Nov 6th in Pop History
On this day, November 6th, in:
• 1968 - Joe Cocker's remake of the Beatles' great song With A Little Help From My Friends reached # 1.
John Robert "Joe" Cocker (May 20, 1944 - December 22, 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty voice, spasmodic body movement in performance, and distinctive versions of popular songs of varying genres.
Cocker was propelled to pop stardom when, as referenced above, his recording of the Beatles’ With A Little Help From My Friends reached number one in 1968. He performed the song live at the Woodstock Rock Festival in 1969, and he performed it the same year at the Isle of Wight Festival. Then he later sang the song at the Party of the Palace concert in 2002 for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
Joe Cocker was well-known for his Mad Dogs and Englishmen Tour of 1970, which visited 48 cities across the US.
His duet with Jennifer Warnes, Up Where We Belong — from the movie An Officer And A Gentleman - hit number one and went on to win both a Grammy and an Academy Award in 1983. He was the recipient of many honors and awards, including being honored in 2011 with an OBE (Order of the British Empire — which rewards various contributions to the arts and sciences).
Cocker’s version of With A Little Help From My Friends became the theme song for the 1980s TV series The Wonder Years. His 1974 cover of You Are So Beautiful reached number five in the US.
Sir Paul McCartney said he would be "forever grateful" to Cocker for turning With A Little Help From My Friends into a "soul anthem.” The former Beatle also said on the day of Joe Cocker’s passing: "I knew him through the years as a good mate and I was so sad to hear that he had been ill and really sad to hear today that he has passed away.”
"He was a great guy, a lovely guy who brought so much to the world and we'll all miss him."
Listen to Joe Cocker on Spotify (links below):
Video of Live Performance — With A Little Help From My Friends
Also, on this day, November 6th, in…
• 1961 - Jimmy Dean’s - Big, Bad John becomes the 100th US number one single of the Rock and Roll era. It would prove to be his only chart topper, though he’d have another Top 10 hit with P.T. 109 the next year
• 1965 - After the success of Satisfaction, The Rolling Stones top the Billboard Hot 100 for the second time with Get Off Of My Cloud
Also, on this day, in…
• 1982 - Jennifer Warnes and Joe Cocker started a three week run at # 1 with the above-mentioned song taken from the film An Officer And A Gentleman, Up Where We Belong
• 1993 - Meat Loaf (Michael Lee Aday) had the number one song in the US with I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That). It was the first we'd heard from him since his giant hit album Bat Out Of Hell in 1977
