Obituary for the day

Joe Cocker (photo, top), singer of With a Little Help From My Friends at Woodstock, later parodied by John Belushi (video above), is dead at seventy, and Forrest Wickman has his obituary at Slate:

British singer Joe Cocker, famous for his intense, growly performances of songs like The Beatles’ With a Little Help From My Friends, died recently from lung cancer. He was seventy years old.
Cocker’s iconic version of the song was a drastic reworking of the original, giving it an extended introduction with wailing organs and guitars, and stretching it out for several minutes. Cocker’s version went to Number One in the United Kingdom in 1968, and later became the opening theme for The Wonder Years, though his most famous performance came at Woodstock in 1969 (video at top).

Cocker also had a major hit in 1975 with his version of You Are So Beautiful (video above). He was known above all for his throat-tearing screams and flailing body movements— both often reminiscent of Ray Charles— which were famously parodied by John Belushi. Those looking for the quintessential Cocker moment should skip to about 4:45 in the video above. There was never any questioning Cocker’s passion.

Rico says another great one gone...