- Title: GERMANY:JOE COCKER RELEASES HIS NEW ALBUM "ACROSS FROM MIDNIGHT"
- Date: 1st September 1997
- Summary: (REUTERS TELEVISION - ACCESS ALL) JOE COCKER (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH ) SAYING, "I WAS ASKED LIKE HOW MANY RECORDS I'VE MADE AND COMPARED TO SOMEONE LIKE BOB DYLAN. I'VE ONLY DONE, I THINK ITS PROBABLY JUST TWENTY, TWENTY-ONE ALBUMS AND THIS WILL BE TWENTY-TWO BUT I THINK IT HOLDS UP PRETTY WELL. IT DEPENDS IF YOU PREFER THE EARTHIER KIND OF STYLE I DO, YOU KNOW THE SCREAMING
- Embargoed: 16th September 1997 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Communications,Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVAB8T4BUTP8SOV4MSOG9KVK0PET
- Story Text: The voice still sounds the same, but Joe Cocker has not survived three decades in the music buisness by looking back to past triumphs.
His latest album, "Across from Midnight", puts Joe firmly in the musical present, with a little help from friends like Eros Ramazzotti, Tony Joe White and Graham Lyle. Their songs have brought out new facets of the gravelly voice beloved by fans the world over.
Now Joe Cocker is about to embark on what is possibly the biggest European tour of 1997, including an unprecedented 40 performances scheduled for Germany alone, a hotbed of Cocker-mania.
The appetite for Joe Cocker's music is certainly out there.
His last album "Have A Little Faith" notched up international sales of almost 2 million, (Germany accounted for 600,000 of those), whilst its predecessor, "Organic" sold in excess of 1 million.
He has been showered with awards in Britain and abroad. In his home town, Sheffield, Cocker was awarded an Honourary He has been showered with awards in Britain and abroad. In his home town, Sheffield, Cocker was awarded an Honourary Doctorate by the University for his services to music.
Now he is to receive one of France's highest cultural honours, "Chevalier De L'Ordre Des Arts et Des Lettres".
He is never one to rest on his laurels, Cocker is keen to reach new fans in previously uncharted territories.
"My fans in Europe, the Germans have stuck with me forever.
I've been doing very well with the French audience for the last couple of tours. We expanded the gigs, now we go to Poland, Russia, Czech Republic, even Lebanon," he said.
"Going to new areas makes the whole thing exciting." "Across from Midnight" has a strong international flavour; it started life in Los Angeles with producers Chris Lord Alge and Roger Davies and was finished off in London with Pete Smith at the helm.
The album is almost a tour in itself. Cocker gives a new spin to Bob Marley's reggae anthem "Could You Be Loved" the summer single off the album.
Cocker describes "N'oubliez Jamais" as a "strange little song" "On first hearing the song appealed to me. It's a reflective kind of song of a man looking back on his life and every generation has its way, its almost saying to the young you're bound to be different, I was a screw-up when I was young too," he said.
Eros Ramazzotti also contributed a tune, "That's All I Need to Know".
"I didn't actually work with Eros Ramazzotti. I've met him a few times on tour, we've been on the same bill, but he sent me the song 'That's All I Need to Know' but all I got was the piano and him going 'er er er'," Cocker said.
Cocker covered Squeeze's "Tempted By the Fruit of Another" a few years back and another Squeeze song is featured on "Across From Midnight". He chose "Loving You Tonight" for the album because it reminds him of Colorado, where he now lives.
With songs like these, and musicians of the calibre of Chris Stainton on piano and Tim Renwick on Guitar, Cocker With songs like these, and musicians of the calibre of Chris Stainton on piano and Tim Renwick on Guitar, Cocker and friends have created an album that has already won them a gold disc.
In his 30 years in the music business Cocker has seen every one of his albums reach platinum status. He was the only artist to perform at Woodstock twice. But retirement is the last thing on his mind.
"I'll just keep going until it hurts," Cocker vowed. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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