With A Little Help From My Friends

Did He Ever Sing Out Of Tune?
Joe Crocker Dies At Age 70
 

Joe Cocker At Woodstock, 1969

Joe Cocker, one of the Icons of Our Generation, passed away yesterday. With his incredible energy and heart he had captured ours back in the day. With Joe's help (and that of the Beatles who wrote and originally recorded the hit song he covered) we learned that if we were just courageous enough to let our vulnerabilities be our blessings, we'd get by with a little help from our friends. 

That was an important teaching.

One of my cyber-friends, Luisa Capra, came across this wonderful YouTube video of Joe's appearance on German TV last year as he was being awarded the prestigious Goldene Kamera for 2013.  It touched me.  So I'm passing it along.

After being introduced to a lengthy standing ovation, Joe spoke for a bit.  (some of it being covered over by the German translator. Sigh.)  Then at age 69, he ROCKED THE HOUSE with a sizzling rendition of a recent release "I Come In Peace".  To Joe, 44 years after he took the stage at Woodstock, it was still all about Peace, Love -- and MUSIC!

As if that wasn't enough, Joe was then joined onstage by Jennifer Warnes (A spring chicken at age 66) to perform their 1982 hit "Up Where We Belong".  Written by a team that included Native American activist/songwriter Buffy Saint-Marie, the song had captured #1 on the Billboard Top #100 for several weeks that year, then won a Grammy and an Oscar for best original song. 

As the camera panned through the audience, I saw that I wasn't the only one in tears.

Thank you Joe. May You Rest -- and Rock On -- in Peace.