Luxury You Can Afford

Luxury You Can Afford
Studio album by Joe Cocker
Released	August 1978
Studio	Criteria, Miami, Florida Sea-Saint, New Orleans, Louisiana Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, Alabama Elektra, Los Angeles, California
Genre	Blues rock, soft rock, pop rock
Label	Asylum
Producer	Allen Toussaint
Joe Cocker chronology
Joe Cocker's Greatest Hits (1977) Luxury You Can Afford (1978) Sheffield Steel (1982)

Luxury You Can Afford is the seventh studio album by Joe Cocker, released in 1978 on Asylum Records, his only release for that label.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	C+ [2]
High Fidelity	(favourable) [3]

In 1994, The Independent wrote that Cocker "reveals the self-disgust at ['A Whiter Shade of Pale']'s heart ... his rawness is thrown into stark relief by Allen Toussaint's too-slick production." ^[4]

Track listing

1. "Fun Time" (Allen Toussaint) – 2:39
2. "Watching the River Flow" (Bob Dylan) – 3:16
3. "Boogie Baby" (Phil Driscoll) – 3:51
4. "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (Gary Brooker, Keith Reid, Matthew Fisher) – 5:27
5. "I Can't Say No" (John Bettis, Daniel Moore) – 2:51
6. "Southern Lady" (Phil Driscoll) – 3:16
7. "I Know (You Don't Want Me No More)" (Barbara George) – 3:08
8. "What You Did to Me Last Night" (Bettye Crutcher) – 3:28
9. "Lady Put the Light Out" (Guy Fletcher, Doug Flett) – 4:46
10. "Wasted Years" (Phil Driscoll) – 4:49
11. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong) – 4:29

Personnel

• Joe Cocker – lead vocals, harmonica (5)
• Barry Beckett – acoustic piano (1, 4, 7, 11), clavinet (1), Fender Rhodes (3), Minimoog (3, 4), ARP String Ensemble (3, 4), Hammond organ (3)
• Richard Tee – acoustic piano (2, 5, 6, 8, 9), Fender Rhodes (10)
• Allen Toussaint – horn and string arrangements (1, 9), Fender Rhodes (2, 3, 8), Hammond organ (5, 6), clavinet (5)
• Randy McCormick – Fender Rhodes (4, 7), clavinet (11)
• Billy Preston – Hammond organ (4, 11)
• Dr. John – Fender Rhodes (6), Hammond organ (8)
• Donny Hathaway – Fender Rhodes (8), acoustic piano (10)
• Mitch Chakour – guitar (1), acoustic piano (3)
• Cliff Goodwin – guitar (1, 3)
• Pete Carr – lead guitar (2, 11), slide guitar (2), guitar (3)
• Cornell Dupree – guitar (2, 5, 6, 8–10)
• Larry Byrom – lead guitar (4, 7)
• Jimmy Johnson – rhythm guitar (4, 7, 11)
• Joey Murcia – guitar (5, 10)
• George Terry – guitar (5)
• Howie Hersh – bass guitar (1, 3)
• Chuck Rainey – bass guitar (2, 5, 6, 8–10)
• David Hood – bass guitar (4, 7)
• Rick Danko – bass guitar (11)
• John Riley – drums (1, 3)
• Steve Gadd – drums (2, 5, 8–10)
• Roger Hawkins – drums (4, 7, 11)
• Bernard Purdie – drums (6, 8)
• Hank Crawford – alto saxophone (1, 8)
• Leroy Cooper – baritone saxophone (1, 8)
• Ronald Eades – baritone saxophone (2, 5, 7, 8, 11)
• Gary Brown – tenor sax solo (1)
• David "Fathead" Newman – tenor saxophone (1, 9)
• Harvey Thompson – tenor sax solo (2, 9), tenor saxophone (5, 7, 8, 11)
• Bobby Keys – tenor sax solo (3)
• Charles Rose – trombone (2, 5, 7, 8, 11)
• Marcus Belgrave – trumpet (1, 9)
• Phillip Guilbeau – trumpet (1, 9)
• Harrison Calloway, Jr. – trumpet (2, 5, 7, 8, 11), horn arrangements (2, 5, 7, 8, 11)
• Wayne Jackson – trumpet (2, 5, 7, 8, 11)
• Clyde Kerr Jr. – trumpet solo (7)
• Clydie King – backing vocals
• Ann Lang – backing vocals
• Mona Lisa Young – backing vocals

Production

• Producers – Barry Beckett and Allen Toussaint
• Engineers – Bill Gazecki, Skip Godwin, Gregg Hamm, Jerry Masters, Steve Melton and Alex Sadkin.
• Assistant Engineers – Bob Gore, Roberta Grace, Sheila Taylor and David Yates.
• Recorded at Criteria Studios (Miami, Florida); Sea-Saint Studios (New Orleans, Louisiana); Muscle Shoals Sound Studios (Sheffield, Alabama); Elektra Sound Recorders (Los Angeles, CA).
• Mixing on Tracks 2, 5, 6, 7 & 10 – Barry Beckett
• Mastered by Terry Dunavan
• Mixed and Mastered at Elektra Sound Recorders.
• Design – Johnny Lee
• Photography – Gary Heery

Chart performance

Year	Chart	Position
1978	Australia	12
	New Zealand	25
	Netherlands	47
	Canada	61
	US Billboard	76

References

1. Leggett, Steve. Luxury You Can Afford at AllMusic
2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: C". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved 23 February 2019.
3. "Joe Cocker: Luxury You Can Afford" (PDF). Americanradiohistory.com. Vol. 28. High Fidelity Magazine. November 1978. p. 158.
4. Butler, Mike (18 September 1994). "Lives of the Great Songs". Sunday Review Page. The Independent.