Luxury You Can Afford

by Joe Cocker

Overview

Luxury You Can Afford was Joe Cocker's only album for Asylum Records. Released in 1978 and produced by Allen Toussaint, it had all the pedigree to be a great recording. With Cocker's trademark wounded, Ray Charles-derived vocal style and Toussaint's genius with fluid, soulful horn charts, it really should have been another high-water mark in Cocker's career. That it only partly succeeds is the disappointment, but with this reissue from Wounded Bird Records, a reappraisal seems in order, and with hindsight, Luxury You Can Afford was much more solid an outing than it first appeared to be. Cocker's version of Bob Dylan's "Watching the River Flow" is a perfect cover, and Toussaint's horns give the arrangement a solid swing, and some swagger and punch as well. "I Can't Say No," written by John Bettis and Daniel Moore, could stand in as an autobiography of Cocker's early years, and lines like "I can't say no/I never could" sung in Cocker's woozy, world-beaten voice carry the ring of absolute truth, as does the soulful and wounded resignation of Cocker's signature rasp on "Wasted Years," a song written by Phil Driscoll. The lead track, the wonderful "Fun Time" (penned by Toussaint), was hyped as a disco track at the time of the album's release, but now appears to have been really more of a New Orleans dance and party cut, and it rocks smoothly and firmly without ever tipping over into Donna Summer territory. What mars Luxury You Can Afford, though, are two covers that must have looked good on paper, Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and Norman Whitfield's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," most notably done in a for-the-ages version by Marvin Gaye. Both songs would seem tailor-made for Cocker's vocal approach, but the arrangements on Luxury sink them immediately. "Pale" is paced too slow, a critical problem for a song that depends on its hazy ennui to work in the first place, while the arrangement for "Grapevine" come across as disjointed and blustery, a situation that plays to Cocker's weaknesses rather than his strengths. Without these two serious missteps, Luxury You Can Afford would have the coherence of tone to be resurrected as an underappreciated classic. With them, unfortunately, it suffers from a sad musical schizophrenia. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	02/09/2024
Label:	Music On Cd
UPC:	8718627236284
Rank:	62056

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Joe Cocker   Primary Artist,Vocals,Harmonica
Rick Danko   Guest Artist,Bass
Richard Tee   Guest Artist,Piano,Keyboards
Allen Toussaint   Guest Artist,Organ,Clavinet,Keyboards,Fender Rhodes
Dr. John   Guest Artist,Organ,Keyboards,Fender Rhodes
Billy Preston   Guest Artist,Organ,Keyboards
Steve Gadd   Drums
Bernard "Pretty" Purdie   Drums
Joey Murcia   Guitar
Bobby Keys   Soloist,Saxophone,Sax (Tenor)
Kenneth "Afro" Williams   Percussion
Cliff Goodwin   Guitar
Chuck Rainey   Bass
Cornell Dupree   Guitar
Clydie King   Bass
Donny Hathaway   Keyboards,Fender Rhodes
Charles Rose   Horn,Trombone
David Hood   Bass
Wayne Jackson   Horn,Trumpet
John Riley   Drums
Pete Carr   Guitar,Slide Guitar
Roger Hawkins   Drums
Randy McCormick   Keyboards,Fender Rhodes
Marcus Belgrave   Trumpet
George Terry   Guitar
Clyde Kerr   Soloist,Trumpet
Hank Crawford   Saxophone,Sax (Alto)
Leroy Cooper   Saxophone,Sax (Baritone)
Mitch Chakour   Piano,Guitar
Ronnie Eades   Saxophone,Sax (Baritone)
Larry Byrom   Guitar
Barry Beckett   Organ,Piano,Clavinet,Keyboards,Mini Moog,String Ensemble
Harvey Thompson   Soloist,Saxophone,Sax (Tenor)
Ann Lang   Vocals
Harrison Calloway, Jr.   Trumpet
Philip Guilbeau   Trumpet
Howard Hersh   Bass
Felix "Flaco" Falcon   Percussion
Jimmy Johnson   Guitar
Monalisa Young   Vocals
Gary Brown   Soloist,Saxophone,Sax (Tenor)
David "Fathead" Newman   Saxophone,Sax (Tenor)

Technical Credits

Daniel Moore   Composer
Bettye Crutcher   Composer
Bob Dylan   Composer
Keith Reid   Composer
Barrett Strong   Composer
Barbara George   Composer
Doug Flett   Composer
Gary Brooker   Composer
John Bettis   Composer
Phil Driscoll   Composer
Allen Toussaint   Composer,Producer
Norman Whitfield   Composer
Gary Heery   Photography
Michael Lans   Executive Producer
Johnny Lee   Design
Guy Fletcher   Composer