Hard Knocks is a twenty-first studio album from Joe Cocker

Joe Cocker

John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...

, released on 1 October 2010 by Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

. This is the eagerly awaited and much anticipated new studio album marking Cocker's return to a more modern sound after a couple of albums featuring classic rhythm and blues songs. The album includes nine brand new songs produced by Matt Serletic

Matt Serletic

Matt Serletic is a record producer who has worked with several popular bands and artists for Atlantic Records, including Collective Soul, Matchbox Twenty, Blessid Union of Souls, Edwin McCain, Stacie Orrico, Taylor Hicks, Rob Thomas, and singer/songwriter Angie Aparo. Serletic will be working with...

 plus Cocker’s version of Dixie Chicks

Dixie Chicks

The Dixie Chicks are an American country band which has also successfully crossed over into other genres. The band is composed of founding members Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Erwin Robison, and lead singer Natalie Maines...

 song "I Hope", which was produced by Tony Brown

Tony Brown (record producer)

Tony Brown is an American country music record producer.He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina.Brown played piano for Elvis Presley. He toured with the TCB Band for much of Presley's final two years and was a part of the 1976 "Jungle Room" recording sessions at Graceland...

.

A "Limited Live Edition" CD+DVD version of the album is due in December. It features bonus live tracks off the album recorded at Le Zenith in Paris.

Track listing

1. Hard Knocks (Marc Broussard/Maxwell Aaron Ramsey/Shannon Sanders) - 3:24
2. Get On (Matt Serletic/Danny Myrick/Stephanie Bentley) - 3:28
3. Unforgiven (Mitch Allan/Kara Dioguardi/Nick Lachey/Dave Hodges) - 4:14
4. The Fall (Matt Serletic/Danny Myrick/Aimée Proal) - 3:49
5. So It Goes (Matt Serletic/Jeffrey Steele/Danny Myrick) - 3:21
6. Runaway Train (Ollie Marland) - 3:27
7. Stay The Same (Matt Serletic/Danny Myrick/Stephanie Bentley) - 4:39
8. Thankful (Matt Serletic/Kara Dioguardi) - 3:59
9. So (Chantal Kreviazuk/Thomas "Tawgs" Slater) - 3:56
10. I Hope (Kevin Moore/Martie Maguire/Natalie Maines/Emily Robison) - 4:46
11. Forever Changed - 3:51 - iTunes only bonus track

Limited Live Edition bonus tracks recorded live in Paris, 2010

1. Hard Knocks
2. Get On
3. Unforgiven
4. Thankful
5. You Are So Beautiful
6. With A Little Help From My Friends

Weekly charts

Chart (2010)	Peak position
Austria Alben Top 75	4
Belgium Ultratop 50 albums (Flanders) Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts...	32
Belgium Ultratop 50 albums (Wallonia) Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts...	41
Denmark Album Top 40 Tracklisten Tracklisten is a Danish top 40 record chart that is presented every Thursday midnight at .The weekly Danish Singles Chart also known as Track Top-40 combines the 40 best selling tracks from legal music downloads and the sales of music singles on either CD or vinyl...	21
France Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...	34
Germany Top 100 Albums Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...	1
Hungary Albums Chart Mahasz Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary....	20
Netherlands Album Top 100	41
Spain Top 100 Albums	86
Switzerland Albums Top 100 Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...	2
UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...	61

Year-end charts

Chart (2010)	Position
German Albums Chart	31

Certifications

Country	Provider	Certification
Germany	BVMI Bundesverband Musikindustrie The Bundesverband Musikindustrie or simply BVMI represents the music industry in Germany. The association represents the interests of nearly 350 labels and music industry related enterprises....	Platinum

Personnel

Lead vocals - Joe Cocker

Guitars - Ray Parker, Jr.

Ray Parker, Jr.

Ray Erskine Parker, Jr. , is an American guitarist, songwriter, producer and recording artist. Parker is known for writing and performing the theme song to the motion picture Ghostbusters, for his solo hits, and performing with his band Raydio as well as the late Barry White.-Early life and...

, Tim Pierce, Joel Shearer, Tom Bukovac

Tom Bukovac

Tom Bukovac is an American session musician.Bukovac began playing guitar at age ten, and started playing his first shows at age thirteen. He grew up in Willowick, Ohio and moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1992, where he found work playing for Tanya Tucker, Lionel Cartwright and others...

