Hymn for My Soul

Always possessed with a sandpaper growl that could add gripping pathos to even the most trivial material, Joe Cocker also often surrounded himself with bland, adult-contemporary arrangements. For Hymn for My Soul, he hit the L.A. studios with producer Ethan Johns, known for his raw, intimate recordings, and a cabal of top-notch session musicians, from drummer Jim Keltner and Tom Petty keyboardist Benmont Tench to Jethro Tull keyboardist Dave Palmer, and Motown bassist Bob Babbitt. Cocker still slicks it up in spots, but within reason. “One Word (Peace)” from the New Orleans based Subdudes spotlights a bevy of backing singers, and the Meters’ “Love is For Me” features a playful call and response that’s pure old school R&B from the Solomon Burke school of emotion. (He ably covers Burke’s “Don’t Give Up On Me.”) Bob Dylan’s “Ring Them Bells,” Stevie Wonder’s “You Haven’t Done Nothin’” and George Harrison’s “Beware of Darkness” are interpreted with surprising restraint. Cocker’s hardly reinvented himself; as a veteran, he’s set in his ways. But he’s chosen well amongst his players, producer, and tunes.