Civilized Man

Civilized Man
Studio album by
ReleasedMay 1984
Recorded1984
Studio
GenreRock, pop
Length36:43
LabelCapitol
ProducerGary Katz, Stewart Levine
Joe Cocker chronology
Sheffield Steel
(1982)
Civilized Man
(1984)
Cocker
(1986)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic

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.

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.