Civilized Man

Last updated

Civilized Man
Joe Cocker - Civilized Man.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 1984
Recorded1984
Studio
Genre Rock, pop
Length36:43
Label Capitol
Producer Gary Katz, Stewart Levine
Joe Cocker chronology
Sheffield Steel
(1982)
Civilized Man
(1984)
Cocker
(1986)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Civilized Man is the ninth studio album by the British artist Joe Cocker, released in May 1984, his first on the Capitol label. It includes a cover of the 1981 Squeeze hit "Tempted", as well as "There Goes My Baby", a 1959 hit single from the Drifters.

Contents

Songs for the album were recorded at two different sessions. Side "A", recorded at Village Recorders in Los Angeles, was produced by Gary Katz and features as a backing band the core of the then current group Toto (Steve Lukather, Jeff Porcaro, and David Paich), whereas side "B", recorded in Nashville, was produced by Stewart Levine, and features Music City stalwarts (David Briggs, Reggie Young and Larrie Londin). The album also features an appearance by Joe Cocker's former bandmate Jim Keltner (on "Long Drag Off a Cigarette").

Civilized Man, along with its predecessor Sheffield Steel, marked the beginning of a new era of Joe Cocker albums, giving way to a much fuller style of production and taking more advantage of technology to experiment to produce more contemporary sounding music. Civilized Man expanded on the success of his previous album, selling well in Europe.

Track listing

  1. "Civilized Man" (Richard Feldman, Pat Robinson) – 3:55
  2. "There Goes My Baby" (George Treadwell, Lover Patterson, Benjamin Nelson) – 3:47
  3. "Come On In" (Bob Telson) – 3:48
  4. "Tempted" (Chris Difford, Glenn Tilbrook) – 4:16
  5. "Long Drag Off a Cigarette" (Larry John McNally) – 2:35
  6. "I Love the Night" (Troy Seals, Michael Reid) – 3:47
  7. "Crazy in Love" (Randy McCormick, Even Stevens) – 3:51
  8. "A Girl Like You" (Troy Seals, Will Jennings) – 3:09
  9. "Hold On (I Feel Our Love Is Changing)" (Joe Sample, Will Jennings) – 3:41
  10. "Even a Fool Would Let Go" (Tom Snow, Kerry Chater) – 3:54

Personnel

Production

Chart performance

YearChartPosition
1984Swiss Albums Chart5
1984Norway Albums Chart5
1984German Albums Chart7
1984Dutch Albums Chart8
1984Australian Albums Chart17
1984Austrian Albums Chart19
1984Swedish Albums Chart20
1984New Zealand Albums Chart30
1984UK Albums Chart100
1984US Albums Chart133

Sales accomplishments

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Germany (BVMI) [2] Gold250,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. "Civilized Man – Joe Cocker". AllMusic . Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  2. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Joe Cocker; 'Civilized Man')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.