The Black Crowes

[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% of this material is out-of-print and commercially unavailable.

 

Oh, and these are my personal "idealized" versions of a Crowes show, with songs generally segueing one to another, and with different performances from different shows edited together to make a better version of a particular song. So it's not always true to the source material, but that's kinda the point.

 

My shoes hurt, 

Bob Lamonta 

 

 

OH ATLANTA (Tabernacle, May 5-8, 2005) 

1) Virtue & Vice 

2) Black Moon Jam > Black Moon Creeping 

3) Cosmic Friend 

4) Sometimes Salvation 

5) Peace Anyway 

6) Soul Singing [05/05 & 05/07] 

7) Willin' 

8) Hard To Handle Jam 

9) Don't Let Me Down 

10) Yer Blues 

 

1) Greasy Grass River 

2) Horsehead 

3) Under A Mountain 

4) Thorn Jam [05/05 & 05/07] 

5) Thorn In My Pride [05/05 & 05/07] 

6) Descending 

7) Girl From A Pawnshop 

8) How Much For Your Wings? 

9) Tumbling Dice 

10) Happy 

 

ALL JOIN HANDS I (Various, May 2005) 

1) Jealous Again [05/10] 

2) Paint An 8 [05/11] 

3) Another Roadside Tragedy [05/19 & 05/06] 

4) Thorn Jam [05/19] 

5) My Morning Song [05/11 & 05/20] 

6) Crash On The Levee (Down In The Flood) [05/14] 

7) Nebakanezer [05/14] 

8) Evil Eye [05/14] 

9) It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry [05/11] 

 

ALL JOIN HANDS II (Various, May 2005) 

1) Comin' Home [05/10] 

2) Gone [05/19] 

3) Soul Singing [05/15] 

4) Bring On, Bring On [05/10] 

5) Girl From The North Country [05/19 & 05/07] 

6) Cosmic Wings Jam [05/11 & 05/15] 

7) Thorn Jam [05/15] 

8) Thorn In My Pride [05/15] 

9) Baby We Got A Date [05/19] 

10) Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye [05/19] 

 

ALL JOIN HANDS III (Various, May 2005) 

1) Don't Do It [05/20] 

2) Good Friday [05/20 & 05/06] 

3) Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You [05/20] 

4) Black Moon Jam (inc. Long Hair Rap) [05/14] 

5) Young Man, Old Man [05/13] 

6) Pre-Road Downs [05/15] 

7) Ballad In Urgency [05/17] 

8) Wiser Time [05/17] 

9) Late Nights Again Jam [05/17] 

10) Hard To Handle [05/17] 

11) Shake Your Money Maker [05/19]

[BobLamonta]

Looks like my links were deleted (smart robot!). If anybody wants to hear these, PM me. Again, these recordings are no longer commercially available (apart from about six songs out of fifty). I'm a firm believer in supporting the artists first and foremost. Buy tons of shows on LBC.com (as I have!). But you can't get these particular performances anymore, which is a shame. So hopefully my mix can help out those ears who never got a chance to hear these.

[Analogman]

For those of you wanting a new Rich solo album:

 

 

Black Crowes' Rich Robinson Signs Indie Deal, Preps New Album 'The Ceaseless Sight'
 

For Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson, the End is a new beginning. The artist has signed with Brooklyn indie label The End Records for his next solo album, "The Ceaseless Sight," which is due for release in Spring 2014. Robinson takes vocalist and songwriting duties on the set.

 

Robinson -- who co-founded the Crowes with older brother Chris Robinson and drummer Steve Gorman during the mid-80s in Atlanta -- already has two solo studio albums to his credit.  The first, "Paper," came in 2004 while his follow-up, "Through a Crooked Sun," arrived in 2011. "There's no baggage with this band or this sort of outlet," Robinson told Billboard ahead of the release of “Sun”. "It's much more free. The Crowes are great and what we do and whenever we figure it out and whatever we're gonna do is really cool."

 

Speaking of his new partnership with The End Records and ADA, Robinson had this to say: "(The End founder) Andreas Katsambas is a long time music fan and has some very forward ideas on how to get music out there, but more importantly for me, how to allow the artist to create pure music without the inevitable commercial vs art clash that comes from a more traditional approach. All of Andreas' team shares these qualities. It's going to be great."

