Joe Cocker Documentary Premiering On YouTube

11-05-2025

(Official Announcement) UMe celebrates the life and music legacy of Joe Cocker with the premiere of the documentary and concert film, Mad Dogs & Englishmen, on YouTube in its entirety for the first time on November 06, 2025.

The premiere coincides with the late GRAMMY Award-winning icon's posthumous induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of the "Class of 2025" this weekend. The ceremony takes place on Saturday, November 8, 2025 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, CA, and it will be streaming live on Disney+ beginning at 8pm ET.

Helmed by director Pierre Adidge, Mad Dogs & Englishmen originally debuted in theaters on March 29, 1971. The film famously followed Cocker on his 1970 North American tour accompanied by Leon Russell.

It unfolds as a captivating time capsule of the seventies, bottling the sights and sounds of the decade within its two-hour runtime. A split-screen displays Cocker's full-bodied renditions of classics like "Delta Lady" and "Feeling Alright." Drenched in sweat, he projects his bold, bluesy wail with wild-eyed intensity and manic emotion backed by an elite cohort of musicians and Russell's loose six-string sorcery as sold-out crowds can't turn away. The film introduces key characters like tour manager Sherman "Smitty" Jones and infamous figures a la "The International Butter Queen." It jumps between moments in tour buses, vans, and on planes and pulls the viewer into the middle of a pre-show huddle led by Russell who urges, "Feel the energy in the room, circling for a landing"-just until he leads a singalong of "Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)" to warm up his comrades.

Some of the most poignant moments include backstage interview footage. Speaking off-the-cuff, Cocker recalls with a laugh, "I used to sing in front of the mirror with a tennis racket...full of sh*t I am," he chuckles.

However, he also delivers words of wisdom, "If you really want results, you have to forget everything you have of your old self, let's say, and just surrender to what's going on."

Mad Dogs & Englishmen shows him doing just that.

Hailed for its captivating live footage and top-notch sound, it garnered widespread critical praise. Writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, the late Roger Ebert applauded it for "the best rock coverage since Woodstock," going on to attest, "The sound is first rate, for one thing." The New York Times went as far as to christen it "one of the best concert films so far." Join the official watch page here

Additionally, in conjunction with his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, three timeless records from Cocker's catalog were notably reissued on Vinyl in October. With A Little Help From My Friends [1967] and Joe Cocker! [1969] were both respectively re-released on new 1LP Standard Black Vinyl. Meanwhile, his live album, Mad Dogs & Englishmen, was reissued on 2LP standard Black Vinyl just last week. Fans may purchase here