Mad Dogs & Englishmen (album)

Mad Dogs & Englishmen
Live album by Joe Cocker
Released August 1970
Recorded 27–28 March 1970
Venue Fillmore East, New York City
Genre Rock
Length 78:44
136:30 (2005 Deluxe Edition)
Label A&M
Producer Denny Cordell, Leon Russell
Joe Cocker chronology
Joe Cocker!
(1969)Joe Cocker!1969		 Mad Dogs & Englishmen
(1970)		 Joe Cocker
(1972)Joe Cocker1972

Mad Dogs & Englishmen is a live album by Joe Cocker, released in 1970. The album's title is drawn from the 1931 Noël Coward song of the same name. Only four songs of the 16 on the original album were drawn from his first two studio albums. Besides the contributions of bandmate and musical director Leon Russell, it draws equally from rock (the Rolling Stones, Traffic, Bob Dylan, the Beatles) and soul (Ray Charles, Sam and Dave, Otis Redding). Accompanying Cocker is a choir, a three-piece horn section and several drummers.

The single "The Letter"/"Space Captain", recorded during rehearsals was released to coincide with the tour. The album yielded the single "Cry Me a River"/"Give Peace a Chance." "Ballad of Mad Dogs and Englishmen"/"Let It Be" was a non-album single from the movie soundtrack that featured Leon Russell and Claudia Lennear.

In 2005, Mad Dogs & Englishmen was released as a two-disc deluxe edition set through Universal Records to commemorate the album's 35th anniversary.[1]

In 2006, Mad Dogs & Englishmen was released as a six-disc box set under the title The Complete Fillmore East Concerts by Hip-O Select. Both early and late shows from March 27 and 28, 1970, were released in their entirety.

Background

According to the liner notes, Cocker needed to put together a band quickly for a U.S. tour that his management had organized. He was informed only on 12 March 1970 about the tour which would start on 20 March. Russell recruited the musicians, many from his prior association with Delaney and Bonnie (Rita Coolidge, Carl Radle, Jim Price, Jim Horn, Jim Keltner and Jim Gordon). Chris Stainton was held over from Cocker's Grease Band and Cocker's producer Denny Cordell was part of the backing vocalists.[2]

A decision was also made to film the tour resulting in the theatrically-released concert film of the same name.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]
Robert ChristgauB+[4]
Rolling Stone[5]

Pete Nartez's review in Rolling Stone was generally negative, assessing that the album was "formed on a few days' notice to meet contractual obligations, and sounds like, well, like a group that was formed on a few days' notice to meet contractual obligations." He praised the tracks "Feelin' Alright," "Give Peace a Chance" and "Delta Lady," but criticized the majority of the arrangements and said the album lacks stylistic variety.[6] A more recent review of the box set in the magazine was more positive, calling the band "a pickup orchestra with saloon-soul swagger."[5]

In a retrospective review for Allmusic, Bruce Eder praised the album for the unique sound created by the unconventionally large rock band. He noted that Cocker's creative presence on the album was drowned out by that of Russell, but held that this was not a bad thing.[3] Kevin Perry, writing Cocker's obituary in the NME,[7] described the album as a classic and one of two things (the other his cover of ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’) that first brought Cocker his fame.

Track listing

Vinyl

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Introduction" 0:44
2."Honky Tonk Women"Mick Jagger, Keith Richards3:47
3."Introduction" 0:17
4."Sticks and Stones"Titus Turner, Henry Glover2:37
5."Cry Me a River"Arthur Hamilton4:00
6."Bird on the Wire"Leonard Cohen6:37
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Feelin' Alright"Dave Mason5:47
8."Superstar" (lead vocal by Rita Coolidge)Leon Russell, Bonnie Bramlett5:02
9."Introduction" 0:16
10."Let's Go Get Stoned"Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Josephine Armstead7:30
Side three
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Blue Medley"
12:46
12."Introduction" 0:21
13."Girl from the North Country" (lead vocals by Cocker and Russell)Bob Dylan2:32
14."Give Peace a Chance"Russell, Bramlett4:14
Side four
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Introduction" 0:41
16."She Came in Through the Bathroom Window"John Lennon, Paul McCartney3:01
17."Space Captain"Matthew Moore5:15
18."The Letter"Wayne Carson Thompson4:46
19."Delta Lady"Russell5:40
Total length:78:44

2005 deluxe edition

CD AM 0602498860083 & 0602498860069 Made in The E.U.

The two-disc deluxe edition expanded and re-sequenced the order of the original album. Introductions from the original album were matched with their corresponding songs and the deluxe edition added about an hour of extra content, including lead vocals by Leon Russell, Don Preston and Claudia Lennear. The new edition also added previously-released Cocker covers such as "Darling Be Home Soon", "Something" and "With a Little Help from My Friends".

Four bonus tracks that were not recorded in concert were included. One was a rehearsal jam. The single ("The Letter/"Space Captain"), recorded during rehearsals on a sound stage, that was released to coincide with the tour was also included. "The Ballad of Mad Dogs and Englishmen" was recorded by Russell later in 1970 and released on his Leon Russell and the Shelter People album in 1971.

Personnel

Technical

Chart performance

Chart (1970) Peak
position
Australia 1
UK[8] 16
U.S. Billboard 2
Cash Box Album Charts 2
Record World Album Charts 1
Netherlands 9
Norway 20

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
United States (RIAA)[9] Gold 500,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ "Universal Music Group, the world's leading music company - Home Page". Universalmusic.com. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  2. ↑ "Mad Dogs and Englishmen". Aln2.albumlinernotes.com. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Mad Dogs & Englishmen - Joe Cocker". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  4. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Joe Cocker > Consumer Guide Reviews". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  5. 1 2 Fricke, David (24 August 2006). "Joe Cocker Mad Dogs and Englishmen: The Complete Fillmore East Concerts > Review". Rolling Stone (1007). p. 98. Archived from the original on 11 November 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2007.
  6. ↑ Nartez, Pete (1 October 1970). "Joe Cocker Mad Dogs and Englishmen > Review". Rolling Stone (67). Archived from the original on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  7. ↑ "Joe Cocker Dies: The Mad Dog's 5 Greatest Moments - NME". Nme.com. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  8. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 112. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  9. ↑ "American album certifications – Joe Cocker – Mad Dogs and Englishmen". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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