Joe Cocker: ''Classic Cocker''

Classic Cocker, this 19-track CD features hit singles from albums Cocker released via Capitol and Epic/550 and from major film soundtracks, including the Grammy-winning "Up Where We Belong," "You Are So Beautiful," and "With A Little Help From My Friends." A Deluxe Edition CD/DVD adds three filmed concert performances and five music videos. Both packages also include Cocker's 1975 hit ballad "You Are So Beautiful" and a new liner notes essay by music writer Scott Schinder.

Joe Cocker scored one of the biggest hits of his career in 1982 with the Grammy-winning single "Up Where We Belong," a lush romantic duet with Jennifer Warnes from the film An Officer and A Gentleman. That success signaled a high-profile career move for Cocker, and set the stage for his signing to Capitol/EMI. Cocker's lengthy stint with Capitol/EMI saw him undergo a major musical and career resurgence that restored him to the commercial prominence he'd had during his original rise to stardom in the late 1960s.

Cocker's first Capitol release was 1984's transitional Civilized Man, whose bracing title track previewed the sleek commercial sound that he would soon perfect. The same year saw Cocker contribute to another movie soundtrack, recording "Edge Of A Dream" for the film Teachers. Cocker, released in 1986, featured the wailing "Shelter Me" and a sly reading of Randy Newman's "You Can Leave Your Hat On;" the latter track prominently was featured in the film 9 1/2 Weeks.

Unchain My Heart, released in 1987, was widely acclaimed as Cocker's strongest effort in years, with producers Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnight modernizing the artist's sound in a manner that complemented his gritty vocals. Cocker rose to the occasion, giving his all on such numbers as "A Woman Loves A Man" and the title song, a pleading Ray Charles classic that Cocker manages to make his own. Cocker, Hartman and Midnight continued their successful formula on 1989's One Night Of Sin, coming up with a Top 10 hit in "When The Night Comes," co-written by Canadian rocker Bryan Adams and pro tunesmiths Jim Vallance and Diane Warren.

Cocker has long been renowned for his electrifying live performances, and the 1990 release Joe Cocker Live found him revisiting some of his early classics in a concert setting. 1992 saw the release of Night Calls, which became a major hit in Europe, thanks to such memorable tracks as the John Miles-penned "Now That The Magic Has Gone" and Cocker's forceful take on Gary Wright's "Love Is Alive." Also recorded during the Night Calls sessions, but not included on the album, was Cocker's heartfelt interpretation of Jimmy Ruffin's Motown classic "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted."

While he remained with EMI overseas, Cocker changed his North American affiliation to Epic/550 for his 1994 release Have A Little Faith, which got its title from Cocker's sensitive version of John Hiatt's "Have A Little Faith In Me." 1996's Organic was partially comprised of stripped-down acoustic tracks and featured an elegantly spare reworking of Cocker's Leon Russell-penned 1969 hit "Delta Lady," as well as a personalized reading of the Animals' "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."

Nearly four decades after he thrilled the throngs at Woodstock, Joe Cocker remains one of rock's preeminent survivors, continuing to record and tour prolifically. The music that he made during his Capitol years remains an essential chapter of his durable body of work.