“Joe Cocker is a performer who defies credibility . . . Think back to how drastically his early triumphs – ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’ or ‘Just Like a Woman’ or ‘Darling Be Home Soon’ or ‘Bird on the Wire’ – departed from the originals; he literally forced us to rehear those songs . . . Cocker and Leon Russell funkified pop so persuasively that they set up their own mini-tradition.” – Robert Christgau, Village Voice Consumer Guide
Photographer Linda Wolf helped Capilano University’s director of programming Fiona Black introduce the Mad Dogs and Vancouverites concert on Saturday night at Kay Meek as part of CapU’s Global Roots series.
Wolf, one of the official photographers on the original Mad Dogs tour in 1970, came to Vancouver with her husband especially to attend the show.
Mad Dogs and Vancouverites, led by musician Steve Dawson, put on a two-night extravaganza at the West Vancouver arts centre with a program that featured (as Black described it) “showstopper after showstopper.”
Dawson, born and raised in West Vancouver but now based in Nashville, has made it an annual tradition for the past few years to come back to the West Coast and pay tribute to one classic album live with a band made up of some of his favourite Vancouver musicians.
Choosing Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen for this year’s template gave Dawson and company a rich repertoire to work with.
The band (Jeremy Holmes - bass, Geoff Hicks - drums, Liam MacDonald - percussion, Chris Gestrin - keys, Malcolm Aiken - trumpet, Dominic Conway - saxophone, Jerry Cook - saxophone and Dawson on guitars) laid down some funk to kick off Saturday night with an instrumental version of “The Letter,” which would have made Booker T. and the M.G.’s proud.
Through the following two sets the house band accompanied a who’s who of Vancouver talent, including CR Avery, Roy Forbes, Rich Hope, Khari Wendell McClelland, Ndidi Onukwulu and Dawn Pemberton, on songs made famous on the Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. Joining the Vancouverites for both nights was East Coast bluesman Matt Andersen who has been working on his latest album with Dawson producing.
Dawson and the rhythm and horn sections remained on stage all night while the vocalists rotated on and off stage singing at least two songs each on their own over the two sets and helping out on some of the other tunes.
Just like Cocker, who was a brilliant interpreter of other artists’ material, the Vancouverites made each song their own from Ndidi O’s sublime “Cry Me A River” on down through the intense closer “With A Little Help from My Friends” which featured Matt Andersen trading vocals with Ndidi and the entire group on stage lending support for full power mode.
Every vocalist contributed unique elements to the evening’s music. Both sets flowed relatively smoothly considering the band had all of one day of rehearsals. The Mad Dogs and Englishmen were a “dream band” in Dawson’s world and the musicians he put together for the weekend matched the original lineup in playing tight and keeping it loose.
Set 1
1) Instrumental ‘Letter’
2) Cry Me A River (Ndidi O)
3) Sticks and Stones (Dawn Pemberton)
4) Delta Lady (Khari Wendell McClelland)
5) Farther On Up The Road (Steve Dawson)
6) Feelin’ Alright (Rich Hope)
7) Give Peace A Chance (CR Avery)
8) Drown In My Own Tears (Roy Forbes)
9) Intro/Honky Tonk Women (Matt Andersen and others)
10) The Weight
(Matt and others)
Set 2
1) Darling Be Home Soon (Matt Andersen)
2) Let’s Go Get Stoned (Rich Hope)
3) Bathroom Window (CR Avery)
4) Something (Khari Wendell McClelland)
5) Girl from The North Country (Steve Dawson)
6) Bird On A Wire (Roy Forbes)
7) Hummingbird (Ndidi O)
8) Space Captain (Khari and others)
9) The Letter (Dawn Pemberton)
10) Little Help From My Friends (Matt/everybody)
