The Black Crowes

[SAI]

We've had a music forum all this time and nobody is talking about thes great band?? Shocking.

Unfortunately the Crowes split up last year (popular theories blame Chris Robinson's wife; Kate Hudson) but their six studio albums are full of good music. Here's my take on each.

Shake Your Money Maker: A really good rock album and a very easy listen, Twice As Hard and the cover of Hard To Handle are stand outs but the band don't really sound so different to any other rock band yet.

The Southern Harmony & Musical Companion: Their best album by a country mile. Recorded in only a week there are no bad tracks on this record but particularly highly recommended are Hotel Illness and My Morning Song

Amorica: Has one of the best album covers I've ever seen (uncensored anyway) and has some great tracks, including my favourite of the Crowes mellower songs; Wiser Time

Three Snakes & One Charm: A big mis-step, recorded when the band were heavily into drugs and it shows in the material, skip this one unless you are a big fan.

By Your Side: Chris Robinson has joked that the title is rather inappropriate given relations within the band at the time this album was made. Horsehead is one of the best rock songs the band have recorded and the title track an Then She Said My Name are also good but this isn't a great album.

Lions: The good half of this album and the good half of By Your Side would have made for an excellent final album, as it is Lions is a bit average. Chris had married Kate Hudson by the time Lions was made and it shows in his writing, Soul Singing being a good example. Lickin' also demonstartes that the Crowes can still create a memorable riff and make it the centerpiece of a really good song.

Live: A disappointment. Chris Robinson's voice takes until the second cd to really warm up and the sound quality is less than great. A crying shame given how good they were when I saw them.

Live At The Greek (With Jimmy Page): Mostly Led Zeppelin covers all played competently and an esoteric track selection (Hey Hey What Can I Do is there but Stairway To Heaven is not) is to the benefit of the set. Also includes a brilliant version of Fleetwood Mac's Oh Well. This is the definitive Crowes live album. BUY IT.

So, after all that, are there any other Black Crowes fans here, what are your favourite tracks and albums? Have you seen them live, and how were they?

[Romero&Juliet]

fucking A! It was actually Rich Robinson's solo in "Sometimes Salvation" that made me pick up guitar.. I remember the first time I head that song.. the video came on much one day.. I was fucking FLOORED. There was something so simple, yet really pomp going on.. Raunchiest guitars I've ever heard before, even compared to Nirvana, Jesus Lizard, Mudhoney...these guys were
the SHIT when it came to making riff that stuck with you..

These guys, Pearl Jam and Bliiiiiind Melon were my very first musical endeavours.. I'll never forget them *sniffle*.

Amorica is my favorite, I think.. It really depends upon my mood.. There was something REALLY special going on there.. not just the great drugs. Ed added a touch (especially in the latter half of the album..) that I think they needed. It was sweet. the kind of contrast....from conspiracy (fucking INCREDIBLE single..), to the more laid back, fleetwood-y Wiser Time..

I haven't heard ANY of the live Greek or Live stuff, but I'm sure it can live up to their studio work... I'd say that Chris is the only thing that would hold them back on there

[bowieee]

I was driving around with my friend a few days ago singing she talks to angels at the top of my lungs. Amorica was the last tape I bought before jumping into the strange new technology back then that was called the cd.

[Haddonfield]

ahhh...very glad about this subject...I think i can spend a few minutes during the workday to talk about the greatest band in the history of the world.

Shake Your Money Maker - this album changed my life. I was 13 years old and from the second I heard the twang of Rich's guitar on Jealous Again on MTV I was hooked. They became a way of life from that second on. I bought the album that day and never looked back. I cant say one bad thing about this album. Every song is as good as the last, even Struttin' Blues. It was dark, upbeat, funky, foot-stomping, profound, sad...the best debut record ever! My faves on this include the very underrated Could Ive Been So Blind, what an emotional song, and of course Seeing Things, Think n Thin, Jealous Again, Sister Luck...

The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion - ahhh Marc Ford you are a god! I dare someone to say one bad thing about this album...cant do it...this one grabs you and NEVER lets up. Thorn in my Pride, My Morning Song, No Speak No Slave, Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye...they are all some of THE BEST songs put to tape.

Amorica - another classic. the band may have hit there first rough spot here with the in-fighting and the drugs. Sure they spent money and time doing an album they trashed but the end result is a more trippy, almost more intense, maybe even more soulful record than ever before. Chris never sounded better and the interplay between Rich and Marc is magical. Ed really got to flex his keys here too. top to bottom is a very well paced and really another remarkable album..Nonfiction, A Conspiracy, Gone, and of course Ballin in Urgency/Wiser Time...man, just another crop of magical music. This also could have been there best touring year, 1995 that is...they evolved here..MMS became insane...Thorn was spellbounding...HHB was light-speed...only negative about this time was not having Just Say You're Sorry on this record..hell of a song.

