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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Visit birding hotspots along Bear Creek Greenway MADGE bust at Medford Walmart nets meth, $20,000 in cash Drug raid in Rogue River leads to two arrests Since You Asked: No formal open house for new HHS building The big what-if Crime, Courts and Emergency Services MADGE bust at Medford Walmart nets meth, $20,000 in cash Drug raid in Rogue River leads to two arrests Emergency services Fire reported twice at Eastwood home; second call was real thing No one injured as fire torches patio at Medford apartment Politics and Elections State certifies recount showing failure of GMO-labeling measure Time running out for O&C funds GMO vote recount still shows little change GMO labeling votes recounted under careful watch in Jackson County Kent Bush: First Amendment doesn’t mean what you think it means Education Traveling artist sets the stage for Ruch School amphitheater Ruch school class focuses on the natural environment Bethel Church helps families at McLoughlin Middle School Logos may offer students 'fifth year' at RCC or SOU St. Mary's plays host to youth robotics tournament Environment Monument expansion expected to increase tourism, protect resources Biologist resigns over LNG reporting failure Bird flu discovered in Winston backyard flock Jackson County holds back on enforcing GMO ban for now No fish, no funding for problem dams State News Oregon minimum wage rises to $9.25 Storm brings snow, cold to West Idaho shooting victim supported gun rights Dam problems force early fish transfer into Willamette Valley lakes Portland mattress stowaway cat back home Nation - World Obama makes Maduro’s ‘insolent Yankees’ line harder to sell Obituaries Leonard Lyle Roberts Death Notices Sidney A. Stitt Edward James Kelly Dean Seaney Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Shareable In memoriam: 2014’s notable deaths Looking back: Do you remember 2014’s biggest stories? Sports Latest Stories Ohio State’s Jones getting quite an education Ravens head of security charged with sex offense Going great lengths Lions’ Suh refuses to talk about incident Michigan AD Hackett: Harbaugh a long-term answer Varsity 541 College Sports Ohio State’s Jones getting quite an education Going great lengths Michigan AD Hackett: Harbaugh a long-term answer Facebook responses suggest Ducks win Balanced Beavers knock off Santa Barbara Pro Sports Ravens head of security charged with sex offense Lions’ Suh refuses to talk about incident Aldridge comes back strong in Blazers win Bryant's triple-double carries Lakers Lions’ Suh cleared top play Sunday Community Sports Business Latest Stories Rising prices bear fruit for local pear growers Dear Monty: Best start for 1st-time homebuyers Milken economist headlines Southern Oregon Business Conference Ride & Drive: 2015 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Silvio Calabi: Infiniti Q50 offers business-class driving Real Estate News Dear Monty: Best start for 1st-time homebuyers Rental owners group reports 2.48 percent vacancy rate More sales, but no change in residential housing median price People In Business People in Business, Dec. 3 Transportation Falling gas prices help spur travel at Medford airport Agriculture Rising prices bear fruit for local pear growers K-BAR ignites agriculture boom beneath Table Rocks Opinion Latest Granlund cartoon: Resolutions redux Matthew T. Mangino: Judges lament ‘Prosecution by PowerPoint’ Jim Brock: You don't have to take it anymore Our View: Caves expansion worth the wait Letters to the Editor, Dec. 31 Editorials Our View: Caves expansion worth the wait Other Views: Oregon incomes still lag behind Our View: Council is barking up the right tree Other Views: Roseburg VA director sets the right goals Our View: Thanks to four departing leaders Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor, Dec. 31 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 30 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 29 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 28 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 26 Guest Opinions Guest Opinion: Loved one chose death with dignity in Oregon Guest Opinion: Forest thinning means water for the future Guest Opinion: Suit threatens family farms and democratic vote Guest Opinion: SOU pool decision short-sighted Guest Opinion: It's time for biologists to let OR-7 go dark Lifestyle Latest stories Dear Monty: Best start for 1st-time homebuyers Community blog: Ring in new flavors with year's last appetizers Community blog: We Don't Have To Conspire Against Good Health Mark L. Hopkins: New Year’s resolutions and more HealthStyle: New year, new you Food Community blog: Ring in new flavors with year's last appetizers Food for Thought: Tips for cooking when you have food allergies Food for Thought: Wintertime wining and dining Kitchen Call: The comfort of creamy soups Community blog: Baking contest finalists combine cookies, candies Home and Garden Dear Monty: Best start for 1st-time homebuyers Dear Monty: Can a rookie real estate agent be a good choice? Bathtub or shower: What’s best for you? Home Help: Home safety tips for a safe and happy winter season How NOT to install drywall Health Community blog: We Don't Have To Conspire Against Good Health HealthStyle: New year, new you Health Watch: Build up your glutes in the off-season Dr. Jeff Hersh: What's a monoclonal antibody? Dr. Murray Feingold: Have a happy and stress-free holiday Hiking Biking Faith (No heading) Churches, synagogs host seasonal events Bethel Church helps families at McLoughlin Middle School Milestones and Achievements Local landowners see no public good in proposed pipeline Pear Blossom queen has open heart surgery Hundreds enjoy Christmas dinner, gifts at St. Vincent de Paul SinceYou Asked: SBA would work with Mt. Ashland Ski Area about loan Fans, friends and family welcome home victorious SOU team at airport Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories New Schneider Museum exhibits highlight First Friday Camelot's 'Fiddler' is a charmer Top 10 CDs of 2014 Ring in 2015 at a New Year's celebration near you Dobra Tea menu offers hundreds of brews Theater Camelot's 'Fiddler' is a charmer ACT presents reading of 'The Quality of Life' Meet the real Jacob Marley This Nutcracker ballet will have a