"You're not watching TV now. This is Rock'n'Roll, and there's not going to be any commercials. Except this one: here's my three-minute commercial for the album." -Chris Robinson

"Shake Your Money Maker", first of the crowes albums. I recommend: Jealous Again/Hard to Handle/She Talks to Angels

Song Listing: 1. Twice as Hard 2. Jealous Again 3. Sister Luck 4. Could I've Been so Blind 5. Seeing Things 6. Hard to Handle 7. Thick n' Thin 8. She Talks to Angels 9. Struttin' Blues 10. Stare it Cold


-BLACK CROWES Shake Your Moneymaker From the pages of the CMJ New Music Report, Issue: 188 - Feb 2, 1990 When the two biggest musical trends of the late `80s-sampling and classic rock-merge into one technique, the result is something we like to call "organic sampling." (Y'know how The Cult can steal an AC/DC or Zep riff and still collect songwriting royalties?) Well, the debut album from this Atlanta band, formerly known as Mr. Crowes' Garden (leaders/brothers Chris and Rich Robinson grew up in Kevin's neighborhood-as proof, he says "Richie was a shitty bike racer!"), finds the process reaching a new peak. Their sound is completely rooted in late `60s-early `70s blues-derived rock, mixing Humble Pie and Let It Bleedera Stones with a healthy dose of AC/DC power-chord-worship, but like Little Caesar and Badlands, the Crowes put songwriting first, and while their sound is blatantly derivative, most of their songs aren't. Sometimes the lifts are too much-"???" is a hollow rewrite of the Stones' "Sway," and "Seeing Things" blatantly steals the chorus from Joe Cocker's 1968 version of "With A Little Help From My Friends" (which featured then-session-gun Jimmy Page on guitar, trivia buffs)-but rock `n' roll was built on imitation, and to this day it's a cyclical food chain. While the Crowes (and producer George Drakoulias, who co-produced The Cult's Electric) might have studied their sonic textbooks a little too closely, if the Crowes have more songs like these in store, they could be one of the biggest bands of the new decade. Shake Your Moneymaker is an AOR album for people who hate AOR, and no album has made us smile with a mix of nostalgia and excitement over a band's future since Appetite For Destruction.


"Southern Harmony and Musical Companion", my personal FAV!

Song Listing: 1. Sting Me 2. Remedy 3. Thorn in my Pride 4. Badluck Blueyes 5. Sometimes Salvation 6. Hotel Illness 7. Black Moon Creeping 8. No Speak No Slave 9. My Morning Song 10. Time will Tell


-BLACK CROWES The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion From the pages of the CMJ New Music Report, Issue: 286 - May 29, 1992 After selling more than four million copies of their debut effort and playing enough gigs to rival B.B. King, the Black Crowes come barreling back with the same intensity of Shake Your Money Maker, but also with a more mature attitude and some darker emotions. Despite the band's success, pain is clearly at the forefront here, as Chris Robinson moans and cries with full-throttle sincerity, spewing forth seriously maudlin lyrics with a haunting beauty that is rarely heard these days. The retro comparisons that plagued them in the past have been largely put to rest-this album sounds more like the Black Crowes than any of their influences-and altho' Southern Harmony isn't as catchy as their debut, its simplistic integrity puts them into superstar status. Plug "Sting Me," "Thorn in my Pride" and the single, "Remedy." -Robert John

"Amorica" A Fine album, some fans say the Crowes finest! I recommend: Cursed Diamond/Nonfiction/WiserTime and Descending


Song Listing 1. Gone 2. Conspiracy 3. High Head Blues 4. Cursed Diamond 5. Nonfiction 6. She Gave Good Sunflower 7. P.25 London 8. Ballad in Urgency 9. Wiser Time 10. Downtown Money Waster 11. Descending


-BLACK CROWES Amorica - From the pages of the CMJ New Music Report, Issue: 404 - Nov 21, 1994 There may come a day when the Black Crowes will simply have to become the Faces. Chris Robinson's warmly hoarse voice and his easy improvisational inflection are a dead ringer for Rod Stewart in his prime, and the complex rhythmical dynamics bursting out of the decadent yet purist rock of Amorica are toe-to-toe with the Faces' best on every song. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but the Black Crowes are a far cry from retro-puppetry; instead, their records are genuine tributes that, on their own merit, threaten to roar past the milestones built by their forefathers. Shake Your Moneymaker, their 1990 debut, was crisp, clean, foot-stomping, country-rock, but their sophomore CD two years later showed pleasing development by hanging on to their natural sense for great hooks and wisely leaving behind the commercially poppy undertones. Their third record, Amorica, is a huge leap ahead with its unapologetic assault of every last one of their influences that's as raw and spontaneous as it is carefully schooled. Liberal doses of harmonica, warm pedal steel guitar and organ mixed in with acoustic blues, soul and country pepper Amorica from start to finish, and the Black Crowes have masterfully freed the hooks from their melodies by weaving them into apparently cockeyed, yet ultimately natural rhythmical schemes. The CD is chock full of hits, of course, but take a quick shot at citizenship with: "Gone," "P. 25 London," "Downtown Money Waster" and "A Conspiracy." -CHERYL BOTCHICK

