Joe Cocker, who died Monday at 70, had been suffering from small cell lung cancer for some time.
Best known for his eruptive shrieks and his barrel-chested tone, Cocker carved out yet another trademark with his flailing hand motions.
They made him seem like either a man afflicted with a physical condition or a man possessed.
Either way, the approach gave him the image of a singer so committed to the pain and truth of the material, he would drive himself to ruin to get the emotion of a song across.
Few vocalists sang as hard as Cocker.
Like Janis Joplin, he threw himself into his performances with a fury that could frighten as well as rivet.
Cocker's performance in the Woodstock movie, on a version of The Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends," built to a volcanic series of crescendos.
They allowed Cocker to turn what had been a charming ode to kinship into a desperate cri de coeur.
John Robert Cocker, born on May 20, 1944, grew up in Sheffield, the youngest son of a civil servant. He earned what later became his stage name from a childhood game "Cowboy Joe."
Cocker first performed in 1961 under the name Vance Arnold in a blues group known as Vance Arnold and the Avengers. Even then, his vocals showed the clear influence of his boyhood idol, Ray Charles.
Cocker had a similar timbre and pitch to Charles. They both owned husky voices that resounded deeply. For a twist, Cocker applied Charles' bluesy and soulful inflections to the
