In my opinion John Belushi playing Joe Cocker is the funniest video of all time.
At Woodstock in 1969 Joe Cocker delivered this performance of his rendition of the Beatles’ “With A Little Help From My Friends.” Joe Cockers’ passionate performance sounded great, but his stage antics are utterly bizarre and ridiculous. Watch this video first.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVyJVYWHJaY
Now fast forward to the 1970s. John Belushi was a Saturday Night Live Cast member from 1975-1979. In my opinion, the funniest and all-time greatest. He is best known for his work in the film Blue Brothers, but also for the dozens of extraordinarily funny skits he delivered during his 4 year SNL tenure. John Belushi spoofing Joe Cocker’s 1969 Woodstock performance is nothing short of absolutely hysterical. He parodies Joe Cocker’s antics perfectly, sounding and looking just like Joe Cocker. In fact when one watches both videos in a row, it’s almost difficult to tell which one is parodying the other.
Take the few minutes to watch these, starting with the Woodstock 1969 version and then watching the John Belushi version right afterwards. Any time I’ve had a rough day, I put these on, and I roll on the floor laughing. It is truly one of the funniest musical moments of all time. Rest In Peace John Belushi. A true pioneer and legend.
Watch John Belushi – With A Little Help From My Friend in Comedy | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
Link: http://www.veoh.com/watch/v16039034KRFprghT?h1=John+Belushi+-+With+A+Little+Help+From+My+Friend
-Spencer.
Belushi/Cocker History
A few years before SNL began, National Lampoon had a stage show at The Village Gate in NYC. The cast included John Belushi, Chevy Chase, and Christopher Guest. The first half of the show was sketch comedy, and the second half was a parody of Woodstock, with original songs, done as send ups of various performers. There was an original cast album made of the second half. I saw the show twice when I was about 12, and listened to the album for years and know most of the songs by heart, including Lonely At The Bottom Of The Barrel, with John Belushi as Joe Cocker, and Paul Jacobs as Leon Russell at the piano.
I guess I missed the first time on SNL that John Belushi did his Joe Cocker cover, as Joe Cocker wasn’t there, but I remember when Joe Cocker was the musical guest, wondering how they would deal with the fact that John Belushi was already known for his spot on impression.
Joe Cocker seemed happy to play along with the joke, as he came out and sang a verse, then John Belushi came out, dressed as Joe Cocker, and they sang the rest of the song together.
Sometimes the video of this performance can be found on YouTube, but not now, but here’s one I found that has the performance, plus a brief chunk of reminiscing on either end…
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=26b_1315119865
There was a film made of the Lemmings touring show, alas without Alice Playton, who was a key cast member, and the video isn’t the best quality, in both sound and performance, but it capture a lot of what Lemmings was all about, and gives a great glimpse of SNL’s roots.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzlPTJx94cs
For musical quality, I recommend the original cast album, which is available on CD, iTunes, etc. Search National Lampoon Lemmings
I hadn’t seen (until searching today) that the whole movie is online, including the extremely NSFW stuff like the Joan Baez send up, which did not make it onto the album. I plan to watch the whole thing some time soon.
Alan