Other End artists include Anvil, Badly Drawn Boy, Fatboy Slim and Juliette Lewis.

 

Robinson has been on the road through the year with the Black Crowes, for the "Lay Down with Number 13" world trek. The rock group had been silent since 2010, the year "Croweology" dropped. He'll pick up his guitar again in 2014 for a national tour in support of “The Ceaseless Sight.”

 

I have to wonder why he needs to sign with a record company - when the Black Crowes have their own label/distribution deal. Although maybe that does not exist anymore.

[BobLamonta]

Rich has been a major label success since he was like 19 or something. I think it's hard for a guy like him to conceive of going it on his own completely (self-distribution, all that). Both Robinson solo careers, for all their talk of doing things differently than the Crowes and being "free" or whatever, tend to fall back on old music business paradigms because that's what they've been doing since they were kids. The Angelus doesn't fall far from the tree, so to speak.

[Shug]

 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.

 

 Bob, could you recommend a few specific shows from 96 and 97 that you think are tops?  I have a few but I've never thought it sounded as good as 2005 and 2006 Crowes.  I think what I like about the second coming of Marc Ford is that there were so many great covers being brought out and the blend of old originals, hearing Ford on Lions and By Your Side songs, and all the covers, plus many two-set shows made that year and a half just perfect for me.  I keep thinking I'm missing out on '97, though.  Lots of those are still for sale at nugs.net, I believe.  Let me know what you'd recommend and I'll seek it out.  Thanks, man!

[Analogman]

Trigger Hippy - new song - Turpentine.

 

Entire EP up at triggerhippy.net.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

There's also a new CRB song, in case that hasn't been posted yet:

http://www.americansongwriter.com/2013/11/song-premiere-chris-robinson-brotherhood-train-robbers/

[BobLamonta]

 Bob, could you recommend a few specific shows from 96 and 97 that you think are tops?  I have a few but I've never thought it sounded as good as 2005 and 2006 Crowes.  I think what I like about the second coming of Marc Ford is that there were so many great covers being brought out and the blend of old originals, hearing Ford on Lions and By Your Side songs, and all the covers, plus many two-set shows made that year and a half just perfect for me.  I keep thinking I'm missing out on '97, though.  Lots of those are still for sale at nugs.net, I believe.  Let me know what you'd recommend and I'll seek it out.  Thanks, man!

Everything you like about '05-'06 is what gives that era a slight edge for me as well. And the fact that it's true stereo separation (Marc on the left/Rich on the right) makes those recordings even more terrific. That being said, Chris sounds pretty rough on a lot of those shows (relatively speaking - he's still a great singer). If you check out 2/17/97 or 2/27/97 or the Furthur shows (I think they have 7/8/97 and 7/22/97 on nugs.net), you'll hear Chris at his absolute peak. I don't care how strung-out they allegedly were or how much they were fighting, etc., the band is unbelievable in that time, and Chris most of all. Listen to something like Sometimes Salvation from '97 vs. the '05-'06 shows (take 05/05/05 as an example), and while the band is always firing on all cylinders, Chris is really only bringing in on the former.

 

I'm working on a comp of my favorite performances from those years. A lot of it is commercially available, so I'll be careful about how it gets shared, but I'll try to get it some of it out there to interested parties. I'm not sure Chris had a bad show during that time. His voice is basically perfect on those shows.

[Analogman]

Billboard article about Betty and Chris:

 

 

Robinson puts Black Crowes on the back burner to focus on CRB, which will tour through 2014; As for the Crowes? "I don't see us getting any new music out right now"

 

Chris Robinson hopes no one takes lightly the fact that the namesake of the Chris Robinson Brotherhood's new "Betty's S.F. Blends, Volume One," is none other than Betty Cantor-Jackson, the longtime and legendary producer and engineer for the Grateful Dead.

"It's very special when somebody says, 'I haven't wanted to record a group since Jerry (Garcia) passed," notes Robinson, who fronts the CRB alongside his other, and older, band the Black Crowes. "Coming from someone who was an integral part of Jerry's recording life, what do you say to that? 'Yeah, OK, whatever you want, Betty.' That's kind of how the project came about."

