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Joe Cocker coming to the Fraze June 30
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By Don Thrasher,
Contributing Writer
6:57 PM Thursday, June 25, 2009
Joe Cocker is often thought of as the quintessential Englishman, but in fact the legendary singer has lived in the United States since 1978. He spent 15 years in California before relocating with his wife, Pam, to Mad Dog Ranch, their home on 200-plus acres of land nestled in the Colorado Rockies.
“I just love the idea of being here because there’s not much pristine territory left anywhere,” Cocker said. “People come up here and they get bored in a minute, but I never get bored. After city life, it’s always such a nice break.”
Cocker recently enjoyed some time at Mad Dog Ranch during a brief respite from his 50-plus date tour, which includes a stop at Fraze Pavilion in Kettering on Tuesday, June 30.
“We’ve done most of the hard bit,” he said. “We have over 54 concerts and we’ve done about 38 of them, so we’re well into the tour.”
However, unlike the old days, Cocker, now 65, doesn’t go out for months at a time. He finds it more effective to spread the performances out.
“It works best that way,” he said. “I finally told my manager, ‘40 shows and I need a rest.’ Vocally, I just need a break. That’s the call. I could hang in to make it 60 shows, but why kill ourselves? My thing is all about singing powerfully, pushing out what I’ve got, and I can’t do it half measure. I have to give it the blast.”
Cocker’s first album was released in 1968 and his latest, “Hymn for My Soul,” was released in 2007, and he’s had plenty of hits in between. He tackles many of those now-classic songs — from “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” to “Up Where We Belong” — in his 90-minute set.
“I don’t do much new stuff,” Cocker said. “We kick off with ‘Feelin’ Alright’ and ‘The Letter’ and toward the end I do ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On.’ We’ve worked on this arrangement over the years. It’s not necessarily in sync of when we recorded stuff. I’ve tried different things and once in awhile I just turn the set around.
“I’ve been doing the show now for about a year and a half and it works pretty good. I can usually tell by the audience reaction, how it goes up and down. I’m still blown away when we do songs like ‘You Are So Beautiful’ and the place goes quiet. You can hear a pin drop in some of the places. It’s fascinating.”
Contact contributing arts and music writer Don Thrasher at donaldthrasher8@aol.com.
How to go
Who: Joe Cocker
Where: Fraze Pavilion, 695 Lincoln Park Blvd., Kettering
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 30.
Cost: $30 lawn/terrace
More info: (937) 296-3300 or www.fraze.com
Artist info: www.cocker.com
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