, Kenny Greenberg

Bass - Chris Chaney

Chris Chaney

Chris Chaney is a rock bass player who has performed with artists including Jane's Addiction, Alanis Morissette, Slash, and many others. He was the bass player in the third incarnation of Jane's Addiction and a member of Morissette's touring and recording band for seven years...

, Glenn Worf

Glenn Worf

Glenn Worf is one of the premier Nashville session bassists. He was born in Dayton, Ohio but grew up in Madison, Wisconsin and has concentrated on the bass guitar since he was thirteen. He majored in music at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. Inevitably his talents forced him to abandon the...

Drums - Josh Freese

Josh Freese

Josh Freese is an American session drummer and songwriter. He is a permanent member of A Perfect Circle, The Vandals, and Devo, having formerly played drums for Nine Inch Nails from late 2005 until late 2008, and for Guns N' Roses from mid-1998 to 2001. Freese has appeared on close to 300 records....

, Dorian Crozier

Dorian Crozier

- Drummer :A session drummer whose credits include Pink, Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, the film Rent, Celine Dion, Backstreet Boys, and David Cook...

, Matt Chamberlain

Matt Chamberlain

Matthew Chamberlain is an American drummer, producer and sound engineer. He is currently based in Los Angeles, California.-Early life:...

, Greg Morrow

Keyboards - Jamie Muhoberac

Jamie Muhoberac

Jamie Muhoberac is a session keyboardist with numerous credits, including The All-American Rejects, Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones , Backstreet Boys, Aly & AJ, Bob Dylan, Goo Goo Dolls, Chris Cornell , My Chemical Romance, Paradise Lost, Girlfriend, Carmen Rizzo and Pet Shop Boys...

, Matt Serletic

Matt Serletic

Matt Serletic is a record producer who has worked with several popular bands and artists for Atlantic Records, including Collective Soul, Matchbox Twenty, Blessid Union of Souls, Edwin McCain, Stacie Orrico, Taylor Hicks, Rob Thomas, and singer/songwriter Angie Aparo. Serletic will be working with...

Programming - Matt Serletic

Matt Serletic

Matt Serletic is a record producer who has worked with several popular bands and artists for Atlantic Records, including Collective Soul, Matchbox Twenty, Blessid Union of Souls, Edwin McCain, Stacie Orrico, Taylor Hicks, Rob Thomas, and singer/songwriter Angie Aparo. Serletic will be working with...

Synth, wurlitzer - Steve Nathan

Trombone - Jeff Babko

Saxophones - Cleto Escobedo III

Trumpet - Ron King

Ron King

Ron "Suki" King is a checkers player from Saint George, Barbados. He has won United States titles and twelve World Championship Titles at the game and is considered one of the strongest players of the game. He has been honored by his homeland being named Barbados's Sportsman of the Year in both...

Vocal Production - Sherree Brown, Rich King

Rich King

Richard Thomas King is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1st round of the 1991 NBA Draft out of the University of Nebraska. A 7'2", 260-lb...

, Judson Spence

Judson Spence

Judson Spence is an American pop music singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist based in Nashville, Tennessee. He originally gained fame when he released his eponymously titled debut solo effort on Atlantic Records in 1988...

Background vocals - Robyn Troup

Robyn Troup

Robyn Troup is an American singer who was the winner of the "My Grammy Moment" contest organized by NARAS and Yahoo! Music and announced at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards on February 11, 2007...

, Sherree Brown, Rich King

Rich King

Richard Thomas King is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1st round of the 1991 NBA Draft out of the University of Nebraska. A 7'2", 260-lb...

, Mabvuto Carpenter, Stephanie Bentley

Stephanie Bentley

Stephanie Kay Bentley is an American country music artist. She made her debut in 1996 as a duet partner on Ty Herndon's single "Heart Half Empty", which peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts...

, Kim Keys, Ashley Cleveland

Ashley Cleveland

Ashley Cleveland is an American singer/songwriter perhaps best known as a background vocalist and Grammy-winning gospel singer. Ashley Cleveland was born in Knoxville, Tennessee...

, Judson Spence

Judson Spence

Judson Spence is an American pop music singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist based in Nashville, Tennessee. He originally gained fame when he released his eponymously titled debut solo effort on Atlantic Records in 1988...

Cello, violin, viola - Stevie Blacke

Gospel Choir