 

The four-disc "Betty's S.F. Blends" set, being released Nov. 26 on limited-edition vinyl and digital download, features 19 songs culled from the 96 played during the CRB's five-show stand during December 2012 at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall. The set combines tracks from the two studio albums with songs from Robinson's 2004 solo album "This Magnificent Distance," the Black Crowes rarities "Roll Old Jeremiah" and "Tornado" and some covers, including Bob Dylan's "Crash on the Levee (Down in the Flood)" and Blue Cheer's "Hello L.A., Bye Bye Birmingham." It also features artwork by Alan Forbes, a 12-page booklet with photos by guitarist Neal Casal and liner notes by Howlin' Rain guitarit Ethan Miller.

 

Robinson says the association with Cantor-Jackson began during the CRB's 2011 residence in San Francisco.

 

"She came over and stuck her hand out and said, 'Hey, I'm Betty Cantor. You don't know this, but I'm gonna record your band every time you come to San Francisco.' I said, 'Well, I known now and that would be fucking amazing.' That's kind of how it started. If I'm going to put her name on it, I really wanted her to be in charge. It was funny, 'cause during the first year in San Francisco, Phil (Lesh) came and sat in with us one of the nights, and he said, 'Is that Betty Cantor I see?' And I said, 'It is,' and he gives me his Professor Lesh look and goes, 'Still the best ears in the business.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, I'm with you, man. That's why she's recording my band!'"

 

Black Crowes' Rich Robinson Signs Indie Deal, Preps New Album 'The Ceaseless Sight'

 

"Betty's S.F. Blends" is the start of a busy year ahead for CRB after being on ice while Robinson and keyboardist Adam MacDougall were on the road with the Black Crowes. The group returns to the studio later this month to continue working on its third album, to be titled "The Phosphorescent Harvest" and out at the end of April. Robinson says he and Casal have 13-14 originals ready and will record some covers, with 10 or 11 making the final cut.

 

"The songs are longer than most bands, but we wanted to be a little more conventional in terms of size," he notes. "It's a little less sprawling than the first (two) records; I don't think we've reinvented the wheel for ourselves, but I think the songs are really strong, and production-wise I feel it's a little snappier, maybe. I dare say there might be a little more rock 'n' roll elements to it, but it's still covered in a cosmic glaze of distorted perceptions and inner beauty, if you will."

 

The CRB is planning to be on the road from late April through the end of 2014, when it will be back in San Francisco -- where the Black Crowes finish their year on Dec. 14 at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Robinson and his brother, guitarist Rich Robinson, lost their father Stan in September, and the Crowes are planning to take time off without any solid plans for what's next.

 

"I don't see us getting any new music out right now. I don't see that happening," Robinson says. "I put off the CRB for a little more than a year to do this, so my energy now and focus is getting poured into that."

 

But with the Crowes' 25th anniversary looming in 2015, Robinson says that, "It'd be nice to get out there and do something. We'll see. That's something we'll probably address once we get away from it for a little while and take the holidays with our families. Then we'll start talking about it and see what we want to do."

 

I don't know if I believe what Chris says about her not wanting to work with a band since Jerry died. I believe she has - maybe mostly local bands. I think the last thing I read about her was that she was working with church choirs or something like that.

 

 

This is a great show by the way:

 

The Black Crowes
October 24th, 2013
Terminal 5, New York, NY

Master/Conversion:
Microtech Gefell M210's>Oade M248>SD-722, SD-722>Tascam CDRW2000>CD
by Jon Pasternak

Extraction:
CD>xACT 2.24 (cdparanoia)>WAV>FLAC, all tracks extracted with no errors
by Dave Mallick

Disc 1 Total: [62:48.25]
1. Movin' On Down The Line          
2. Hotel Illness                     
3. Another Roadside Tragedy          
4. Houston Don't Dream About Me      
5. Darling Of The Underground Press  
6. Girl From A Pawnshop              
7. Share The Ride -> Jam             
8. Magic Rooster Blues               
9. Lowdown ->                        

Disc 2 Total: [75:37.15]
1. Wiser Time                        
2. She Talks To Angels               
3. Oh Sweet Nuthin'                  
4. Sometimes Salvation               
5. Remedy                            
6. Jealous Again                     
7. E: Feathers                       
8. And The Band Played On        

 

[BobLamonta]

I made another round of "best of" compilations, this time from October 2005, which was an especially great month for the band. Chris was in really fine voice. Anyone who is interested, PM me and I'll send you links. Happy New Year, one and all!

