JOE COCKER Sweet Little Woman
Joe Cocker's 8th long player was 'Sheffield Steel' in 1982 and came four years after his previous work. 40 years ago the album was released and here in Australia it performed very well, making the Top 15 and generating a single in 'Sweet Little Woman' which narrowly missed the Top 40, peaking at #42 just before the end of '82 and just before the epic duet he recorded with Jennifer Warnes began its ascent on the local chart. That song: 'Up Where We Belong' would be a #1 hit and spent nearly 8 months in the chart through the entire first half of 1983; scooping a Grammy for the pair, and an Academy Award for the composers.
Also on 'Sheffield Steel' is Joe's cover of Brenda Russell's 1979 solo hit 'So Good So Right'. I have previously posted his version as a stand alone upload as well as a side by side 'battle' with Brenda. Another piece of meaningless trivia, I just noticed on the tracklisting on 'Sheffield Steel' is the Steve Winwood song 'Talking Back To The Night' which was the title of the opus that very same year that generated 'Still In The Game' and 'Valerie' both of which I posted last week, and coincidentally the same day that Joe's 'Sweet Little Woman' entered the Top 100 (October 4, 1982) so did Steve's 'Still In The Game'. Spooky.
'Sheffield Steel' was a patchy success all around the world, with Australia most enamored with it; as well as our neighbours New Zealand and Norway! It also fared well in Denmark and Canada, but sadly not in the two biggest markets - Joe's homeland of England, nor America. 'Sweet Little Woman' is a vibey and enjoyable return to form for the unique and brilliant voice of Joe Cocker. With its mix of blues, reggae, rock and soul, it is a delight and a shame that it wasn't a bigger hit, but Joe's pop culture pinnacle was literally was just around the corner thanks to An Officer and A Gentleman.