The Joe Cocker flash and whimsy couldn't be better than on this two-LP set. And he gets real heavyweight support, as he belts out in his grimacing style, from his 36 "mad dogs and Englishmen," with it a group of talented musicians and chorus. Songs include those composed by Cohen, Redding, Lennon-McCartney, and Leon Russell.

- Billboard, 1970.

Bonus Reviews!

An impressive document, but the same overkill (eleven musicians plus nine backup singers) that was so exhilarating live wears a little thick over a double-LP, especially when you compare the four repeats from Cocker's two studio albums -- he sings more accurately when nobody's rushing him. I love Leon Russell's guitar raveup on "Feelin' Alright," though. And the New Orleans horn break on "Cry Me a River." And "The Letter." B+

- Robert Christgau, Christgau's Record Guide, 1981.

Joe Cocker is one of the few white voices able to sing the blues with both conviction and power. After the success of his "Ray Charles sings Lennon and McCartney" cover, "With A Little Help From My Friends," Cocker set off for a break in LA after months on the road. Having met Leon Russell at Woodstock, Cocker had him produce a second album and his massive hit "Delta Lady," so it was to Russell that Cocker turned when faced with the necessity of staging an American tour at short notice. The film and soundtrack outcome was the hastily assembled but well rehearsed one-off rock big band recorded here.

Recorded over two nights in March 1970 at the Filmore East, the Mad Dogs and Englishmen set includes some fine blues singing (with Rita Coolidge never far away), emotional work outs of "Delta Lady" and "The Letter," and covers of Beatles and Stones hits. Frankly, Cocker sounds so stoned or simply exhausted between tracks that his performances are all the more remarkable.

The sound is well mixed (under the auspices of Glyn Johns) and includes just the right amount of audience reaction but lacks the last ounce of dynamic pop and real transparency. The CD is cleaner in the dense brass and backing choir sections.

- David Prakel, Rock 'n' Roll on Compact Disc, 1987.

Further reading on Super Seventies RockSite!: Album Review: Something To Say Album Review: I Can Stand a Little Rain Joe Cocker: In His Own Words

The 1970 Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour which featured a great, brass-enhanced driving band led by Leon Russell behind Cocker's frenzied vocal antics was one of the decade's more hysterical events -- guaranteed excitement made pervasive by the successful motion picture diary of the tour, one of the first rock concert movies ever released. The sixteen selections are faultless picks (with the exception of Rita Coolidge's one contribution), but the fairly insistent high energy level, perhaps inevitable in this format, becomes somewhat wearing. The concert quality sound is also pretty consistent, and, while clean for its source, has a marked tendency to some overbrightness. B

- Bill Shapiro, Rock & Roll Review: A Guide to Good Rock on CD, 1991.

A superb document of Cocker's high-energy 1970 tour, it included about a zillion musicians and hangers-on. All the goods are here, and many consider this Cocker's last great moment. * * * *

- Tom Graves, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995.

Though the band Leon Russell assembled for the live Mad Dogs and Englishmen at times seems loose and intrusive, Cocker really shows his mettle by never letting it overwhelm him. * * * *

- Gary Graff, Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, 1996.

(Complete Fillmore East Concerts edition) Joe Cocker's cosmic-R&B big band of 1070 was one of rock's best-documented short-lived flukes. Pulled together in a week by ringmaster Leon Russell after Cocker found himself minus a backup band on the eve of a U.S. tour, Mad Dogs and Englishmen -- a mass of rhythm players, hornmen and voices, nearly two dozen strong -- dissolved after just two months on the road. But they cut a hit live album along the way and were the subject of a concert film. This six-CD box is more of that circus: four shows from two rousing nights in New York. The set lists vary only slightly. The shows all open with "Honky Tonk Women" and include a long R&B-ballad medley. But there are sublime curveballs: Cocker and Russell singing Bob Dylan's "Girl From the North Country" like a pair of road-worn hobos; the Lovin' Spoonful's "Darling Be Home Soon," transformed by Cocker's rusted pleading. He was then at the peak of his interpretive powers; he also takes rough, heated possession of Leonard Cohen's "Bird on a Wire" and Ray Charles' "Let's Go Get Stoned." But the miracle is the band: a pickup orchestra with saloon-soul swagger. When Cocker encores in the late shows the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends," it is with the grateful howl of a man who knows how lucky he is. * * * *

- David Fricke, Rolling Stone, 8/24/06.

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