The Black Crowes

[suites]

Thanks

 

I thought I looked at that last week and the Orlando Date was not on it.

 

Looks like 90/90.

[Analogman]

It's wasn't exactly easy to find. I just happened to recall that press release was on their website somewhere.

 

For those of you in Atlanta:

 

Steve Gorman

 

You can take the MARTA to Candler Park and see the house where Chris, Sven, our friend Clint, and I lived in 1987. When you get off the train, take the escalator down on the Candler Park side and walk in a straight line out of the parking lot. Cross the street and you’ll literally walk right into our old front door, at 292 Oakdale Road.

 

Mr. Crowes Garden (Chris, Rich, and some other dudes) and Mary My Hope (Sven, Clint, me, and another dude) both used the middle room of the house as a rehearsal space. I don’t think we mentioned to the landlord as we were moving in that we were planning to rehearse there, but you know how those things go. We packed about ten years of excitement into less than twelve actual months of living there.

 

Four people paid rent, $112.50 each per month, and about 10 other people crashed there on a regular basis.

 

Trust me that the house you see today bears little resemblance to the shit hole that we evacuated in the fall of ‘87. Someone put a lot of time, money, and effort into turning that dump around, I assure you.

 

In those days, we hung out at the Dugout on Oxford Road in Emory Village. It was the best music club in town for a brief spell in the spring of ‘87 but that era ended when the place got shut down for serving alcohol to minors. As the doorman of the establishment, I plead the 5th as to how that sort of thing might have happened. The Dugout is now, and has been for many years, a bookstore. If you go there, just picture me in the front doorway aggressively denying entry to each and every Emory frat boy that approached, while at the same time happily allowing any girl who looked at least 16 (fake ID complete with 1966 birthdate or not) to enter with a nonchalant wave of my hand.

 

You could swing by Wax n Facts in Little 5 Points, where I “worked” after the Dugout closed but more importantly, where Chris and I would regularly loiter for hours and hours arguing over which Nick Drake record was the best and strategizing about where we could find free beer on any given night.

 

Around the corner from there is the North High Ridge apartment complex, where Chris and I lived for about 6 months after the Oakdale house fell apart. In that time span, not one utility bill was paid on time or in full. Good times.

 

You can check out Piedmont Park, where we played the Pot Festival in 1992. That was a good day. We played on a stage at the bottom of the hill off of 10th Street, close to the Piedmont Avenue side. There were about six hundred million people there, or so it seemed, and I remember thinking very clearly during that show that we were pretty badass. I later lived in that neighborhood for five years and walked my dog there every day, so the park has a lot of great memories for me.

 

Finally (because if I don’t stop now, this answer will turn into a book and I am not planning on writing that until next year) you can go to the corner of Mount Paran Road and Jett Road in Northwest Atlanta. On the NW corner of this intersection, you’ll see the house that Chris bought after the first tour and where, in the garage, we put together the songs that became SHAMC.

 

Across the street, on the SE corner, you’ll find the house where, four years later, we recorded TSAOC. That’s another house we rented without telling the landlords what we were doing. To this day, I doubt seriously that whoever owns that house has any idea that an album was made there.

 

Okay, that’s enough of a jog down memory lane for today.

 

When you have checked these spots off your list, and paid proper homage at each, let me know and I’ll come up with some more.

[mjpuczko]

croweology is pretty damn good. share the ride is quite odd htough. sounds like a drum machine.

[Vacant Horizon]

It's wasn't exactly easy to find. I just happened to recall that press release was on their website somewhere.

 

For those of you in Atlanta:

 

Steve Gorman

 

i live in atlanta, so i may check out these places. do any of the band members still live in atlanta? incidently, there is a Fellini's pizza on ponce de leon where is bunch of 'famous atlantans' worked. chris is one.

 

as far as my morning song goes. i'm not too keen on the gospel ending. i think i liked the last album because it was sans back up singers. would much rather hear rich sing.

[Analogman]

I was thinking the same thing. I doubt any of them live there anymore.

[mjpuczko]

would much rather hear rich sing.

 

this has to be the first time those words were ever said, no? i love the back up singers.

 

i think this album's fantastic. still not all the way through it.

[calvino]

I like the songs that Rich sings lead on the Cabin Fever DVD/CD, though those are the only songs I heard him sing lead on, I think.

[mjpuczko]

I like the songs that Rich sings lead on the Cabin Fever DVD/CD, though those are the only songs I heard him sing lead on, I think.

 

his voice has definitely gotten better/more confident but the female backup singers are such a part of the crowes sound.

[calvino]

his voice has definitely gotten better/more confident but the female backup singers are such a part of the crowes sound.

 

I have no problems with the backup singers, either.

[mjpuczko]

holy shit. the end to my morning song is frickin awesome. my god.

[Analogman]

I was listening to the Sweet Pickle Salad cd yesterday. Now, I have the song Clothes And Food stuck in my head.

[Moss]

holy shit. the end to my morning song is frickin awesome. my god.

 

 

I can't wait to hear this one, one of my favorite songs from my favorite Crowes album. That song cries out for gospel singers. I would prefer Rich keep his trap shut.

[Calexico]

I am enjoying the new album, the reworkings of old songs. I think the Crowes really hit their forte when they brought out the mandolins and fiddles and hung out in Levon's place.

[Analogman]

I am enjoying the new album, the reworkings of old songs. I think the Crowes really hit their forte when they brought out the mandolins and fiddles and hung out in Levon's place.

 

A lot of people seem to hate it - the so-called super fans, that is. I have read many posts about how people hate the fact that they became a "country band". I find that sort of odd.

[Calexico]

Seems a tad strange to me too. I would have thought that sort of music loomed large in their collective backgrounds along with the blues. I dunno, I like later period Crowes a whole lot more than I did the bluesy jam stuff.

[Analogman]

What I recall reading a lot of was a longing for the band to continue in the view of Southern Harmony. I prefer the jamming stuff, but I also really like the last two albums. Those two albums are really the only new music I have listened to over and over again.

[mjpuczko]

A lot of people seem to hate it - the so-called super fans, that is. I have read many posts about how people hate the fact that they became a "country band". I find that sort of odd.

 

i learned a long time ago to never go to the black crowes message board. the 'super fans' hate anything post southern harmony. annoying.

[Analogman]

i learned a long time ago to never go to the black crowes message board. the 'super fans' hate anything post southern harmony. annoying.

 

Good point.

[Moss]

i learned a long time ago to never go to the black crowes message board. the 'super fans' hate anything post southern harmony. annoying.

 

And they revere Marc Ford like a deity so no other guitar player really has a chance of making them happy.

[mjpuczko]

well, i can't really disagree w/ that. as great as luther is, marc's playing fits the band so much more.

[Moss]

well, i can't really disagree w/ that. as great as luther is, marc's playing fits the band so much more.

 

 

Oh I prefer Marc Ford as well, but not to the point where I won't give anything post Marc a chance.

[mjpuczko]

Oh I prefer Marc Ford as well, but not to the point where I won't give anything post Marc a chance.

 

yes, very true. i just love the robinson bros. great writing duo.

[Analogman]

I don't suppose we will ever hear the album they were working on when Marc left a second time. Although, Cold Boy Smile and Magic Rooster Blues ended up on the Brothers Of A Feather cd/dvd.

[Analogman]

I just picked up the new album at Walmart for ten bucks. I have several thousand cds, and I am pretty sure I have never seen a pop-up deal in a cd sleeve before.

[mjpuczko]

i haven't bought it yet. going to get it on vinyl.