Joe Cocker
Hymn for My Soul (Fantasy)
ESSENTIAL "Hymn 4 My Soul"
Joe Cocker's voice was born old. On his 1969 debut album, his whiskey-and-rye growl turned the Beatles' "A Little Help From My Friends" into an iconic '60s anthem. So perhaps it's no surprise Cocker’s latest album sounds as fierce and gritty as his first. Still, the 64-year-old singer seems surprised, if grateful, to be alive. Like a gospel concert, "Hymn for My Soul" preaches acceptance and faith albeit in Cocker's raspy way. His covers of John Fogerty's "Long As I Can See the Light" and Bob Dylan's "Ring Them Bells" muse on mortality, while George Harrison's "Beware of Darkness" is filled with gruff longing. Cocker can't quite maintain the long notes now but substitutes power with skillful phrasing of his stillpotent voice. The only misstep is the bonus track, the Beatles' "Come Together." Jenna Bush might have chosen Cocker’s 1974 hit "You Are So Beautiful" for her wedding, but Cocker’s snarling cover of Stevie Wonder's "You Haven't Done Nothin'" rails at Jenna’s dad just as Wonder railed at Nixon. Some things just never get old. [Stephanie Schorow]
Joe Cocker performs at the Tweeter Center July 19.
