It's been too long since we posted another Woodstock 1969 video, so we're going to remedy that right now. Today's video features an iconic performance by Joe Cocker, singing the heck out of the Beatles classic "With A Little Help From My Friends." Cocker took the original's sing-songy melody from Ringo Starr and proceeded to grab it by the throat and sing it to within an inch of its life. It's an astonishingly intense performance, but one you'd expect from a wild English blues-rock singer like Cocker. This was back when Cocker and others like Rod Stewart, Steve Marriott, and Steve Winwood elevated blue-eyed-soul singing to an art form. We hate when people say this sort of thing, but in this case it may be true: they don't make 'em like Cocker and the rest of those guys anymore.
Also, for those of us of a certain age, our first experience with Cocker's version was hearing it as the opening theme to The Wonder Years. Did Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper ever make it to Woodstock?
In Woodstock book news, the recent Publishers Weekly feature on all books Woodstock (including ours), along with our other publicity efforts, have lead to a small flurry of activity around the book. Look for some more interviews with author Joel Makower in the very near future (including one on this blog), and some possible events for the book tied into the 40th anniversary celebrations taking place this summer.
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