Rock Legend Joe Cocker's New Single "Hard Knocks" Amazon's "Song of the Day" for January 14th

NORTH AMERICAN RELEASE OF NEW ALBUM SET FOR JAN. 24TH ON 429 RECORDS

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 13, 2012  -- Joe Cocker is without a doubt, a true musical legend. With 40 years and counting as a major player in the music business, the singer with that unmistakable bluesy soul voice has earned countless accolades for his artistry—Grammys, Golden Globes, Academy Awards and platinum selling albums worldwide. The iconic singer is now signed to 429 Records in North America and is gearing up for the release of "HARD KNOCKS"—his 21^st album. The first single, title track "Hard Knocks," has been chosen as Amazon's "Song of the Day" for January 14 ^th. The single will be highlighted as one of the best current singles on Amazon's CD and MP3 pages.

"HARD KNOCKS" is a collection of 9 all new songs plus a cover version of the Dixie Chicks' "I Hope." Produced by Matt Serletic (Matchbox 20, Carlos Santana), "HARD KNOCKS" has the timeless "Cocker" sound fusing soul, pop and rhythm and blues into an undeniably infectious mix of a singularly unique contemporary style. "HARD KNOCKS" will be available on 429 Records on January 24th.

The recording sessions took place in Serletic's own Emblem studios in Los Angeles involving a host of acclaimed musicians like Ray Parker Jr., Tim Pierce and Joel Shearer on guitar, Josh Freese, Matt Chamberlain and Dorian Crozier on drums, Chris Chaney on bass and Jamie Muhoberac on keyboards. The songs were mixed by Chris Lord-Alge and mastered by Bob Ludwig. Songwriters Kara Dioguardi of recent American Idol fame and Marc Broussard have contributed songs to the collection.

Says Cocker, "I don't really know what you would call this album: 'rock/pop'? It's a little more pop than I've been into for quite a while so it would scare me sometimes. I would do the basic tracks and then Matt would go away and do some of these overdubs and he had all these electronic things on there. It was sometimes like 'Oh, my god!'. But I wanted to work with Matt very much. And I always knew what kind of record we would be making."

Track listing:

• Hard Knocks
• Get On
• Unforgiven
• The Fall
• So It Goes
• Runaway Train
• Stay The Same
• Thankful
• So
• I Hope

Check it all out here: http://www.429records.com/sites/429records/429details/d_joecocker.asp

About 429 Records
429 Records is a unit of The Savoy Label Group (SLG). SLG is the North American based division of Nippon Columbia the oldest music company in Japan. The Savoy Label Group has evolved into a Grammy Award winning and chart topping independent music company consistently outperforming competitors in key music categories as monitored by Billboard Magazine. The Savoy Label Group is led by Steve Vining and is based in Los Angeles, CA.

SOURCE 429 Records