Joe Cocker - Sheffield Steel LP

Without a label since 1978, Joe Cocker signed to Island Records in 1981. Chris Blackwell (head of Island) took him to the Bahamas, where he recorded a 12" single, "Sweet Little Woman"/"Look What You've Done", and continued working on a full length album: Sheffield Steel. It was released a year later. The instrumentalists were the Compass Point All-Stars, led by legendary session musicians Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. They supplied the steady tropical groove for most tracks.

Typically, however, Cocker made his own a group of high-quality songs from major songwriters. Bob Dylan's "Seven Days" was an obscure tune only previously heard in a 1979 recording by Ron Wood. Cocker succeeded with Randy Newman's "Marie". Cocker got a jump on what would be the title track to Steve Winwood's next album, "Talking Back to the Night," and he approached Jimmy Webb's "Just Like Always" with delicacy. The result was a successful album, which put Cocker's name back on the map.