Hymn For My Soul

Joe Cocker

“This is the most musical record I’ve made in a very long time,” says Joe Cocker of his latest new release, Hymn For My Soul. And these gospel-based tunes are very ‘musical’ indeed. Cocker has never been in such good voice. He’s also backed by a crackin’ bunch of players. We’re talking guys like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ pianist Benmont Tench; former Jethro Tull keyboardist David Palmer (Editor’s note: the “former Jethro Tull” came from the press release of this CD; last we heard, David Palmer was last going by the name “Dee” Palmer for specific reasons); bassist Bob Babbitt from legendary Motown Records’ studio band the Funk Brothers in the ‘60s and ‘70s; Hammond organist Mike Finnigan, who played on Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland; and drummer Jim Keltner, arguably the best session drummer in the world, drumming for everyone from John Lennon to Bob Dylan. Even Merry Clayton (the female voice on the Stones’ “Gimme Shelter”) adds some cool back-up vocals.

For me, things really start cooking during “Love Is For Me,” but fly at full speed with the simple arrangements of “Don’t Give Up On Me” and Cocker’s blistering take on John Fogerty’s “Long As I Can See The Light.” As producer Ethan Johns says about “Hymn,” ‘There are no synthesizers, no gadgetry. We didn’t use Pro Tools, and nailed every song in just a few takes.” One can definitely hear this on the record’s 12 tunes. I like the small group of players backing Cocker, the straight-ahead production and the overall gospel direction. And not that it ever would get airplay in the topsy-turvy atmosphere of modern radio, but the title track (written by Andy Fairweather-Low and issued with a “4” instead of a “For”) is an infectious ditty with the most commercial potential since “Up Where We Belong.”

A “bonus” track is Cocker’s take of the Beatles’ “Come Together,” which was featured in the Oscar-nominated movie, Across The Universe. A bit offbeat from the rest of the album, it’s nonetheless spectacular stuff with the infamous T-Bone Burnett leading a trio of producers and a whole bunch of horns to create a funky big version of the Lennon and McCartney fave (George Harrison’s “Beware Of Darkness” receives a more conservative interpretation).

But you haven’t lived until you hear Cocker’s cover of Dylan’s “Ring Them Bells.” It’s just the singer, Greig Leisz on steel guitar, Tench (remind me how good he is, if I ever forget, OK?!) and Palmer. It don’t get much better than this folks — Cocker doing Dylan with these players behind him! This song alone is worth the price of the CD. Typically, I’ll listen sight unseen — or is that ears unplugged? — to a new Joe Cocker album anytime. That this new Joe Cocker album happens to be Hymn For My Soul makes me all the more happier.

~ Ralph Greco, Jr.

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