JOE COCKER returns to the UK next month for his first tour here - albeit a brief one - since the early '70s. He plays London Victoria The Venue (November 4 and 5), Edinburgh Playhouse (9) and Liverpool Royal Court Theatre (12), with the possibility of one or two more gigs being slotted into the interim dates.

At one time regarded as the most convincing blues and soul singer ever produced by this country, he's been something of a recluse since the demise first of The Grease Band, then Mad Dogs & Englishmen. He made a brief comeback in the States a couple of years ago, then went into hibernation again - but now his career has taken another upsurge, with U.S. critics heaping praise upon his latest band. The line-up he's bringing over features Mitchell Chakour (piano), Clifford Goodwin (guitar), Howard Hersh (bass) and Laurence Marshall (drums), plus back-up vocalists Diana Washburn, Maxine Green and Jane Lang. The British dates are part of an extensive European tour they're undertaking.