Three Snakes and One Charm - this is where the fan base changed as we know. out with the old and in with the Dead. I really Really Really love this album. its a contrast and its dark and its a story. Bring On Bring On could be my fave song ever on any givin day. Along with Halfway to Everywhere, Better When You're Not Alone, and Evil Eye, this band is simply amazing. it took about 10 spins for me to get into it..I had heard the "premier party" on the radio and they played these stange cover tunes and everything seemed to be slow and dark, and different...but after seeing a few shows, i still wasnt convinced...they played the Futher Fest and we got shorter sets with longer jams and tons 'o covers. I didnt get it at the time but after I started getting boots of the shows I really dug it all and wish I could have had the same vibe at the time. Great covers such as Oh Sister, Willin, Torn & Frayed, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, She, One Hundred Years From Now...all great songs I never knew but because of the Crowes sought out the originals and am a very happy camper.

then Marc and Johnny were gone....:(

By Your Side - I think its a great album but a very BAD Crowes album. No feeling, no emotion, no nothing. Sure Then She Said My Name has its moments. Sure Kicking My Heart Around is a fun little rocker. but Come On (pun intended) its really a sell out pure and simple. and for good or bad, it didnt work. I do LOVE Go Tell The Congregation and can jam out with By Your Side but that song is a perfect example of the Crowes messing up..why in the world is it not If It Ever Stops Raining? that version has meaning..BYS makes me think of Shinny Happy People holding hands. Another thing with this album is the songs that didnt make the cut are better than 2/3rd of the record. Smile, When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky, Peace Anyways (GREAT SONG!) Grows a Rose, You Dont Have To Go, and It Must Be Over are some good tunes...damn you "Caveman" and Rich! and dont get me started on this "tour" it was a joke! oh I quess I can dig Only A Fool for some reason. one good thing is I saw them play Halfway To Everywhere one show..that was GREAT!

Lions - a mixed bag here. I really like some...Come On, Cypress Tree, Greasy Grass River, Soul Singing, Miracle To Me..but dont care much for others...No Use Lying and Ozone Mama (tho great drums) sounds like a band at the end of there rope and its more or less a collection of demos and unfinished tunes. The tour was fun tho. They got back into the experimental thing without forgetting the rock n roll this time. Some amazing MMS's out there and even Lickin sounded good on tour. its a shame we never really got to hear much of Audley. like him or not he can play the "geetar" and I wonder how better Lions would have been if Mr Ego Rich let him play on it like Marc did in his days. even at the shows Audley was usually lower in the mix...

Live At The Greek - well, I dig this one. some fantastic guitar playing going on around here. Chris sings the shite out of em. Sounds like everyone is having some fun. Highlights for me include Shake Your Money Maker, In My Time Of Dying, Sloppy Drunk, Nobody's Fault But Mine, Ten Years Gone, and Heartbreaker. a very very nice album.

Live - I like this one too. not the best song selection but it does capture a nice picture of the last weekend of the Crowes. I happen to be there for both shows so it is nice to own a good sounding copy of some of the tunes. Miracle To Me is the best on here and Title Song is nice tho I would have liked to have heard Marc playing on it in this clarity.

Tall and The Band Sessions - well two albums that could have been. Im almost glad that Tall didnt happen because Amorica is perfect. but im very sad about "The Band Sessions" it would have been a nice progression from 3 Snakes and a very depressing poetic album but alas, it was not to be!!! plus we would have never had By Your Side.

New Earth Mud - well Chris certainly is doing his own thing here and its good but not great. I was really hoping for more of a southern sound but got more of a French type of rock album. Better Than The Sun is a remarkable tune and the best on the disc. The Kids That Aint Got None and even Katie Dear are better than average. a few clunkers like Untangle My Mind and Ride. Its no Crowes of course, its a good listen, I like it.

So there is my take on there albums n stuff. I have been a life long fan, seen many many shows, have traded many many shows with some excellent people. The Crowes have a nice place in Rock n Roll history and I know one day they will be back in some form.

[7 Zark 7]

Brilliant band they were! Nonfiction, Under A Mountain, Wiser Time, Ballad In Urgency, My Morning Song, Girl From A Pawnshop, Good Friday, P25 London, Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye, No Speak No Slave, Evil Eye, these are just brilliant songs. Amorica and 3 Snakes were like magic!