Crazy Eyes

Poco | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 18, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002B08
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  DVD Audio  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,224 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Messina and Meisner are gone, but the band plays on, highlighted by their cover of Gram Parsons' Brass Buttons . Their sixth release, from 1973. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Furay's Finale With Poco, March 17, 2001

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Crazy Eyes (Audio CD)

This was the fifth and final studio album to include founding member Richie Furay, who contributed only two songs: a nearly ten-minute tribute to Gram Parsons, "Crazy Eyes," and the closing track, "Let's Dance Tonight."

The other band members continue to mature as songwriters. Rusty Young adds the bluegrass-flavored instrumental "Fools Gold." Timothy B Schmidt offers the lovely ballad "Here We Go Again." On his third album with the band, Paul Cotton has two songs: the country/rocker "Blue Water" and the hard-driving "A Right Along." The album is rounded out with two covers: a lovely Gram Parsons ballad "Brass Buttons" and J.J. Cale's gorgeous "Magnolia."

Poco would continue to record for another ten years and even have a few hit singles after Furay's departure, but they were never as good without him. And, unfortunately, Furay's post-Poco career never really caught fire. As such, I've always treasured his work with Poco--it's among his best. RECOMMENDED

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is Poco's BEST album, period., September 15, 1998

By 

Randy Carpenter ([e-mail]) (Richmond, Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crazy Eyes (DVD Audio)

The 1973 classic CRAZY EYES was founding member Richie Furay's last album with Poco. But while his mood is somewhat somber on both the title song and Gram Parsons' haunting "Brass Buttons", the other four bandmembers harmonize superbly, play as well as ever (especially the amazingly versatile Rusty Young), and otherwise seem not at all bothered by the impending split. Standout tracks include "Here We Go Again", Tim Schmit's look at ill fated, symbiotic romance; Paul Cotton's environmentally cryptic "Blue Water", and Young's "Fool's Gold", which is rivaled in quality among Poco's legendary hillbilly-style thigh-slappers only by "Rocky Mountain Breakdown" off perhaps the group's most underrated effort, 1974's SEVEN. And as usual, Cotton ably carries the responsibility of showcasing some no-frills western-style rock with "A Right Along", as well as doing ballad honors on J.J.Cale's lush,languid "Magnolia". However, even as I recognize fully the talented artists who remained in the band, it must be honestly noted that Poco, even though they produced several excellent albums after CRAZY EYES, was never really the same group after Furay left. Songs like "Let's Dance Tonight" and the panoramic title tune cement Furay's irreplaceable value as the band's best "chemist" when it came to consistently pleasing the tastebuds of country-rock fans who came of age in the 1970s. All things being equal, if you've only heard OF Poco but never actually HEARD them, This is definitely the CD to start with. CRAZY EYES is Poco's very best album - straight up!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poco's Best Album, September 29, 2009

By 

The Footpath Cowboy "rockerusa2002" (Kingston, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Crazy Eyes (Audio CD)

CRAZY EYES is Poco's finest recorded moment, period. It's basically a culmination of what the band had been working up to since forming in 1968, and, along with the Allman Brothers Band's BROTHERS AND SISTERS, the Marshall Tucker Band's first three albums, and the Outlaws anthology BEST OF THE OUTLAWS: GREEN GRASS AND HIGH TIDES, one of the best country-rock albums of all time. The main problem that kept this album from selling well among country-rock fans is that the Allman Brothers Band's BROTHERS AND SISTERS and the Marshall Tucker Band's self-titled debut were getting all the attention in 1973 in country-rock circles, so this one got left out in the cold. That's unfortunate, since it's just as good as those two.