Mad Dogs & Englishmen (album)

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 and Leon Russell's "Ballad of Mad Dogs and Englishmen". 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 & Dave, Otis Redding, the Box Tops). Accompanying Cocker is a choir, a three-piece horn section and several drummers.

Mad Dogs & Englishmen
Live album by
Joe Cocker
ReleasedAugust 1970
Recorded27–28 March 1970
VenueFillmore East, New York City
GenreRock, soul music, blues
Length78:44
136:30 (2005 Deluxe Edition)
LabelA&M
ProducerDenny Cordell, Leon Russell
Joe Cocker chronology
Joe Cocker!
(1969)		 Mad Dogs & Englishmen
(1970)		 Joe Cocker
(1972)

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 single from the movie soundtrack that featured Leon Russell and Claudia Lennear. The Leon Russell song was also released on his album Leon Russell and the Shelter People.

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 Mad Dogs & Englishmen: 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 & 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, as was Nicole Barclay of the band Fanny, and Claudia Lennear, the supposed subject of the Rolling Stones' hit, "Brown Sugar".[2]

The tour was filmed, resulting in the theatrically-released concert film of the same name.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[4]
Rolling Stone[5]

Initially, 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 same 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.

In 1971 at the 13th Annual Grammy Awards, Mad Dogs & Englishmen was nominated for the Grammy for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Male. "Everything is Beautiful" by Ray Stevens won the Grammy in that category.[8] In 2021, Mad Dogs & Englishmen was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[9]

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Introduction (uncredited: "Turn on Your Love Light")" 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, Delaney Bramlett (though credited to Bonnie Bramlett for contractual reasons)5:02
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"Leon Russell, Bonnie 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"Leon Russell5:40
Total length:78:44

2005 deluxe edition

The two-disc deluxe edition expanded and re-sequenced the order of the original album to more closely reflect the actual order of the songs' presentation in concert. Introductions from the original album were matched with their corresponding songs, with about an hour of additional content, including songs with lead vocals performed by Leon Russell, Don Preston and Claudia Lennear as noted above. 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.

Disc one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Honky Tonk Women" 4:57
2."She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" 3:18
3."The Weight"Robbie Robertson5:57
4."Sticks and Stones" 2:46
5."Bird On the Wire" 6:31
6."Cry Me a River" 4:05
7."Superstar" 4:59
8."Feelin' Alright" 5:47
9."Something"George Harrison5:33
10."Darling Be Home Soon"John Sebastian5:47
11."Let It Be" (lead vocal by Claudia Lennear)Lennon, McCartney3:40
12."Further Up the Road" (lead vocal by Don Preston)Joe Medwick, Don Robey4:00
Disc two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Let's Go Get Stoned" 8:05
14."Space Captain" 5:20
15."Hummingbird" (lead vocal by Russell)Russell4:08
16."Dixie Lullaby" (lead vocal by Russell)Russell, Chris Stainton2:58
17."The Letter" 4:33
18."Delta Lady" 7:03
19."Give Peace a Chance" 4:46
20."Blue Medley"
  • a. "I'll Drown in My Own Tears"
  • b. "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby"
  • c. "I've Been Loving You Too Long"
 12:37
21."With a Little Help From My Friends"Lennon, McCartney8:40
22."Girl From the North Country" 2:45
23."Warm Up Jam Including "Under My Thumb""Jagger, Richards5:45
24."The Letter" (single version) 4:10
25."Space Captain" (single version) 4:29
26."The Ballad of Mad Dogs and Englishmen" (lead vocal by Russell; studio recording)Russell3:59

Personnel
Technical

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[22] Gold 500,000^

^ 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. "Mad Dogs & Englishmen - Joe Cocker". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  4. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: C". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 23 February 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  5. Fricke, David (24 August 2006). "Joe Cocker Mad Dogs and Englishmen: The Complete Fillmore East Concerts > Review". Rolling Stone. No. 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. No. 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. https://www.grammy.com/awards/13th-annual-grammy-awards
  9. https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award#m
  10. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  11. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 3700". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  12. "Dutchcharts.nl – Joe Cocker – Mad Dogs & Englishmen" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  13. "Norwegiancharts.com – Joe Cocker – Mad Dogs & Englishmen". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  14. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 112. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  15. "Joe Cocker Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  16. "Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Cashbox. Vol. 32, no. 15. 3 October 1970. p. 37. ISSN 0008-7289. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  17. "Top 100 LP's" (PDF). Record World. Vol. 25, no. 1214. 19 September 1970. p. 26. ISSN 0034-1622. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  18. "Best Albums of 1970" (PDF). Cashbox. Vol. 32, no. 27. 26 December 1970. p. 46. ISSN 0008-7289. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  19. "Album Award Winners" (PDF). Record World. Vol. 70, no. 1229. 26 December 1970. p. 15. ISSN 0034-1622. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  20. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1971" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  21. "Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End". Billboard. Archived from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  22. "American album certifications – Joe Cocker – Mad Dogs and Englishmen". Recording Industry Association of America.
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