Mad Dogs & Englishmen (album)

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Mad Dogs & Englishmen
Mdae.jpg
Live album by
Joe Cocker
ReleasedAugust 1970
Recorded27–28 March 1970
VenueFillmore East, New York City
GenreRock
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)

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 and Dave, Otis Redding). Accompanying Cocker is a choir, a three-piece horn section and several drummers.

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 and 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.[2]

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

Reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic4.5/5 stars[3]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[4]
Rolling Stone4/5 stars[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.

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, Bonnie Bramlett5:02
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"
  • Glover
  • Isaac Hayes, David Porter
  • Otis Redding, Jerry Butler
    		• 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"Russell, 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"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

    Chart performance[]

    Chart (1970) Peak
    position
    Australia 1
    UK[8] 16
    U.S. Billboard 2
    Cash Box Album Charts 2
    Record World Album Charts 1
    Netherlands 9
    Norway 20

    Certifications[]

    Region Certification Certified units/sales
    United States (RIAA)[9] 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. ^ Jump up to: a b "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. ^ Jump up to: a b Fricke, David (24 August 2006). "Joe Cocker Mad Dogs and Englishmen: The Complete Fillmore East Concerts > Review". Rolling Stone (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 (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. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 112. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
    9. ^ "American album certifications – Joe Cocker – Mad Dogs and Englishmen". Recording Industry Association of America.

    External links[]

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