''Life for the Taking'' is the second studio album by American rock musician

Eddie Money Edward Joseph Mahoney (March 21, 1949 – September 13, 2019), known professionally as Eddie Money, was an American singer and songwriter who, in the 1970s and 1980s, had eleven Top 40 songs, including " Baby Hold On", " Two Tickets to Pa ...

. It was recorded and released in late 1978 in the US and January 1979 in the UK on manager Bill Graham's Wolfgang imprint via Columbia Records. The album includes the singles "Can't Keep a Good Man Down", "Maybe I'm a Fool" and "Maureen". With Money seemingly endlessly on the road promoting his previous debut album, this effort was primarily written in hotel rooms with a variety of band members and worked up during sound checks prior to performances. The final track, "Call on Me" was often interjected into the set lists prior to the release of this album and received a strong response in spite of its more soulful, less frantic composure. This album also marked a conscious effort to expand Money's audience with the inclusion of several more pop and dance oriented numbers. This direction would continue to be expanded upon with the subsequent release '' Playing for Keeps''. The album was met with less enthusiastic critical response than its predecessor with a number of the pundits citing a weakness of quality songwriting and the inconsistency of style as pitfalls. Money resumed his frantic promotion and touring schedule upon the release of this album. The cover shot plays on a rendition of the artist mocking his debut album artwork but with an obvious worn and tired appearance. As with the previous release, both singles were issued in promotion only edited versions, while the retail releases featured tracks from the album as B-sides. By now, Money was headlining mid-sized venues and a number of the dates featured the then up-and-coming

Pat Benatar Patricia Mae Giraldo ('' née'' Andrzejewski, formerly Benatar; born January 10, 1953), known professionally as Pat Benatar, is an American rock singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has had two multi-platinum albums, five platinum al ...

as support.

Track listing

Personnel

* Horns arranged by Eddie Money & Tom Scott * Strings arranged & conducted by

Albhy Galuten Albhy Galuten (born Alan Bruce Galuten; December 27, 1947) is an American technology executive and futurist, Grammy Award-winning record producer, composer, musician, orchestrator and conductor. He has numerous inventions and has produced 18 ...

;Musicians * Jesse Bradman – piano * Lloyd Chaite – guitar * John DeLeone – drums *

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably ...

– keyboards, piano * David Lindley – guitar *

Jimmy Lyon James Douglas Lyon (born May 22, 1955) is an American rock guitarist. He is known primarily as the guitarist for Eddie Money in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and as a member of The Greg Kihn Band in the early 1990s. Career Jimmy Lyon was a g ...

– guitar *

Gary Mallaber Gary Mallaber (born October 11, 1946 in Buffalo) is a Los Angeles session drummer, percussionist and singer. He attended Lafayette High School, where he and Bobby Militello, along with other musicians, were mentored by saxophonist Sam Scam ...

– drums * Eddie Money – harmonica, keyboards, piano, saxophone, vocals * Randy Nichols – keyboards, organ, synthesizer, vocals, background vocals *

Alan Pasqua Alan Pasqua (born June 28, 1952) is an American rock and jazz pianist. He studied at Indiana University and the New England Conservatory of Music. His album ''Standards'' with drummer Peter Erskine was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2008. As a ...

– keyboards, piano *

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous alb ...

– keyboards, piano * Steve Porcaro – synthesizer, background vocals * Lonnie Rutner – bass * Tom Scott – horn, saxophone * Tim Sheridan – bass * Lonnie Turner – bass * Darrell Verdusco – background vocals * John Whitney – guitar *

Angela Winbush Angela Lisa Winbush (born January 18, 1955) is an American R&B/soul singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who rose to fame first in the 1980s R&B duo René & Angela, also scoring hits as a solo artist. To date, Winbush has sold over ...

– background vocals ;Production * Produced By Bruce Botnick (for Wolfgang Productions) * Engineered By

Andy Johns Jeremy Andrew "Andy" Johns (20 May 1950 – 7 April 2013) was a British sound engineer and record producer who worked on several well-known rock albums, including the Rolling Stones' '' Exile on Main St.'' (1972), Television's '' Marquee Moon'' ...

& Rik Pekkonen * Mixed By Andy Johns * Mastered By Wally Traugott

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1979 albums Eddie Money albums Albums produced by Bruce Botnick Columbia Records albums