even though it’s been a month, I cannot wrap my head around the fact that the world has lost one of the most genuine and heartfelt artists in the industry. growing up, my parents were constantly blasting music through the sound system that was connected to every room on every floor in our house. Joe Cocker’s music was some of the earliest music i can remember listening to. my parents were crazy about him & i swear, definitely enjoyed playing air guitar and drums more than letting their kids sleep in on the weekends. i mean, they started blasting AC/DC, KISS, Joe Cocker & Led Zeppelin at like 8 am on Saturdays & Sundays & it didn’t stop until the family was all seated at the table for dinner. Joe Cocker’s music became some of my favorite music instantly & i found myself getting pulled in by the rawness of his vocals. his live album ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen” has to be one of the greatest live rock & roll albums to ever be recorded & inspired me immensely as a child to wanna be a singer.
anyway, i could go on & on about this guy & his music, but the most significant impact his music had on my life was the self esteem & reassurance that his version of ‘You Are So Beautiful’ provided for me. my mom said this had always been one of her favorite songs & once she had kids, his version of that song reminded her of “her little beautiful babies” & thus my parents sang me to sleep every night with that song. as a kid, falling asleep to the words “you are so beautiful to me, can’t you see? you’re everything i hoped for, you’re everything i need” totally erased all feelings of self doubt & self-consciousness. to this day, his version is still my all-time favorite song.
i wish i got to meet you, dude. your music has changed my life in so many ways & i’m more than thankful for that alone. i hope you rest in paradise knowing that your music will live on forever. we will miss ya, Joe Cocker.