BobLamonta

I always wanted to make some old-school live albums out of the full-show Instant Live recordings the Crowes made available of their various runs. So here's my personal "best of" compilations from May 2005, in which the classic line-up reunited for the first time and everything was captured in multi-track stereo glory. Chris' voice is a bit ragged in places, but Rich & Marc's interplay alone is worth careful study. If this violates official policies, mod delete post and I'll understand, but as far as I can tell, only 05/06 & 05/20 are even still available the LBC.com store, so 95% o

Hope you enjoy them. In my years as a Crowes obsessive, Deadheads tend to like Three Snakes more than the others, so I'll be curious to hear your take. If you find you enjoy those albums, I could send you some shows from the '96-'97 tour that perfectly encapsulate that era. In fact, the Furthur '97 tour, where they just wailed in front of Dead fans for an hour every night, is probably my favorite period in their history. A mix of the balls out rock music of their youth with the more psychedelic and/or cosmic country leanings of their latter years. Great stuff. Oh, and Amorica is like a vinta

I agree that the country-rock thing is probably what they should stick to these days. It's certainly where Chris' head (and throat) seem to be at lately. That being said, I would highly encourage you to go back and give Amorica and Three Snakes another chance. Granted, these albums came out when I was a teenager, so I have especially fond memories of them (early driving albums, if you will), but I still contend that they feature many of the finest songs they ever wrote, impeccably performed and recorded (the latter props going to Jack Joseph-Puig, an engineering mastermind who dealt with a lot

The one show I caught was an awesome experience. I regret never attending a Midnight Ramble during my years in New York, but I'm glad I at least had a chance to witness something musical on Levon's farm. I saw the March 1st show, which was far enough along in the run that I'd already read a good deal about most of the songs they were performing. Nevertheless, the evening was still full of surprises for me and everyone else. The whole idea behind Cabin Fever reeked of a typical Pete Angelus PR stunt, so the best thing I can say about the experience was how genuine and sincere it all felt in exe

I really like BTF/UTF as well and was fortunate enough to attend one of the Cabin Fever shows. I know a lot of the 20+ year die-hards were disappointed because it didn't "rock" hard enough, or whatever, but I enjoyed the new direction well enough (though I wish Rich had driven the bus a bit more - "What Is Home" is more interesting to me than most of Chris' work on that album). That being said, anyone who hasn't heard some of the live recordings from '96-'97 really should. Chris' voice is unbeatable from that tour. He's rarely, if ever, yelling or screaming. It's just raw power and soul. The

You're ight about the acoustic shows. Those tend to be my favorite latter-day Crowes recordings, as they emphasize the material and range Chris is most comfortable with these days. I've been listening to a bunch of the Instant Live shows from '05-'06 lately, and even those are pretty weak vocally (compared to the glory days of the mid-90s, that is). Of course, the band is so amazing, it tends to make up for Chris' screeching. I've enjoyed the other lead players at various times, but you can run through a dozen different Ford solos on any given '05-'06 show and it only serves to underscore just

One of the most frustrating things about a being a Black Crowes fan is that there are few reliable forums for fan discussion and information. Most of the semi-official boards are drowning in a sea of petty squabbling among the loudest and most obnoxious posters, and these places rarely have any decent insight into legit developments in the Crowes camp. Fortunately, then handful of folks in here are keeping things civil and largely up-to-date, so sincere thanks for that! I can't believe I'm just now hearing about the CRB San Fran Live release (which seemed like a given, though the involvement o

Hope a Nashville date gets added. I've seen a couple 'Hawks-less Gary shows and they are always awesome. As heretical as it may be, I think I prefer his tenure as bandleader to when the Univoice was in charge (though HTH and TTGG are basically perfection). He's one of the very best we have and one of the few that I will make a point to see anytime he's in town. Here's hoping he gets us another "Vagabonds" soon. That album was stunning.

