocals. Other highlights include a decent rendition of Winwood’s “While You See A Chance” and the title track, crammed with enough feel-good attitude to have even the most devout old-schooler smiling in anticipation. Unfortunately, tracks like “Different Roads,” “Where Would I Be Now,” and “Naked Without You” are enough to propel those same old-schoolers out of the piano bar and back into the fiery days of Mad Dogs and Englishmen.
While the formula of No ordinary world is largely made up and derived from even the sleepiest of styles, but Cocker still brings enough to the table to make it bearable and somehow interesting. Indeed, there are moments of old Cocker on tracks like “Soul Rising”, “Love To Lean On” and especially the oddly rocking “Lie To Me”. The late ’60s/early ’70s cocker was simultaneously exciting and out of control, while the lighter hits of the ’80s and ’90s kept the man off the sauce and in front of a mic – where he belonged until 2014.
~ Shawn Perry
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