Music: Which One Is Joe?

The stage blacks out. "Now get ready for Joe Cocker!" a voice cries at New York's Fillmore East. In the darkness out in the hall, whispering slowly rises toward muted hysteria. Some 2,600 strong, the audience is primed for the evening's headliner, English Blues Singer Joe Cocker. The shouts begin: "Joe!" "Joe!" "Joe!" The lights come up.

Problem: which one is Joe? Out there on the stage is the largest—and most piebald—rock band in captivity. At stage left stands the chorus, 13 girls and boys dressed in everything from shawls to what look like tablecloths. At stage right sit the piano and...

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