Mad Dogs and Englishmen (album)

Background

According to the liner notes, Cocker needed to put together a band quickly for a U.S. tour that his management had organized. He was only informed on 12 March 1970 about the tour which would start on 20 March. Russell recruited the musicians, many from his prior association with Delaney and Bonnie (Rita Coolidge, Carl Radle, Jim Price, Jim Horn, Jim Keltner and Jim Gordon). Chris Stainton was held over from Cocker's Grease Band and Cocker's producer Denny Cordell was part of the backing vocalists.

A decision was also made to film the tour resulting in the theatrically-released concert film of the same name.

Reception

Pete Nartez's review in Rolling Stone was generally negative, assessing that the album was "formed on a few days' notice to meet contractual obligations, and sounds like, well, like a group that was formed on a few days' notice to meet contractual obligations." He praised the tracks "Feelin' Alright," "Give Peace a Chance" and "Delta Lady," but criticized the majority of the arrangements and said the album lacks stylistic variety. A more recent review of the box set in the magazine was more positive, calling the band "a pickup orchestra with saloon-soul swagger."

In a retrospective review for Allmusic, Bruce Eder praised the album for the unique sound created by the unconventionally large rock band. He noted that Cocker's creative presence on the album was drowned out by that of Russell, but held that this was not a bad thing.

Side one

1. "Introduction" – 0:44
2. "Honky Tonk Women" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 3:47
3. "Introduction" – 0:17
4. "Sticks and Stones" (Titus Turner, Henry Glover) – 2:37
5. "Cry Me a River" (Arthur Hamilton) – 4:00
6. "Bird on the Wire" (Leonard Cohen) – 6:37

Side two

1. "Feelin' Alright" (Dave Mason) – 5:47
2. "Superstar" (Leon Russell, Bonnie Bramlett) – 5:02 (lead vocal by Rita Coolidge)
3. "Introduction" – 0:16
4. "Let's Go Get Stoned" (Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Josephine Armstead) – 7:30

Side three

1. "Blue Medley" – 12:46
   1. a. "I'll Drown in My Own Tears" (Henry Glover)
   2. b. "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby" (Isaac Hayes, David Porter) (co-lead vocal by Bobby Jones)
   3. c. "I've Been Loving You Too Long" (Otis Redding, Jerry Butler)
2. "Introduction" – 0:21
3. "Girl from the North Country" (Bob Dylan) – 2:32 (lead vocals Joe Cocker and Leon Russell)
4. "Give Peace a Chance" (Russell/Bramlett) – 4:14

Side four

1. "Introduction" – 0:41
2. "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 3:01
3. "Space Captain" (Matthew Moore) – 5:15
4. "The Letter" (Wayne Carson Thompson) – 4:46
5. "Delta Lady" (Russell) – 5:40

2005 Deluxe Edition

CD AM 0602498860083 & 0602498860069 Made in The E.U.

Disc 1

1. "Honky Tonk Women" - 4:57
2. "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" - 3:18
3. "The Weight" (Robbie Robertson) - 5:57
4. "Sticks And Stones" - 2:46
5. "Bird On A Wire" - 6:31
6. "Cry Me A River" - 4:05
7. "Superstar" - 4:59
8. "Feelin' Alright" - 5:47
9. "Something" (George Harrison) - 5:33
10. "Darling Be Home Soon" (John Sebastian) - 5:47
11. "Let It Be" (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) - 3:40 (Lead vocal by Claudia Lennear)
12. "Further On Up The Road" (Joe Medwick/Don Robey) - 4:00 (lead vocal by Don Preston)

Disc 2

1. "Let's Go Get Stoned" - 8:05
2. "Space Captain" - 5:20
3. "Hummingbird" (Leon Russell)- 4:08 (lead vocal by Russell)
4. "Dixie Lullaby" (Russell/Chris Stainton) - 2:58 (lead vocal by Russell)
5. "The Letter" - 4:33
6. "Delta Lady" - 7:03
7. "Give Peace A Chance" - 4:46
8. "Blue Medley" – 12:37
   1. a. "I'll Drown in My Own Tears"
   2. b. "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby"
   3. c. "I've Been Loving You Too Long"
9. "With A Little Help From My Friends" (Lennon/McCartney) - 8:40
10. "Girl From The North Country" - 2:45
11. Warm-Up Jam Including "Under My Thumb" (Jagger/Richards) - 5:45
12. "The Letter" - 4:10 (single version)
13. "Space Captain" - 4:29 (single version)
14. "The Ballad Of Mad Dogs And Englishmen" (Russell) - 3:59 (lead vocal Russell; studio version)

The two-disc deluxe edition expanded and resequenced the order of the original album. Introductions from the original album were matched with their corresponding songs and the deluxe edition added about an hour of extra content, including vocals by Leon Russell, Don Preston and Claudia Lennear. The new edition also added other well-known Cocker covers such as "Darling Be Home Soon," "Something" and "With A Little Help From My Friends", all of which were absent from the original release.

Four bonus tracks that were not recorded in concert were included. One was a rehearsal jam. The single ("The Letter/"Space Captain"), recorded during rehearsals on a sound stage, that was released to coincide with the tour was also included. "The Ballad of Mad Dogs and Englishmen" was recorded by Russell later in 1970 and released on his Leon Russell and the Shelter People album in 1971.

Personnel