Joe co*cker, the Grammy-winning British blues singer, died Monday at the age of 70, leaving behind a legacy that included dozens of albums.
But back when he was just getting started, the singer’s exuberant stage presence was so extreme that he once joked to TIME that Ed Sullivan tried to hide him with back-up dancers so as not to alienate viewers.
Despite those attempts to keep his talent under wraps, by the time the magazine profiled him in April of 1970, he had made a splash at Woodstock. The world had noticed that he “knows just when to shout, just when to pout, just when to let a phrase die with a low, sad whimper,” the magazine reported.
Here’s how Josh Tyrangiel described that Woodstock performance decades later in TIME:
Joe co*cker was the real king of Woodstock. We think of him now as a series of tics and growls, but his seven-minute version of “With a Little Help from My Friends” begins in complete control, slowly building until halfway through, when his sweet-voiced backup singers ask, “Do you need anybody?” co*cker responds … well, it’s hard to describe exactly what he howls. But there’s no happier sound. And no matter how long people get together to listen to music, there won’t be another moment when singer, song and audience merge so completely. For a few days, a generation of people got high with their friends. It sounds like a small thing, until you hear it.
In 1970, TIME noted that it might seem strange for a Brit to sing the blues, co*cker explained why it wasn’t so weird after all:
co*cker is his real last name, but “Joe” is assumed. He was born John, and that, for some reason, just would not do. Before changing his given name, he worked by day as a pipefitter in his native Sheffield, 140 miles north of London, singing in the local pubs by night. For a while, he billed himself as Vance Arnold. The next year he changed his name again and hit the top-50 charts with a single called Marjorine, then reached the top ten with A Little Help from My Friends. Most of the time since, he has spent in the U.S. “At least in America people want to change things,” says Joe.
When things cannot be changed right off, though, the blues can be a big help. Like a lot of other white blues singers today—Joplin, Johnny Winter, John Mayall—co*cker occasionally encounters resentment that he, a white man, should dare to sing the black man’s music. His reply to that is that the blues is now so important a music that it transcends racial boundaries. “Blues are in the back of everybody’s mind,” he says. “Everybody needs an outlet, ’cause no matter what you’ve got in possessions, you’re still up against the wall.”
Read the full 1970 profile here, in the TIME Vault: Which One Is Joe?
Flailing his arms about, and playing air guitar, became a standard trademark in early co*cker performances. Many assumed he must have been either stoned, or crazy. Actually, it was just his way of feeling the music. A singer, he didn't have an instrument to play while on stage.
How did Joe co*cker get his stage movements from? Joe co*cker was known for his unique stage performances, where he would often flail his arms about, and play air guitar. Joe later explained that this was just his way of feeling the music he was singing, as he didn't have an instrument.
The night before, many St. Louis area bars held a mass toast at 10 pm in Berry's honor. One of Berry's attorneys estimated that his estate was worth $50 million, including $17 million in music rights. Berry's music publishing accounted for $13 million of the estate's value.
October 31, 1969 - Janis Joplin, Joe co*cker, B.B. King, and Santana perform at the The 3rd Quaker City Rock Festival, Civc Center Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Pam Baker, a local summer camp director and fan of co*cker's music, had persuaded the actress to lend the house to co*cker. Baker began dating co*cker, and they married on 11 October 1987. The couple resided on the Mad Dog Ranch in Crawford, Colorado.
Joe co*cker (born May 20, 1944, Sheffield, England—died December 22, 2014, Crawford, Colorado, U.S.) was a British blues-rock singer known for his raspy voice who became one of the most distinctive vocalists of his generation.
One major artist never inducted is Joe co*cker. The year co*cker died, artist Billy Joel — interviewed in a documentary about the life of Joe co*cker — hand-delivered a petition to get him included in the hall before co*cker's death of cancer. The Hall refused and he has not been inducted since.
co*cker is survived by his wife, Pam Baker, with whom he lived on a ranch in Colorado. The couple did not have children. "He was simply unique," Marshall, who has not yet responded to ABC News' request for comment, added in the statement. "We had the joy to work with this wonderful man for almost 30 years.
– In 1960 co*cker formed his first band, the Cavaliers with three friends. Despite having performed as a vocalist along with his brother, Victor when he was 12 years old, co*cker played both drums and harmonica in The Cavaliers, and it wasn't until the band's breakup a year later that he embarked on a singing career.
Buddy Holly's $1 million fortune was mainly inherited by his widow as he had no children or other immediate family beneficiaries. Maria Elena made it her mission to preserve and promote the legacy of Buddy Holly, managing his music rights and establishing the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation.
After the performer died in 2014, Mad Dog Ranch was sold to its current owners. As such, the iconic estate has had only two owners. “It's a beautiful blend of English style set in a mountain setting,” says listing agent Dan Dockray. “The architect was John D.
In May 2016, the 11 surviving children initiated legal proceedings against King's appointed trustee over his estimated $30 million to $40 million estate. Several of them also went public with the allegation that King's business manager, LaVerne Toney, and his personal assistant, Myron Johnson, had fatally poisoned him.
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