Unchain My Heart (album)

Unchain My Heart is the eleventh studio album by Joe Cocker, released in 1987.

Unchain My Heart
Studio album by
Released9 October 1987
Recorded1986-1987
StudioHouse Of Music, West Orange, NJ[1]
GenreRock, Blue-eyed soul
Length42:05
LabelCapitol
ProducerCharlie Midnight, Dan Hartman
Joe Cocker chronology
Joe Cocker Classics Volume 4
(1987)
Unchain My Heart
(1987)
One Night of Sin
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
New Musical Express5/10[2]

Miller Lite used Joe Cocker's recording of "Unchain My Heart" for their Dalmatian campaign as the dog jumps from the Budweiser Clydesdale horse-drawn carriage to the Miller Lite truck.

Track listing edit

  1. "Unchain My Heart" (Bobby Sharp, Teddy Powell) – 5:02
  2. "Two Wrongs" (Eddie Schwartz, David Bendeth) – 4:02
  3. "I Stand in Wonder" (Schwartz, David Tyson) – 4:21
  4. "The River's Rising" (Michael Lunn) – 4:05
  5. "Isolation" (John Lennon) – 3:51
  6. "All Our Tomorrows" (Schwartz, Tyson) – 4:21
  7. "A Woman Loves a Man" (Dan Hartman, Charlie Midnight) – 4:14
  8. "Trust in Me" (Francesca Beghe, Marc Swersky, Midnight) – 4:12
  9. "The One" (Tom Kimmel, Jay Joyce) – 4:35
  10. "Satisfied" (Hartman, Midnight) – 3:22

Personnel edit

  • Joe Cocker – lead vocals
  • Jeff Levine – keyboards (1-3, 5, 6, 8, 9), Hammond organ (4), grand piano (10)
  • Robbie Kilgore – additional keyboards (3, 5, 6, 9), handclaps (4)
  • Greg Johnson – grand piano (8), organ (10)
  • Phil Grande – guitars, guitar solo (6, 10)
  • T. M. Stevens – bass
  • David Beal – drums
  • Sammy Figueroa – percussion (3, 5-8)
  • Glenn Ellison – handclaps (4)
  • Charlie Midnight – handclaps (4)
  • Clarence Clemons – tenor sax solo (1)
  • The Uptown Horns – horns and horn arrangements (1)
    • Crispin Cioe – saxophones
    • Arno Hecht – saxophones
    • Robert Funk – trombone
    • "Hollywood" Paul Litteral – trumpet
  • Lawrence Feldman – saxophone (3)
  • Ric Cunningham – alto saxophone (7)
  • Tawatha Agee – backing vocals (1-4, 6, 7, 9, 10)
  • Benny Diggs – backing vocals (1-4, 6, 7, 9)
  • Vaneese Thomas – backing vocals (1-4, 6, 7, 9)
  • Dan Hartman – backing vocals (2, 4, 6, 7, 10), additional percussion (3), tambourine (4), handclaps (4), additional guitars (5, 6, 8, 10), keyboards (7), guitars (7)
  • B.J. Nelson – backing vocals (2, 4, 6, 10)
  • Renée Geyer – guest vocals (8)
  • Phoebe Snow – guest vocals (9)
  • Maxine Green – backing vocals (10)
  • Jayne Ann Lang – backing vocals (10)
  • Janice Singleton – backing vocals (10)

Production edit

  • Producer – Charlie Midnight
  • Executive Producer – Dan Hartman
  • Engineer – John Rollo
  • Additional Engineer – Joel Soyffer
  • Assistant Engineers – Nelson Ayers, Thom Chadley, Mark Gaide, Danny Grigsby, Paul Higgins and Dave Mendenhall.
  • Recorded at House of Music (West Orange, NJ); Santa Barbara Sound Design (Santa Barbara, CA); O’Henry Sound Studios (Burbank, CA); Greene Street Recording (New York, NY); Bearsville Studios (Bearsville, NY).
  • Mixed by Chris Lord-Alge at Unique Recording Studios (New York, NY).
  • Mix Assistants – Steve Entebbe and Matt Hathaway
  • Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk (New York, NY).
  • Art Direction – Roy Kohara
  • Design – Roland Young
  • Photography – Abe Frajndilich
  • Management – Michael Lang

Charts edit

Chart (1987) Peak
position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[3] 14
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[4] 20
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[5] 2
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[6] 17
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[7] 15
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[8] 6
US Billboard 200[9] 89
Chart (1988) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[10] 24
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11] 5
Canadian Albums (RPM)[12] 40
French Albums (SNEP)[13] 21
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[14] 32

Certifications edit

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[15] Gold 50,000^
France (SNEP)[16] Gold 100,000*
Germany (BVMI)[17] 3× Gold 750,000^
Italy (FIMI)[18] Gold 100,000[18]
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[19] Platinum 100,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[20] Platinum 50,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Accolades edit

Company Country Accolade Year Rank
Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Australia Top 50 Albums 1988 48

References edit

  1. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Unchain My Heart – Joe Cocker". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  2. ^ Minkoff, Myrna (12 December 1987). "Joe Cocker: Unchain My Heart". New Musical Express. p. 36.
  3. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Joe Cocker – Unchain My Heart" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  4. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Joe Cocker". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 50.
  5. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Joe Cocker – Unchain My Heart" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Joe Cocker – Unchain My Heart". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  7. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Joe Cocker – Unchain My Heart". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  8. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Joe Cocker – Unchain My Heart". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  9. ^ "Joe Cocker Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  10. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Joe Cocker – Unchain My Heart". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  11. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Joe Cocker – Unchain My Heart" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  12. ^ "100 Albums". RPM. 47 (21). 12 March 1988. ISSN 0033-7064. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  13. ^ "InfoDisc: Tous les "Chart Runs" des Albums classés depuis 1985 dans le Top Albums Officiel". InfoDisc (in French). Retrieved 23 February 2013. Locate Joe COCKER on the drop-down menu and click OK.
  14. ^ "Charts.nz – Joe Cocker – Unchain My Heart". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  15. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Joe Cocker – Unchain My Heart". Music Canada. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  16. ^ "French album certifications – Cocker J. – Unchain My Heart" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 19 April 2017. Select COCKER J. and click OK. 
  17. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Joe Cocker; 'Unchain My Heart')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  18. ^ a b "Unchained Sales" (PDF). Music & Media. 21 May 1988. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  19. ^ "Spanish certifications for 1979-1990" (PDF). PROMUSICAE. p. 924. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  20. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Unchain My Heart')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 April 2017.