Joe Cocker: Mad Dog with Soul

Impressive document on the life and career of Joe Cocker. Successes and failures, addictions and much more revolve around him like a merry-go-round,the whole thing make up a fascinating life, perhaps they are missing in the documentary more performances and maybe the opinions of the guests should be shorter.Thank you Joe wherever you are.

This documentary kept me captivated and wanting to delve deep into Joe Cocker's discography. But I couldn't help think it focused far too much on Joe's struggles with alcohol and drugs - even for a documentary of this type, it was overloaded.

Joe Cocker had one of the greatest rock voices of all-time - yet not enough about Joe's incredible musicianship is featured here. Woodstock and the 'Mad Dog' phase of his career is highlighted, but after that many career and life phases are quickly glossed over in favour of random people complaining about his alcoholism and its impact on performances.

Almost every musician has had these substance abuse issues. They're the same over and over. But there has only ever been one Joe Cocker, and his incredible uniqueness should've been a much stronger focus of this documentary! In saying that, I still enjoyed this, despite coming away not really learning a lot about who Joe was as a person.

Rest in peace, mate. You were one of a kind.

Joe Cocker: Mad Dog with Soul (2017)

**** (out of 4)

Recent times have been very mixed for music fans as so many of our most beloved artists are dying off. At the same time, the documentary business is booming as so many artists are getting wonderful tributes to them. Both cases are true for the legendary Cocker who passed away in 2014 but here's a terrific documentary that will help keep his legacy going through the decades.

I really loved the way this documentary presented itself as it pretty much tells Cocker's young life and then we get into a year- by-year look at his musical talents. This includes his breakthrough, his performance at Woodstock and the infamous Mad Dogs and Englishman tour. From here we see the various issues that the drugs and alcohol caused and, as Billy Joel states, how he was like a cockroach and everything you thought he was done he'd come back with another terrific single.

If you're a fan of Cocker then you're going to love this documentary, which is full of touching interviews as well as plenty of archival concert footage. Interviews feature his widow, his brother as well as various musicians and producers that he worked with. All of them give you a great idea of what made Cocker who he was and it covers the darker times where he struggled with a various of issues. The documentary also focuses on that wonderful voice and the amazing songs that we'd get from it.

JOE COCKER: MAD DOG WITH SOUL is certainly a highly entertaining documentary and it does a fantastic job at covering all the highs and lows of the man's career. One really couldn't have asked for a better documentary.

I always thought Joe had "that" thing... that voice, that presence, whatever you want to call it. So very few singers these days could even stand in his shadow.

I'm just a fan... not a critic, but I know I will watch this documentary over and over just to remind myself that at one time, Joe Cocker lived among us.

What a blessing.

Hard to believe that this documentary could interview core member Chris Stainton at length and make extensive use of music performed by the Grease Band but largely ignore who else comprised Cocker's seminal band at the time. Seriously, the late great Henry McCullough (later of Paul McCartney's Wings (Mach One) didn't merit so much as a mention? The Grease Band was Cocker's original backing band and backed him at Woodstock, then released a couple of albums after having been basically dismissed to accommodate Leon Russell's desires for the Mad Dogs & Englishmen. Bad enough to have been treated so dismissively then but unforgivable in a documentary.