Bob Rafelson Productions) -- and gave us "Easy Rider", "Five Easy Pieces", "The Last Picture Show" and "Hearts and Minds", and lamenting the absence of such risk-taking companies today." "Five Easy Pieces" was written by Rafelson and Carole Eastman (under the alias Adrien Joyce) and starred Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, and Susan Anspach. Nicholson plays Bobby Dupea, a gifted classical piano player who works on an oil rig in California and spends most of his time drinking beer and bowling with his put-upon girlfriend Rayette (Black). Bobby is constantly dissatisfied and a non-conformist, stating: "I move around a lot. Not because I'm
Easy Pieces singing, and as a result he became self-conscious about his singing. Reflecting in 2004 on the process of recording "Easy Pieces", Cole felt that they had been pushed into making a second record too quickly: "We didn't give ourselves time to step back and think. The record company was telling us 'this is your moment and you must take it now' – which is crap. People would have waited for us. We were insecure so we made the record too soon and the record company fired Paul Hardiman." Unlike the widespread praise for "Rattlesnakes", the reception for "Easy Pieces" was