JOE COCKER : CIVILIZED MAN

1. Civilized Man
2. There Goes My Baby
3. Come On In
4. Tempted
5. Long Drag Off A Cigarette
6. I Love The Night
7. Crazy In Love
8. A Girl Like You
9. Hold On (I Feel Our Love Is Changing)
10. Even A Fool Would Let Go

Label : Capitol Records

Length : 36:43

Release Date : May 1984

Review (AllMusic) : After his first three studio albums Joe Cocker largely moved away from co-writing original songs with Chris Stainton (he wrote one original that I know of with Richard Tee for "Stingray") which is too bad. His originals had considerable potential and, alternating with covers of other artists material, provided a nice balance to his albums. By the time of "Civilized Man" Cocker was focusing on remaking others songs or singing material submitted by other songwriters. This album is underrated one in his discography. Before he made the leap to AOR, Cocker was still covering some terrific songwriters like Randy Newman and Difford/Tilbrook (of Squeeze). His take on this material added a raw quality to them and, although Paul Carrack's reading of "Tempted" was definitive on Squeeze's album, Cocker's gravelly interpretation sounds marvelous here. Later albums could be hit-and-miss but "Civilized Man" captures Joe balancing more mainstream material along with some interesting, different covers.