The pain-wracked ballads that dominate Joe Cocker’s 1974 set I Can Stand a Little Rain are a far cry from the crazed rave-ups of his Mad Dogs & Englishmen phase. His renditions of “The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress,” “Guilty,” and especially “You Are So Beautiful” (a Top 5 hit) hint at his personal struggles and career mishaps at the time. Rays of fragile hope can be found in the gospel-tinged “Sing Me a Song” and the brooding title track. Cocker’s sometimes shaky but often compelling performances make this one of his most self-revealing LPs.