Laguna Beach Singer Spoils Bad Joe Cocker, But He’s Also A Singer And Vocalist – Orange County Register

Joe Cocker’s seesaw magic came to life last week at Laguna Woods’ Clubhouse 5 with Jason Feddy and his nine-piece band, Mad Dogs and the Englishman.

Local rockers call the group a tribute to a musician.

“Joe sings songs by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, many of my favorite artists. He rarely writes anything himself,” Feddy said in an interview. “He’s really a tribute band himself, except he sings songs in his own style.”

“Mad Dogs & Englishmen” is the name of Cocker’s live and touring album in 1970, which stood on top of a saturated Beatle world and became an inspiration for Feddy and his band. The title is based on the remark that “only mad dogs and Britons go out in midday sun”, expressing the naivety of mist-soaked Britons in hot climates.

Look at clips of Feddy’s performances – as he performed the Beatles’ Sunday afternoon gigs at the Laguna Beach Arts Festival for seven years, or performed at the Sawdust Festival or sang in pubs and concerts in the park – viewers will see similarities between him and Cocker, two raspy, shaggy-haired performers.

“Joe was born and raised 30 miles from where I live. His singing style is defined by his voice – I can hear the Yorkshireman in him; you can hear the Yorkshireman in me,” says Feddy, who grew up in Leeds and moved to the US in 2000,.

What’s remarkable about Cocker, who passed away in 2014, is the puppet-like, almost spastic hand and body movements that some have attempted to attribute to physical missteps. But they were only part of Cocker’s style of performance because as a singer he didn’t have an instrument to play on stage.

Feddy said he alludes to the movements but doesn’t mimic them outright.

“I am not impersonating Cocker,” he said.

Musically evoking Cocker is just one part of Feddy’s professional personality.

Fluent in Hebrew, Feddy is a singer at the Temple of Isaiah in Newport Beach and a Jewish Collaborator of Orange County.

Before the pandemic, he was also an active contributor to local radio station KX935, now KX FM.

Feddy and his actress wife, Ava Burton, also starred in the critically acclaimed play “Shakespeare’s Fool,” a witty piece of troubadour’s prose. Most recently, the show was done with a large cast at the Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center.

During the pandemic, the couple started an internet show called “Pageant of the Mattress” in which they sat on a bed in the living room and entertained fans with music and jokes. witty.

“People were collecting money, and we could make a living from it,” Feddy said.

And that defined Feddy’s life. As he said, “I never had a real job. I have always been a musician. I am not qualified to do anything else. I confused myself by lifting myself up – it was a miracle.”