Joe Cocker - Something's Coming On - Non-Album Tracks (1963-1969)

In 1968, Joe Cocker seemingly came out of nowhere with his version of the Beatles song "With a Little Help from My Friends." It went to number one in Britain and some other countries. But in fact, his musical career had started years before; it's just that he'd had very little success up until that point. He's a stray tracks collection dealing with his early years.

Joe Cocker was his real name. But around 1960, he started a musical career using the name Vance Arnold. For simplicity's sake, I'm using his real name for all the songs here. The first eight songs date to 1963 and 1964, during his "Vance Arnold" phase. In my opinion, his voice doesn't have his distinctive gruffness. These are generally basic R&B covers, nothing to get that excited about. His one chance for an early break was with a cover of the Beatles song "I'll Cry Instead." It was released as an A-side in 1964, and his record company heavily promoted it. But it didn't even make the charts, and the record company dropped him.

Cocker took at least a year off from his music career around 1966. When he came back, he started using his real name and had a new band. The next two songs here, "I've Been Trying" and "Saved," are extremely rare. I could barely find any versions on the Internet, and the one I did find was filled with pops and scratches. Luckily, my musical friend MZ sent me a very good sounding copy without those problems. They're live tracks from an obscure EP featuring multiple artists called "Rag Goes Mad at the Mojo."

The rest of the songs here are from the beginning of Cocker being famous. You could start to hear the voice he became known for with the 1967 EP songs, but the rest definitely sound like the Cocker you'd expect. Three songs are B-sides to his singles in 1968 and 1969. The last two come from an archival box set and date to 1969.

All or nearly all of the songs here are covers. As I said above, the songs from 1963 and 1964 aren't that great, but they have their moments. The rest though, are definitely prime Joe Cocker. I'm not a fan of much of his long career (he died in 2014 at the age of 70), but I really like what he did from around 1968 to 1971, when he was most heavily influenced by R&B music. I plan on posting a couple more albums from him that all focus on this period (BBC sessions and live stuff). I don't plan on posting any more stray tracks albums dealing with the early 1970s onwards though, especially since I didn't see much of note that didn't get on his studio albums in those years.

That's not to say the rest of his career is without merit, because he had a decent share of good songs. I've already posted a 1983 benefit concert featuring lots of big names, that includes about half an hour of Cocker singing while backed on lead guitar by Eric Clapton. So if you're a fan of his stuff, you should check that out here:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2020/01/various-artists-arms-benefit-concert_11.html

This album is 48 minutes long.

01 Sixteen Tons (Joe Cocker)
02 Money [That's What I Want] (Joe Cocker)
03 Georgia on My Mind (Joe Cocker)
04 Ride On Josephine (Joe Cocker)
05 You Better Move On (Joe Cocker)
06 You Win Again (Joe Cocker)
07 I'll Cry Instead (Joe Cocker)
08 Those Precious Little Words (Joe Cocker)
09 I've Been Trying (Joe Cocker)
10 Saved (Joe Cocker)
11 The New Age of Lily (Joe Cocker)
12 Something's Coming On (Joe Cocker)
13 She's Good to Me (Joe Cocker)
14 Wake Up Little Susie (Joe Cocker)
15 The Weight (Joe Cocker)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16376013/JOECCKR1963-1969SmethngsCmingOn_atse.zip.html

I don't know what year the cover art photo dates from, or any other details about it. But based on his looks, haircut, and clothes, I would guess it's from around 1968. In 1969, his hair got a lot longer and he began wearing hippie-styled clothes. I added the record company logo because at least some versions of his first couple of albums in the late 1960s had that logo on it.

Oh, I forgot to mention this photo was originally in black and white, but I colorized it.