Another one from 1970, following on from last week’s 60s Boxtops song.

Joe Cocker is perhaps most famous for his reworking of the somewhat bland, almost throwaway, With a Little Help From My Friends from the Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper, making that song into something unforgettable (though eminently parodyable) and in his “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” incarnation also had a 1960s hit with the Leon Russell song Delta Lady, but they later also transformed the Boxtops hit The Letter.

Joe Cocker: The Letter

Here, for comparison purposes, is the version by the Box Tops:-

The Box Tops: The Letter

Not their first hit, which was The Letter, but I bought this.

The Box Tops: Cry Like A Baby

I also enjoyed the B-side, The Door You Closed To Me.

There’s more than a hint of gospel in the Box Tops’ œuvre.

The Box Tops: The Door You Closed To Me