If You Like the Band....
JamesNYC | New York, NY USA | 12/17/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Clapton has said of The Band's "Music from Big Pink" that it "changed my life." "No Reason to Cry" may not be Clapton at his best, but if you like The Band (as I do), then you'll probably enjoy this compact disc.
Many of the songs sound like they could be from The Band, except for Clapton's voice. Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel play backup for Clapton, and members of The Band wrote two of the tracks: "Beautiful Thing" and "All Our Past Times." Danko shares lead vocals with Clapton on "All Our Past Times."
There are two outstanding tracks on this cd: "Hello Old Friend" and "Black Summer Rain." "Black Summer Rain" evokes The Band's "It Makes No Difference" both in sound and lyrics ("...and the sun don't shine anymore, and the rain falls down on my door..."). Listen to the two songs one after another and you'll see what I mean.
This album ain't Clapton's greatest but, to me, it's still good and well worth experiencing."
Hot a career CD, but solid
Michael Wheeler | Las Vegas, Nevada United States | 11/17/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Eric Clapton at this time in his career was hanging out with members of the Band, and of course Bob Dylan.
There are several songs of note on this CD.
Sign Language is a duet with Bob Dylan. Over the years Dylan has offered several songs to Clapton. This is the only one they have collaborated on. Sign Language is not a great song, but I find it very interesting to hear Dylan and Clapton sing together.
County Jail Blues is another strong effort and has slide guitar.
At this point in Clapton's career we had not heard much slide guitar. It has a Mississippi Delta blues flavor that I love.
All Our Past Times is another duet with Rick Danko.
Clapton at this time was listening to country music and it shows throughout the album.
Double Trouble is another strong piece that appears on this CD.
Clapton in my mind is at his best with slow blues and this is no exception.
This is not his best, but a solid effort.
If you have never heard Clapton before this would not be a good place to start. This is for people like me who are really into Clapton."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1