"No Alibis" is a track from

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

's 1989 album '' Journeyman''. It was released as a single in a shortened version, with "Running on Faith" (also on the ''Journeyman'' album) as the B-side. The 12" single and CD maxi-singles, both released the following year, included the longer album version and also added live versions of "Behind the Mask" and "

Cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

", respectively. The live versions were recorded at the

National Exhibition Centre The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is an exhibition centre located in Marston Green, Solihull, West Midlands, England. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Birmingham Airport and Birmingham International railway stati ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in July 1986. "No Alibis" is one of the more commercial rock songs from that record. Author Marc Roberty describes it as "a strong, anthem-like song." The song, written by longtime collaborator

Jerry Lynn Williams Jerry Lynn Williams (1948–2005) was an American rock music singer and composer. He wrote such hits as " Forever Man", " See What Love Can Do", " Something's Happening", "Running on Faith" and " Pretending" for Eric Clapton. He contributed tw ...

, combines Clapton's rough, seasoned vocals with guest vocalist Daryl Hall's light vocals. The lyrics are about a man asking his girlfriend or wife not to lie to him further, suggesting that all the lies she tells make the situation worse. During the Journeyman World Tour, performances of this song were particularly energetic. It became a live favorite. In Clapton's autobiography, he describes that he wrote the songs with Williams, who was credited exclusively, but that Clapton was betrayed by his former partner

Lory Del Santo Loredana "Lory" Del Santo (born 28 September 1958) is an Italian television personality and actress, now retired. Early life Lory Del Santo was born Loredana Del Santo on 28 September 1958, in Povegliano Veronese, a ''comune'' in the Itali ...

. The single release of the song reached number 53 on the British charts and stayed there for three weeks. On the US charts, the single reached number 4 on the mainstream rock charts, though it did not enter the Hot 100.Journeyman – Eric Clapton , Awards , AllMusic
accessed December 9, 2014, allmusic.com

Personnel

– lead vocals, guitar * Greg Phillinganes – keyboards, backing vocals * Richard Tee – acoustic piano *

Robbie Kondor Robbie Kondor is an American composer, session musician, and arranger. He has worked as a composer on '' The Significant Other'', ''Ball In The House'', ''Sally Jessy Raphael'', ''Happiness'' (1998), ''The Suburbans'' (1999), '' Forever Fabulous ...

– synthesizer programming *

Nathan East Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass player and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degr ...

– bass, backing vocals * Jimmy Bralower – drum programming * Carol Steele – percussion * Daryl Hall – harmony vocals *

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...

– backing vocals *

Lani Groves Lani Groves (born 1980 in Bloemfontein) is a South African musician and actor. She began playing the cello and singing at the age of five years. Groves performs regularly at musical events across the Gauteng region in South Africa. In 2004, Grov ...

– backing vocals

Notes

{{authority control 1990 singles Eric Clapton songs Songs written by Jerry Lynn Williams Song recordings produced by Russ Titelman 1989 songs Reprise Records singles