Joe Cocker's "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" is considered to be one of the best tours from the 70s. It was hastily arranged under a dubious contractual obligation, spearheaded by legendary piano player/arranger Leon Russell (of Wrecking Crew fame). He assembled a battalion of LA session musicians who all practiced 10 hours a day for a week, cut a single, and hit the road. At one point, the live band had swelled to 34 members, creating a sound that was like a freight train always on the verge of coming off the rails.
"Cry me a River" was known as a torch song that had become a jazz standard, but Cocker flipped it on his head turned it into an angry romp.Watch Russell with his goofy hat at 2:50 cut the whole band off with a flick of the wrist, let Cocker hit the vocal cadenza, and count them back in again like a troll growling from under a bridge - the band restarts like a 45 spinning back up to speed.
Personnel: Joe Cocker: vocals; Leon Russell: guitar, piano; Don Preston; guitar; Bobby Keys: tenor saxophone; Jim Price: trumpet; Chris Stainton: piano, organ; Carl Radle: bass guitar; Chuck Blackwell: drums, percussion; Jim Gordon, Jim Keltner: drums; Bobby Torres: congas; Sandy Konikoff: percussion; Daniel Moore, Donna Weiss, Matthew Moore, Pamela Polland, Rita Coolidge, Claudia Lennear, Bobby Jones, Donna Washburn, Nicole Barclay: background vocals.