Rich has always been my guy in the Crowes. In a band of stellar musicians and interesting personalities, he's always been my favorite. Chris may have the iconic voice, but those songs, those chord progressions, that "sound" is Rich to the core. That being said, I would imagine that the vast majority of average Black Crowes fans (not die-hard obsessives like the ones who post on internet forums) think of the Black Crowes as Chris' band, and his presence is enough to warrant a ticket or two for the solo revue, whereas Rich is the "brother who plays guitar," ya know? Rich's (now former) manag

FWIW, the kickstarter project has been pulled down. They'd only raised 2k or so after the first week, and it was clearly not going as they'd hoped. I love Rich and wish him nothing but the best with his solo venture, but hopefully he'll start getting some better career advice soon.

I posted this on a Crowes board as well, but since this forum as a much higher rate of civilized discussions, I thought I'd weigh in here... I'm not the type for the apoplectic internet response, but this move by Rich and his management has me shaking my head in disbelief. Why embark on a tour you can't afford? I only made it through the first minute of that terrible video (Rich was funny, but the hambone playing his manager... oh man), so I'm assuming they aren't necessarily looking to fund the existing dates. If so, that just seems like a colossal mistake. But even if the goal is to ex

Wild Wood is an amazing album, and of all the Weller solo stuff I've heard (most of which is quite good), it's by far the best. I can't imagine Wilco fans not finding something to enjoy on this album. Great stuff.

I'm curious when Wilco's set begins at these Ryman shows. I'm going Sunday, but I've got family obligations that evening, so I'm hoping Wilco doesn't hit the stage 'til 9p or so. How long has Nick Lowe's opening set typically been?

I did a search and didn't turn much up on Elbow around here. They have a new album out this week, "Build A Rocket Boys!" (digital only in the US for now), and like their previous four albums, it's a stunner. I know they finally exploded in popularity in the UK with the previous album, so maybe they're uncool now (?). They seem too emotionally forthright and unapologetically ornate to be embraced by a lot of the US indie rock fanbase, but given the success of bands like Arcade Fire and The National here, I've always been surprised that Elbow weren't huge in America (at least hipster-rock huge).

Email sent.

I disagree. I'm neither old enough (a mere 31) to remember the original LP releases, nor do I have any audiophillic (not a word) tendencies, but I bought the Mono box set because I've always hated the wide separation of the stereo mixes present in most of their catalog. Even the more sophisticated stereo mixes on Sgt. Pepper and the White Album often have drums and bass crammed into the left channel and lead vocals only on the right. That always made these albums seem dated to me, even though I knew the music itself was timeless. Suffice to say, hearing the mono mixes this week was (cliché a

Yeah, the Brothers Of A Feather shows were amazing. Analogous to a solo Tweedy show. Just the songs, stripped down to their essence. I saw two of the NYC shows, and they were concert-going highlights to be sure. I also caught both of the Rich/Luther Circle Sound shows, which were really cool. It seemed pretty clear that they were test-runs for Luther/Rich compatibility more than anything. Great blues covers and such. Oh, and Rich's friend Patti Smith came up and did some poetry during one of their jams. NOBODY saw that coming.

If anybody's interested in hearing some of these side projects, I've got lots of live stuff (though I'm misplaced my Chris/Marc '02 shows, which are great). "Hookah Brown" is Rich's solo album with a better singer, John Hogg from British band Moke (who's 2nd album, Carnival is really good and was produced by Paul Stacey, the guy who did all Chris' solo stuff and the last two Crowes records). There are some demos that leaked and all the shows were taped. Some of them sound really good. The '94 Foamfoot show is awesome. Marc is on fire all night, and I'm a massive Jellyfish fan, so it's awe

I'm a super nerd when it comes to the Crowes; have hundreds of bootlegs, all the solo stuff, blah blah blah. Suffice to say, it's probably no great surprise that, like most bands, they are definitely greater than the sum of their parts. So you definitely want to start with the band's albums first. The Holy Trinity in the eyes of most fans would be Southern Harmony through Three Snakes (I also include the two amazing "lost" albums during that '92-'97 period, "Band" and "Tall") Incredible songs, playing, production, the whole enchilada on those records. I find moments of greatness in the other r

I'm counting on it now. Just tried to get tickets 5 minutes after they went on sale and there's nothing left. Damn.