Hilarious! [Been out for a while --at least a year or two-- but still funny!
I like JC, too; "High Time We Went" and "The Letter" are true classics. But he really isn't the greatest enunciator, and that Woodstock rendition just lends itself beautifully to this kind of humorous treatment. I'd enjoy more of those 'good for a laugh' translations of his other songs, as well as those of other singers who are similarly difficult to decipher at times.
I like what a guy named Dave Tianen wrote about Joe Cocker years ago, in a Milwaukee newspaper:
...there are two things that will always mark Joe Cocker as unique. First there's the stage presence, possibly the most singular in the history of rock. Even now, Joe is twitchier than Lindsey Buckingham off decaf.
The body language is somewhere between a seizure and Boris Karloff with the shakes. More to the point, it has a strange power, an almost morbid fascination. You begin to wonder, is this guy going to stroke out in the middle of "The Letter"?
More importantly, there's the voice. Anguish doesn't do it justice. Joe doesn't scream as much as he used to, but when he does, it's somewhere beyond human, like some large wild beast in torment. There's the feeling that some unseen hand is reaching in and tearing out internal organs.
Epilepsy reportedly has much to do with the body movements, but whatever it is, it IS bizarre to see at times, yet the guy sure can make some gripping music!
