Classic Rock- U.K Autumn special 1999 issue 7 transcribed by Anne Hale :) Southern Harmony Brothers Chris and Rich Robinson fell out big time and almost split up the Black Crowes when one of their albums never saw the light of day. Around them, a bandmate showed apathy and another was so out of it he didnt know which song he was playing. Now with a new line-up, record deal and career-saving album, the pair tell Chris Marlowe of their happiness that people once again like what they do... Chris Robinson sits perched on an uncomfortable backstage sofa, nudging sundried tomatoes from his salad. The lanky singer insists that hes put on 22 pounds- almost two stone!- in the past few years. This is theoretically possible, but if so it hasn't been by eating the way he's doing now. Artichokes are apparantly good. Pasta squiggles seem acceptable. Trendy tomatos get vetoed. Dinner menues not withstanding, it seems lika a good-time to be in the Black Crowes. "I look at our band like a hot-rod now," Chris says with a punctuating wave of his fork. "It's shiny, fire coming out of it, big tires in the back, chrome everywhere, cool paint job- yeah! And what do you do with a hotrod? You rev the fucker up and let it go!" Robinson's geared up to hit the boards, and the energy sparkles like the rhinestones on his shirt. His brother Rich can be heard soundchecking his guitar through the flimsy door of the caravan. The Crowes, a band recently on the endangered list, have been reintroduced to their natural habitat of the concert stage. "People know that there's not another band that's going to give them this," Chris enthuses. "There's a saying, like if you eat something good or whatever,'Man, that shit is as good as church.'I don't believe in any organised religion at all, but I believe in the power of people getting together and rhythm and music and lyrics and electricity." By that reckoning the Black Crowes have been born again. Their latest album, 'By Your Side', has been hailed as their best since 'Shake Your Money Maker' grabbed the publics ears in 1990. "It's been ten years," Chris observes in a retrospective mood. "'Shake Your Money Maker' is like bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, a naive bunch of kids. talented kids, but kids. Who wore our influences on our sleeves. All we wanted to do was to beable to be with our music every night. We knew we were limited musically. But we weren't limited creatively or in our vision or our commitment or what we loved about music." When the band's label, American Recordings, literally forgot to pick up their option , the Crowes were able to renegotiate their shabby contract into something far more appropriate for a band selling millions of records. The lads started making money. 'The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion' came next in '92, roughly 350 shows and a skyrocket ride into superstardom later."That was showing off our new tools," Chris explains "Like, 'Look what we can do now.' You know, you meet someone and you have sex, and you can have awesome sex with them, but then the more times you get into it the better it gets." It all started to go slightly wonky about then, however. Chris' impulsive verbal honesty had caused the crowes to become, in his own words, poster children for legalising marijuana. Chris then persuaded the other Crowes to join him in recording another album called 'Tall'. This project, which took months and cost about £375,000, was never released. Drugs were both omnipresent and the cause of many internecine arguments. It was months before the Robinson brothers would ever speak to each other again. 'Amorica',released in '94, marked an attempt to thaw the cold war. "Thats a very angry record. For a lot of reasons," Chris muses. If 'Gone' had been the first single off that album instead of 'A Conspiracy' it would have made a big difference. People just couldn't get around the cover! It's not just about women or politics. It's about a vibe and psychedelics and art and one foot in the gutter and one foot on a silk sheet bed. I like the dichotomy and juxtaposition of all those things." Following 'Amorica', insiders began to uspect that the Crowes had ceased to be, but in 1995 they tried again and recorded another, even more poorly recieved album. Chris shrugs, "'Three Snakes [And One Charm]' is a twisted, creepy, acid trip type of thing. But its still rock and roll." After a pause he adds, "We didn't write one single on there, you know? We knew that." Yet in a less positive mood during a different interview Chris had been more blunt: "It smelled like death." Before the renewal of 'By Your Side', the band took part on both the HORDE and FURTHER tours, which the Crowes had joined in a spirit of neo-hippie idealism... only to be accused of wallowing in tedious jam sessions. "Maybe you could call it self-ingulgent," Chris reluctantly allows. "I won't. Some nights it worked and some nights it didn't- we know that." He then lightens up considerably and mischievously offers, "I did learn one thing- Blues Traveller are a fucking horrible band. The novelty of a big fat guy up there wears off after three or four hours of that noodling." On a more serious note he continues, "What I really learned? That mostly it's about greed." Chris acknowledged more than that during an interview on an American television programme. "I've learned alot," he told the Daily Show. "Like I don't have to be taking LSD every day. And if it stinks, put it on ice." The singer is much happier when the conversation roams back towards the present. "This record is a celebration of all of it," he believes. Yet he refuses to accept that the new album might possibly be better than its predecessor, even when the opinion is delivered as an unequivocal compliment. "Not many people would say that to our faces," he growls. "We put as much into 'Three Snakes...' as we did into 'By Your Side'. It's exactly what we've always done, and that's being totally honest. It's not about drugs." Okay, except that nobody but Chris had mentioned drugs... "It's just that we found ourselves in a certain place creativly that was a little twisted. And dark. And weird. And this record id not. Just as much energy went into both things, they're just going in two different directions." Despite the outburst, Chris realises that no criticism of the Black Crowes was intended. "You know," he allows. "It's just that when you get up there , it is almost pristine and divine. When it really works and you get that gospel feeling. And its important now more than ever, because people dont realise how deep music is and what it really means. The power that music is. The power of the soul. I mean, whats the difference between Warrant and Creed? Haircuts, thats it. They're still crap bands." "I want to be good at what I do and