The Black Crowes

The Black Crowes

HOT ROCKS
The Black Crowes Reclaim Their Roar with Lions
They've been called both throwbacks and visionaries over the years, but these days, the Black Crowes have earned the title of respected rock-'n'-roll veterans. The Atlanta band went from being rock's blazing young guns with the release of their smash 1990 debut, Shake Your Money Maker, to being slagged as Rolling Stones knockoffs after sales started to wane in the mid-'90s. Still, the Crowes have earned their stripes by staying true to their rock-'n'-roll roots in an era suffused by rap and teeny-pop. And while lead singer Chris Robinson says it hasn't always been easy over the last dozen years, avoiding trends is what's earned the Crowes their devoted fan base, as well as respect from the likes of Jimmy Page. The Crowes may even become cool again in 2001. If they do, it will be because they rebounded from '99's disappointing By Your Side with the resounding Lions, a free-flowing collection that encompasses an array of styles from funk ("Ozone Mama") to ballads ("Miracle to Me") to good-old fashioned rock ("Midnight from the Inside Out"). Speaking by phone from a West Palm Beach hotel, Robinson told Barnes & Noble's Steve Baltin about the new album, surviving the music industry, and his parents' cool record collection.

Barnes & Noble.com: How has the new material been going over live?

Chris Robinson: We did a couple of really early gigs and played a few new songs for people, and instantly a song like "Lickin' " went over really big. And now that we've been doing it the last week -- granted, more people have heard the album -- it's been amazing to me. We made this record to play most of it every night. We haven't had a record like that since Southern Harmony. And for us also it's just so much fun. I just feel completely different about how the shows feel and what it all means.

B&N.com: That fun comes across in the album, which has a very loose vibe. Does all that you've accomplished over your career help create a sense of freedom?

CR: Yeah, I think we've tried to maintain that do-what-we-want thing. Musically I'm very happy with what we've accomplished. Aside from the first half of By Your Side, everything we've done has been something that's been very honest and very natural for us. But on the other hand, I look back and I have to say it would've been a lot easier to do this if we hadn't had to survive so much. I'm glad we were able to survive, we're stronger for it, but I can't say that it's been the easiest thing.

B&N.com: Do you remember the first music that made an impression on you growing up?

CR: A lot of it was my parents had cool records. And my dad was a folksinger, so he was singing all sorts of traditional music around the house all the time. But I guess the first music I really connected with was Sly & the Family Stone. And my dad had those records. That and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young and Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen. Those would be the rock-'n'-roll side of things.

B&N.com: What were your first jobs starting out?

CR: I was really into music always, but the first time music became something in our reach was totally the hardcore scene in Atlanta. The Metroplex was the club where we would go see 688 and Black Flag all-ages shows. The energy of that and going out and seeing live bands was kind of cool. Then came R.E.M. What R.E.M. was in 1982, during those first four records, was another blueprint to what a band was like. And especially the kind of stuff that they would say about the corporate music business; those were things that were in our heads, and we viewed the business from those bands. And Rich was into the Cure, and I was into all the Paisley Underground stuff. And then I was obviously into Syd Barrett, the Byrds, Big Star, and Buffalo Springfield. That kind of fueled our fire. Along with the R&B and funk stuff, but that wouldn't have been in our earliest band stuff. We weren't really good enough to play that funky stuff.

B&N.com: When did you know you were good enough as a singer to do this?

CR: To be honest, I would say not until the Three Snakes tour. I heard a track off Shake Your Money Maker the other day, and I was like, "Oh my God, that's horrible." I mean I was obviously a much greener young man.

B&N.com: Are you still that strongly affected by music?

CR: Yeah, I'm in a band full of people affected by music. We have friends who are that way. And in our terms it's interesting because it's all based in the freedom of creativity. That energy comes directly from the way music affected my brother and I, and how that caused us to want to jump into the fray. That kind of fierce devotion to music is exactly what the album is about, what Lions symbolizes.

B&N.com: This album covers a wide array of styles musically. Where does that come from?

CR: I think that's a sonic thing from the seamless style Rich and Steve play in. When I listen to Lions, it's easily my favorite record that we've done so far. This record sounds like the band that I've always wanted to be in -- since we were teenagers. It just took a long time to get there.

May 15, 2001