Eldon Stoesz painted a Joe Cocker wall mural in the Mennonite Collegiate Institute boys lounge while I experimented with lighting Absorbine Jr. in puddles on the floor of my room in the residence. My roommate, a bully boy and an MLA’s son, flunked out by Christmas. I lived alone in room 32.
My late 1960s and early seventies were confused with religion (I was baptized, as an adult like a good Mennonite) desire, and drink. Turns out my playing Simon Stimson in Our Town in the MCI was prescient, as I conducted the Glenlea Church Choir, often with a skin-full
In high-school, I related to Cocker, Crowbar, CSN&Y, Dylan, Jefferson Airplane, Chicago, Cockburn, Lighthouse, Procul Harum, and Santana, writing their names on a sweat-shirt adding the names of drugs I had heard about in movies. I was dissuaded from being a poser, in a midnight intervention by Rick Vogt and somebody, (not famous) Bachman, who were serious about their drugs and alcohol.
This was my first experience as an impostor.
Rick played in a psychedelic rock band called “Hard Rain” achieving their zenith at a Portage Avenue “Come together” in 1972. He also won a Manitoba Music Festival singing category, singing Gilbert & Sullivan while lying on his back on a set piece he had designed for the purpose a year earlier. He died long before Joe Coker, who died tonight in England.
Happy trails, Joe. I’ve just loaded all your albums that I don’t own into my computer. The others there already.
My Joe Cocker top twelve –
- My Baby Sent me a Letter
- Feeling Alright
- Don’t let me be misunderstood (just a smidge better than Eric Burdon’s version)
- I can stand a little rain
- Guilty
- Many Rivers to Cross
- You are so Beautiful
- Chain of Fools
- Don’t Give Up Me (also check out Solomon Burke’s versios
- With a Little Help from my friends
- 11. Lie to me
- 12. So good so right.
Good night Joe. May the angels sing back-up for you, as always.