I want to be confident and you have to have an ego and all that shit," Chris adds more sincerely. "But you know what? I'm just another good songwriter and another good singer. There's alot of them. And let me tell you what happens. Or your lucky, your music becomes a part of peoples lives. And thats whats important." At this point, Rich Robinson wanders in to finalise details for that evening's show. The brothers avoid talking simultaneously, so once the setlist is settled Chris takes the oppurtunity to slip off to the bands dressing room. But noy without quipping, "Oh you get Mr Happy next." Rich Robinson has a way of gazing downwards so his blond curls shield his eyes, but that habit in no way means he's reluctant to speak his mind. he too is pleased that 'By Your Side' has been well recieved, but he also feels that saying it's a return to form is something of a backhanded compliment. "The energy on this record is really similar to the first and second record. And the songs are a little more positive. But the songwriting is completely different," he contends. "my favourite songs are songs that when you listen to them you think, 'Oh thats a sinple rock song.' But when you really listen to them and you try to figure them out, there's alot going on." His face lights up when told that the album seems to have an underlying sence of joy. "Oh definetly," he agrees. "Theres a coherance and a positive energy." Rich puts alot of this down to producer Kevin Shirley [Aerosmith] whose input the brothers valued. "We let ourselves be more receptive this time," he points out. "I mean we produced 'Southern Harmony...,' 'Amorica', and 'Three snakes...' Lets listen to someone else for once! Someone whos not going to be some ass-kiss prick, but someone who has objective ears and can say, 'Well that sucked' instead of trying to go, 'Let me tell you why that take was great, but it won't work'" A change in the Crowes work habits also helpped. For three albums, they would be in the studio from one in the afternoon until four in the morning, every single night. Rich exclaims, "It just took Kevin going, 'Why do you guys stay in here for fucking twenty hour days?' This ways so much more fun, and more productive." This new outlook is reflected in a new attitude change as well. "We were defensive," Ruch acknowledges. "I think the fans we have are way more intense than they ever used to be, which is great. But, you know, you see less fans than you used to. 'Amorica' didnt sell well. 'Three Snakes...' didnt sell well. And its not about the recoord sales or that shit, but you want people to like what you fucking do." Rich says that the new album is an organic progression from what he believes were the poorly recorded '...Snakes...' and 'Amorica'. "You take everything you like and you dont like, and then thats sort of what turned this record out," says Robinson. "But we will get the Stones and Faces thing, which is just so annoying. Journalists," he spits. "Alot of journalists are kids and they dont know what the fuck theyre talking about. But they read a review from five years ago that said we sounded like the Stones, so they put that. They just dont know or care." A common theory among Crowes fans is that the two less popular albums, along with the misguided package tours, were more Chris' but that now Rich has reined in these excesses. Earlier in the day Chris had categorically denied this. Rich, on the contrary , nods, "Theres truth. It started with the Grateful Dead and all that shit. I never liked them or gavea shit, but you know what? I really appreciated Jerry Garcia and his ouutlook. He loved good music, and he played well. The rest of it I can either take or leave. But Chris really got into it and wanted to try those things. I sort of fought it and that was 'amorica'. Me fighting it. And the by FURTHER Im like, 'Do whatever the fuck you want'. I just got sick of it" Instead, Rich retreated in to writing material such as 'Only A Fool' and other songs, many of which would eventually appear on 'By Your Side'. But the live shows were becoming more and more of a trail. "First of all, look at stage right and Marc Ford is drooling on himself," he recalls with a cshake of his head. "It's sad. When he's sober, the guy can play his ass off and I'll give him credit all fucking day. But were looking over at our here at our friend and our bandmate who is so fucked up that hes playing the wrong song. And Johnny Colt, [bass] who doesn't want to be there." Rich is staring down at the sticky backstage carpet, still upset by the recolection. After a moment he shakes his head. "Fuck 'em. I mean, we care about what we do and we want to put on a good show, and I don't think any of us need that in our lives." "Somehow when we''d play a song like 'Sting Me' or 'Remedy' it would all come together And we'd have fun, and the crowd would perk up all of a sudden," Rich recalls. "But thats what we do. We're a rock band. And no-one else can do it like us. I think Chris finally realised that too."£ A major rethink resurected the band. Chris went through a divorce, which according to his brother caused him to reevaluate many things in his life. Marc Ford and Johnny Colt were out, and bassist of cult favouritesMary My Hope came in. It was an easy transition, since they had all shared a house together. In fact, many moons ago drummer Steve Gorman had left MMH to join the Black Crowes. But it was sometime before guitarist Audley Freed, ofthe late lamented Cry Of Love, was invited to join. "I love this record because its not all crammed," says Rich when explaining why the part toyed with remaining a quartet. "Everything is really clear and up-front. Its a lot meatier, you know? And so we sort of thought that with eds abilitys and with Sven being such a greta bass player, we might beable to go without a second guitar player. But the we decided theres tenyears of a twoguitar band and the dynamic is really important- if we found the right guy. And Audley is amazing. He can play his ass off. And the really good thing about Audley is hes very thoughtful. He knows when to step." the new lineup brings a core of stength that the Crowes can build on. Becuase evn when the media isnt harping on about it, the brothers rae keenly aware of the tensions between their fundamentally inseperable selves. "When we fight, we fight really well! But the flip side of that is when \chris and I click, we click really well. I do think that there is a conflict that really adds to it," Rich admits. "I think that this record is a product of us clicking. We wanted the smae thing. for the first time in a long time!" After several years of seeming unfocussed and at odds not only with themselves but even with all but the most dedicated of their fans, the Black crowes semm to have found their groove once again.