[calvino]

Has anybody listened to the San Fran Betty CRB shows?  The entire run is up for sale , flac. Thinking of getting it -- the price for all 5 shows seems okay.

[Analogman]

I saw that on my Facebook page. I believe it was 60 bucks for the FLAC files - 97 bucks for the cds.

[Atticus]

Has someone already posted about Marc Ford's Holy Ghost album?

 

LINK

[Shug]

Thanks for the link to the song samples.  It sounds pretty mellow and introspective which Marc has done well at before with a few songs, but I'm not sure an album that is mostly mellow is all that exciting.  I'd like some guitar fire from Marc Ford.  Maybe live versions will be more aggressive.  I hope I get to see him play live.

 

Rich Robinson also has an album coming out, The Ceaseless Sight.  His might be on the mellow side, like the last one mostly was, but Through A Crooked Sun was a near-masterpiece, IMO, so I'll be happy if the new one is more of the same.

[Analogman]

Golden Ears: Chris Robinson Brotherhood Meet Their Match

 

An Article about Betty - even a recent photograph.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Good read. I am psyched to see CRB continuing, and really looking forward to some new music from them!

[Analogman]

I think it would be great if she would do their new album.

[Vacant Horizon]

i really enjoyed the CRB albums.  the boards sound great, of course, but they really don't/can't jam.  it's just kind of a hot mess to my ears.  neal definitely fits and i love his sound, but he really can't sustain a long Viola jamwhy isn't betty mastering/mixing some Furthur stuff?  how about a live comp of their originals recorded at TRI or something?  (btw, i know there's bad blood there).

[Shug]

i really enjoyed the CRB albums.  the boards sound great, of course, but they really don't/can't jam.  it's just kind of a hot mess to my ears.  neal definitely fits and i love his sound, but he really can't sustain a long Viola jam

 

I agree. I'm not a fan of CRB, studio or live.  I get that they love the Dead and I do, too and I get that they want to sound like that, but just because you want to doesn't mean you can.  To me, the music is not very good. To be more like the Dead, they'd need a virtuoso jazz rhythm section, at least, a probably a better lead guitar soloist.  And I hate to feel this way, but Chris' hippie-speak and appearance doesn't ring true for me because there are tons of recordings and stories of him going off on people.  I would not want to be on the receiving end of his wrath.  I know people are complex and not always consistent in what they do and I believe Chris is probably a good person at heart, but he doesn't seem like he fully knows how to be the peace and love dude that some newer CRB fans (those who haven't listened to much Crowes) think he is because that is the image he now  projects.  I wish musically he'd go back to the folk rock Americana singer songwriter thing that the Crowes were into in 2008-2010 instead of a limp version of Grateful Dead-ish rambling mid tempo shuffles that don't really go anywhere.  Its clear he doesn't want to and/or can't do the heavy rock thing anymore, but even so, the Gram Parsons, Manassas, Delaney and Bonnie, etc vibe the Crowes were into with Luther Dickinson in those years was really well suited for Chris' singing voice as he's aged.

[Vacant Horizon]

I agree. I'm not a fan of CRB, studio or live.  I get that they love the Dead and I do, too and I get that they want to sound like that, but just because you want to doesn't mean you can.  To me, the music is not very good. To be more like the Dead, they'd need a virtuoso jazz rhythm section, at least, a probably a better lead guitar soloist.  And I hate to feel this way, but Chris' hippie-speak and appearance doesn't ring true for me because there are tons of recordings and stories of him going off on people.  I would not want to be on the receiving end of his wrath.  I know people are complex and not always consistent in what they do and I believe Chris is probably a good person at heart, but he doesn't seem like he fully knows how to be the peace and love dude that some newer CRB fans (those who haven't listened to much Crowes) think he is because that is the image he now  projects.  I wish musically he'd go back to the folk rock Americana singer songwriter thing that the Crowes were into in 2008-2010 instead of a limp version of Grateful Dead-ish rambling mid tempo shuffles that don't really go anywhere.  Its clear he doesn't want to and/or can't do the heavy rock thing anymore, but even so, the Gram Parsons, Manassas, Delaney and Bonnie, etc vibe the Crowes were into with Luther Dickinson in those years was really well suited for Chris' singing voice as he's aged.