superhero twist Plumbing the depths of meaning Music The Farr Side: Top 10 album count-up for 2014 Top 10 CDs of 2014 A tribute to Joe Cocker Ring in 2015 at a New Year's celebration near you SugarBeats headline an all-ages dance party at Historic Ashland Armory Community Events New Schneider Museum exhibits highlight First Friday Celebrate winter solstice with the Bad Film Society Tomaseen Foley's "A Celtic Christmas" returns to the Craterian Theater Stefan Baumann and Eugene Bennett highlight Third Fridays Dancing People Company celebrates the solstice Dining Dobra Tea menu offers hundreds of brews Food for Thought: Wintertime wining and dining Coffee shops roll out holiday-inspired drinks Over Easy serves 'pop-up' brunch Sundays Ooblies Artisan Waffle Sandwiches Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Blogs TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Magazines & Special Sections NEWS NOW MADGE bust at Medford Walmart nets meth, $20,000 in cash ... Drug raid in Rogue River leads to two arrests ... The big what-if ... MADGE bust at Medford Walmart nets meth, $20,000 in cash ... Drug raid in Rogue River leads to two arrests ... The big what-if ... MUSIC A tribute to Joe Cocker Joe Cocker was a scorching rock stylist and a wild card on stage Comment By Scott Mervis Pittsburgh Post-Gazette MailTribune.com By Scott Mervis Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Posted Dec. 30, 2014 @ 12:32 pm By Scott Mervis Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Posted Dec. 30, 2014 @ 12:32 pm » Social News “Joe Goes Down the Drain.”  That was the headline when Joe Cocker played Pittsburgh in 1974 with Traffic, five years after his historic and breathtaking performance at Woodstock. The review noted that a “zombie-like Cocker grunted and groaned off-key through a performance that showed no style or emotion. At times Cocker, apparently boozed up, just didn’t know where he was or who he was.” Rather than joining Janis and Jimi as a Woodstock casualty, Cocker, who died Dec. 22 of lung cancer at 70, was able to bounce back two years later to have a laugh at himself with Cocker parodist John Belushi on an unforgettable “Saturday Night Live” episode and live on to make nearly 20 more albums. Cocker was a unique talent who idolized Ray Charles and, despite being a white Englishman son of a civil servant, managed to growl like a black Southern bluesman. He started performing at age 12 and released his first single, a cover of the Beatles’ “I’ll Cry Instead,” on Decca in 1964 (with Jimmy Page on guitar), but he was not embraced as part of that British Invasion. It wasn’t until four years later that he topped the British charts, and cracked the U.S. charts (at No. 68) with a second Beatles cover, this one a positively scorching version of “With a Little Help from My Friends.” Joe Cocker and the Grease Band did its first U.S. tour in the spring of 1969, timed with the release of his classic debut album named for that Beatles track. Cocker was a stylist who had a way of stealing a song out from under you, and that was the case with the album’s lead track, a cover of Dave Mason’s “Feeling Alright” that became another of his signature tunes. Despite being one of the marginal acts on the bill, Cocker delivered one of the standout performances at the most important music festival in American history. When you think of Woodstock, one of the first images that arises is of Joe Cocker with scraggly hair and ugly tie-dye, flailing every limb while turning the Beatles’ cool, flat “With a Little Help from My Friends” into a hot, fiery tour de force. In the immediate years after, he applied that soul-drenched formula to Billy Preston’s “You Are So Beautiful” and The Box Tops’ “The Letter,” taking them both into the Top 20 of the charts. On stage, he was a wild card, especially in the mid-’70s. In fact, promoter Rich Engler will never forget 1976 at Agricultural Hall in Allentown, Pa., with Cocker and Golden Earring. “He was already gone when he went on stage,” the promoter said. “Someone in the crowd handed him a bottle of red wine, which was the worst possible thing that could have happened. He drank it and on the next song he projectile vomited. Never seen anything like it. It went out about six feet straight out and hit the audience. It was disgusting.” The singer then removed his shirt, socks and shoes, prompting the fear of a Mad Englishman striptease. Engler recalls the chief of police telling the promoter, “If he touches his zipper, I’m stopping the show, and you and he are going to jail.” He added, “Why would you bring something like this into Allentown?!” Cocker’s pants stayed on and they never went to jail, but Engler knew he had a problem bringing this show to Pittsburgh’s Syria Mosque the next night. According to the promoter, house manager Dorothy Steele “didn’t even like Lawrence Welk! I could never take anything like that into that facility.” He called into the local radio station that night and announced that the show would be canceled. Audiences were able to see Joe Cocker in much better and polished form in the ‘80s, which he began by going to the top of the charts with the Oscar-winning “Up Where We Belong,” a duet with Jennifer Warnes that played during the climax of “An Officer and A Gentleman.” “I give him a lot of credit for coming back after being down in the dumps,” Engler says. Cocker also impressed in 2000, opening for Tina Turner on her farewell tour. The last time we saw him was 2008 in the opening slot for Steve Miller, smartly dressed in all black and, 39 years later, still bringing the house down with a 10-minute “With a Little Help From My Friends.” “They didn’t come just to open for Miller,” I wrote of Cocker and his band. “They came to steal the show.” Unlike the fans, Engler had the pleasure — with the exception of that night in ‘76, of course — of spending time backstage with him over the years. “He was a great individual,” he said. “He suffered some down times and alcohol and drug problems. In the big picture he was a great performer — the epitome of rock and blues together. He really had it.” By Scott Mervis Pittsburgh Post-Gazette MailTribune.com By Scott Mervis Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Posted Dec. 30, 2014 @ 12:32 pm » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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