Crazy Eyes is the sixth album by the country rock

Country rock

Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...

 band Poco

Poco

Poco is an Southern California country rock band originally formed by Richie Furay and Jim Messina following the demise of Buffalo Springfield in 1968. The title of their first album, Pickin' Up the Pieces, is a reference to the break-up of Buffalo Springfield. Highly influential and creative,...

. The album pays homage to Gram Parsons

Gram Parsons

Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...

, as Richie Furay sings both the title track, which he wrote in honor of Parsons, and one of Parsons' own compositions, "Brass Buttons". The album was released just four days before Parsons' death on 19 September 1973.

Paul Cotton covered J. J. Cale's "Magnolia," a song the band still plays live. The title track, according to Rusty Young, has never been played in concert due mostly to its complex percussion part, consisting of African drums, among other things.

After the commercial failure of this album, Richie Furay left Poco to co-found the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band

Souther-Hillman-Furay Band

The Souther Hillman Furay Band was a country rock supergroup led by singer-songwriters Richie Furay , Chris Hillman , and J.D. Souther...

, where he achieved success with one of the outtakes from Crazy Eyes, "Believe Me".

Track listing

1. "Blue Water" (Paul Cotton) – 3:07
2. "Fools Gold" (Rusty Young) – 2:23
3. "Here We Go Again" (Timothy B. Schmit) – 3:28
4. "Brass Buttons" (Gram Parsons
   Gram Parsons
   Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...
   
   ) – 4:17
5. "A Right Along" (Paul Cotton) – 4:43
6. "Crazy Eyes" (Richie Furay) – 9:39
7. "Magnolia" (J.J. Cale
   J.J. Cale
   JJ Cale , born John Weldon Cale on December 5, 1938, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and musician. Cale is one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound, a loose genre drawing on blues, rockabilly, country, and jazz influences. Cale's personal style has...
   
   ) – 6:18
8. "Let’s Dance Tonight" (Richie Furay) – 3:54

Personnel

• Paul Cotton
  Paul Cotton (musician)
  Paul Cotton is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter, most notable as a member of the band Poco and as the writer of the international hit song from that band, "The Heart of the Night".-History:Most of Paul Cotton's music career has been as songwriter, guitarist and singer for the band Poco...
  
   - guitar, vocals
• Richie Furay
  Richie Furay
  Richie Furay is an American singer, songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member who is best known for forming the bands Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin, and Poco with Jim Messina, Rusty Young, George Grantham and Randy Meisner...
  
   - guitar, vocals
• Rusty Young - steel guitar, guitar, vocals
• Timothy B. Schmit
  Timothy B. Schmit
  Timothy Bruce Schmit is an American musician and songwriter, best known for his work as bass guitar player and singer for Poco and the Eagles. Schmit has also worked for decades as a session musician and solo artist.-Early career:Raised in Sacramento, Schmit began playing in the folk music group...
  
   - bass, vocals
• George Grantham - drums, vocals

• Chris Hillman
  Chris Hillman
  Christopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
  
   – mandolin
• Bob Ezrin
  Bob Ezrin
  Robert Alan "Bob" Ezrin is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, known for his work with artists including Alice Cooper, Kiss and Pink Floyd. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2004.-Biography:...
  
   – piano
• Bill Graham
  Bill Graham
  William Carvel "Bill" Graham, PC QC is a former Canadian politician, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defence, and Leader of the Opposition and interim Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.-Personal life:...
  
   – violin
• Paul Harris
  Paul Harris (musician)
  Paul Harris is a keyboards player and session musician.Harris appears on several albums of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s by leading artists such as Stephen Stills, B. B. King, Judy Collins, Al Kooper, ABBA, Eric Andersen, Rick Derringer, Nick Drake, John Sebastian, Joe Walsh, Seals & Crofts and Dan...
  
   – piano
• Joe Lala
  Joe Lala
  Joe Lala is an actor and voice actor, notable for his dubbing of Kun Lan of the video-game Killer7.He also played drums and percussion on 32 gold and 28 platinum albums. His credits include Blues Image, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Manassas, The Bee Gees, Whitney Houston, and many...
  
   – percussion

Production

• Producer: Jack Richardson
  Jack Richardson (record producer)
  Jack Richardson, CM was a Juno Award-nominated Canadian record producer and Order of Canada recipient. He is perhaps best known for producing the biggest hit records from The Guess Who from 1969 to 1975...
  
  
• Recording Engineer: Brian Christian/Dennis Smith