Customer Ratings & Reviews

No Reason to Cry is NOT EC's best album. It is in fact not in his top 10 best albums; probably not in the top 20, either. Pretty simple: IF you're a fan, you probably need this; if you aren't...well, maybe you don't. EXCEPT: "Sign Language," written by Bob Dylan, who also sings on it, is really good. "You speak to me in sign language..." All known someone like that, yeah? "Hello Old Friend" is likewise a hidden gem, and "Double Trouble" kinda chills: "I can't even keep decent clothes to wear." In fact, none of the songs are actually BAD: they're just not "Badge." They're not "Crossroads." They're not "Cocaine," and they're certainly not "Layla" -- but nothing else is, either. No Reason to Cry would have been a triumph from anyone else, but from EC -- about whom Jeff Beck said, "He's the household name for electric guitar." -- from EC it was second tier. Still some nice work by EC and a galaxy of others: Dylan, most of the Band, Ron Wood, Yvonne Elliman, Billy Preston, Carl Radle -- a "cast of thousands," as they used to say. Remastered, of course, so it sounds a bit cleaner than my first copy did, back in '76 or so. The cover is also worth a mention. It shows a bearded EC sitting in a bar ("Shangri-La" according to the sign above him) with an open bottle of bourbon in front of him. Kinda ironic, in that EC has been in recovery since 1987. Some folks would probably push the record company to release the CD with a new cover. Yet here it is. Meaning...what? I dunno. Something to ponder while you listen to the album -- which, really, despite all above, I really think you ought to do.