Luxury You Can Afford
{{Refimprove|date=February 2024}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Luxury You Can Afford
| type = album
| artist = Joe Cocker
| cover = Luxury You Can Afford.jpg
| alt =
| released = August 1978
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio = *Criteria, Miami, Florida
- Sea-Saint, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, Alabama
- Elektra, Los Angeles, California
| genre = Blues rock, soft rock, pop rock
| length =
| label = Asylum
| producer = Allen Toussaint
| prev_title = Joe Cocker's Greatest Hits
| prev_year = 1977
| next_title = Sheffield Steel
| next_year = 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
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r4243|first=Steve|last=Leggett}}
|rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide
|rev2Score = C+{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: C|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=C&bk=70|accessdate=February 23, 2019}}
|rev3 = High Fidelity
|rev3Score = (favourable){{cite magazine|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Audio/Archive-High-Fidelity-IDX/IDX/70s/High-Fidelity-1978-11-OCR-Page-0146.pdf#search=%22emotions%20sunbeam%22|title=Joe Cocker: Luxury You Can Afford|page=158|volume=28|date=November 1978|publisher=High Fidelity Magazine|website=Americanradiohistory.com}}
}}
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."{{cite news |last1=Butler |first1=Mike |title=Lives of the Great Songs |work=The Independent |date=18 Sep 1994 |department=Sunday Review Page}}
Track listing
- "Fun Time" (Allen Toussaint) – 2:39
- "Watching the River Flow" (Bob Dylan) – 3:16
- "Boogie Baby" (Phil Driscoll) – 3:51
- "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (Gary Brooker, Keith Reid, Matthew Fisher) – 5:27
- "I Can't Say No" (John Bettis, Daniel Moore) – 2:51
- "Southern Lady" (Phil Driscoll) – 3:16
- "I Know (You Don't Want Me No More)" (Barbara George) – 3:08
- "What You Did to Me Last Night" (Bettye Crutcher) – 3:28
- "Lady Put the Light Out" (Guy Fletcher, Doug Flett) – 4:46
- "Wasted Years" (Phil Driscoll) – 4:49
- "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
class="wikitable"
!Year !Chart !Position |
rowspan=5|1978
|Australia |align="center"|12 |
New Zealand
|align="center"|25 |
Netherlands
|align="center"|47 |
Canada
|align="center"|61 |
US Billboard
|align="center"|76 |