 

Agreed, though I do like CRB.  I do think it's ridiculous Chirs is playing Wolf.  Really?  He's not even a lead player.  I also love the Cabin Fever era Crowes.  That's my thing man...love early LA country rock pre-Eagles.  

[BobLamonta]

Neither the BTF/UTF or the CRB material hits me as hard as Holy Trinity Crowes (SHAMC, Amorica, TSAOC), but there are undeniably gems in both. Even though the live CRB is very hit or miss to my ears, I tend to give that band the edge over latter-day Crowes if only because it seems the purest expression of where Chris is at these days (however, faux hippie and slightly disingenuous that might be). I'm a Rich man, through and through, so as much as I enjoy the Cabin Fever stuff, it was always difficult for me to accept his role being marginalized by CR during that time. It's some weird glitch in my brain, I guess, but I'm more willing to accept the Chris wizards and gnome shit when it's through the prism of his Dead-aping companions than when he's trying to force it on his brother, whose bag of riffs and clever melodies seems to have no end.

 

Long-winded way of saying that I'm looking forward to April for new CR and RR albums. I wish they could find a way to recapture the magic they had together in the 90s, but if they can't, I'll gladly take whatever they can conjure on their own.

[Winston Legthigh]

Neither the BTF/UTF or the CRB material hits me as hard as Holy Trinity Crowes (SHAMC, Amorica, TSAOC), but there are undeniably gems in both. Even though the live CRB is very hit or miss to my ears, I tend to give that band the edge over latter-day Crowes if only because it seems the purest expression of where Chris is at these days (however, faux hippie and slightly disingenuous that might be). I'm a Rich man, through and through, so as much as I enjoy the Cabin Fever stuff, it was always difficult for me to accept his role being marginalized by CR during that time. It's some weird glitch in my brain, I guess, but I'm more willing to accept the Chris wizards and gnome shit when it's through the prism of his Dead-aping companions than when he's trying to force it on his brother, whose bag of riffs and clever melodies seems to have no end.

 

Long-winded way of saying that I'm looking forward to April for new CR and RR albums. I wish they could find a way to recapture the magic they had together in the 90s, but if they can't, I'll gladly take whatever they can conjure on their own.

Great username. My shoes hurt.

[Vacant Horizon]

Neither the BTF/UTF or the CRB material hits me as hard as Holy Trinity Crowes (SHAMC, Amorica, TSAOC), but there are undeniably gems in both. Even though the live CRB is very hit or miss to my ears, I tend to give that band the edge over latter-day Crowes if only because it seems the purest expression of where Chris is at these days (however, faux hippie and slightly disingenuous that might be). I'm a Rich man, through and through, so as much as I enjoy the Cabin Fever stuff, it was always difficult for me to accept his role being marginalized by CR during that time. It's some weird glitch in my brain, I guess, but I'm more willing to accept the Chris wizards and gnome shit when it's through the prism of his Dead-aping companions than when he's trying to force it on his brother, whose bag of riffs and clever melodies seems to have no end.

 

Long-winded way of saying that I'm looking forward to April for new CR and RR albums. I wish they could find a way to recapture the magic they had together in the 90s, but if they can't, I'll gladly take whatever they can conjure on their own.

 

Rich is a rift master.  One after the other!!

[BobLamonta]

Great username. My shoes hurt.

My shoes hurt too, Dad [sniffles] My shoes hurt too.

Rich is a rift master.  One after the other!!

Nice Freudian slip there. Rich is indeed the riff master. But you're right, he's also the rift master as well. Those Robinson boys are hard to get along with!

[nodep5]

Now I'm not going to go into my view on the Crowes as a great modern era rock band esp. from 1990-1996. Just amazing. Southern Harmony is top 5 all time for me.

 

That being said I have to disagree with alot of you on CRB.  I love it. It feels sincere (or more than recent Crowes efforts) and it is cosmic american music. I think the songs do go somewhere and live I think they were nothing but tight, professional and workmanlike. (no nonsense)  I guess my deficit lies in not having a huge working knowledge of jam bands or being a dead head, but CRB is one of my favs right now.