"With a Little Help From My Friends"

"JV: Well he [B.J. Wilson] made the first Joe Cocker record happen, A Little Help From My Friends, all that is him. RT: That's right. He just blows his way through stuff. He was so inventive" --- Jimmy Vivino and Robin Trower, 20th Century Guitar Magazine, December 2001

Interview: http://www.aezra.com/trower/rt_interview6.html Robin Trower: http://www.trowerpower.com Jimmy Vivino: http://jimmyvivino.com/jdiscs.html

I've always loved Joe Cocker's rendition of The Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends" and his bio ["Joe Cocker: With A Little Help From My Friends" by J.P. Bean, Omnibus Press, 1990] documents how they initially enlisted Steve Winwood, guitar (?) and Jim Capaldi, drums for the recording session.. But after 35 takes, it was clear that Capaldi "...wasn't getting the hang of the 3/4 time..." Producer Denny Cordell went home in tears over this, but somehow rallied and kicked the Traffic guys out, replacing them with Jimmy Page and B.J. Wilson for the next day's session, where "The Procol Harum man had a perfect waltz feel..." and they quickly got a Keeper. Joe said he'd always remember how great he felt when the song was finally right. I've listened to this recently, and the drumming is magnificent – especially the crescendo at the beginning – how often do you hear one of Those in Rock music? – and the trademark Dramatic Entrance after Joe sings the first few lines without drums. +++++++++++++++++++++++ This song beautifully demonstrates Stephen Braitman's excellent description: "BJ's drumming was almost literary - following and emphasizing the narrative with far more power and passion than any mere beat structure.... [He] created... grandeur with stunning punctuations, great open spaces, surprising reversals of rhythm....."

The nucleus of Joe Cocker's greatest lineup: B.J. Wilson, drums; Cliff Goodwin, lead guitar. In concert, 1981.