"Three Snakes and One Charm", I used to hate this album, but its quite a masterpiece really. Songs like "Girl from a Pawnshop" and "Blackberry" just plain kick ass!

Song Listing: 1. Under a Mountain 2. Good Friday 3. Nebakanezer 4. One Mirror Too Many 5. Blackberry 6. Girl from a Pawnshop 7. Halfway to Everywhere 8. Bring on,Bring on 9. How Much for Your Wings 10. Let me Share the Ride 11. Better When You're Not Alone 12. Evil Eye (bonus tracks off Rerelease cd) 13. Just say Your Sorry 14. Mellow Down Easy


-BLACK CROWES Three Snakes And One Charm - From the pages of the CMJ New Music Report, Issue: 485 - Aug 5, 1996 The Black Crowes symbolize the modern face of Southern rock: You can't help but picture them laying about in a palatial mansion in the Georgia woods, Marshall stacks admidst antique furniture, surrounded by exotic carpets, candelabras, guns and big dogs. On Three Snakes And One Charm, they want to be a soul band, and although skinny, scrawny Chris Robinson may be the most unlikely soul man we've ever seen, there's something endearing about the band's sweat-soaked Southern rock `n' boogie. Tracks like "Halfway To Everywhere" and "Let Me Share The Ride" are peppered by horns (courtesy members of the Dirty Dozen, picked up on a soulful swing through New Orleans), while Marc Ford's impeccably-tasteful slide guitar has really come into its own as the band's strongest suits. One of the most interesting songs is "How Much For Your Wings," which builds unexpectedly from a late-night acoustic jam by the fireplace to Allman-esque twin-guitar heights in the middle, only to lapse back to campfire mode at the end. Like a lot of things in life, Three Snakes... sounds better the louder it gets, and like a fine wine, an old, hand-crafted musket or a vintage amp, the Black Crowes keep getting better with time. -JAMES LIEN


"By Your Side", I like some of the songs on this album, they have finely tuned their songcrafting to a Tee this time, but just not as Rocking (Axe the producer).By Your Side/Only a Fool,are great!

Song Listing: 1. Go Faster 2. Kicking my Heart Around 3. By Your Side 4. Horsehead 5. Only a Fool 6. Heavy 7. Welcome to the Goodtimes 8. Go Tell the Congregation 9. Diamond Ring 10. Then she Said my Name 11. Virtue and Vice


-BLACK CROWES By Your Side - COLUMBIA-CRG From the pages of the CMJ New Music Report, Issue: 602 - Jan 25, 1999 The soul of rock 'n' roll is alive, kicking and currently possessing the bodies of the Robinson brothers. Since 1990, the sibling songwriting duo of Chris and Rich Robinson has been causing a ruckus with their mix of Southern-fried rock, whiskey-soaked blues and soulful gospel. While the Georgia-based band's two previous albums found them experimenting with more complex rhythms and long, winding, cannabis-fueled jams, By Your Side, the band's fifth full-length, is a return to the driving rock 'n' roll the Crowes championed on their early recordings. The album is an ass-kicking rock rodeo of gravelly guitar riffs and bluesy chord progressions, repaving paths previously tread by the Stones and the Faces. Lazy slide-guitar textures, harmonica moans and choirs of soulful singers litter the background, but Chris Robinson's gritty, cocksure vocals blaze the trail, whether the band is kicking up dust with a down-home, groin-grabbing jam (as on "HorseHead" and the title track), or letting all the dogs loose in a flurry of hell-raising, honky-tonk fury ("Kicking My Heart Around"). -M. Tye Comer


-Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes Live at The Greek!

Disc One:
1. Heartbreaker
2.In My Time Of Dying
3.What Is And What Should Never Be
4.Custard Pie
5.Celebration Day
6.Out On The Tiles/Whole Lotta Love
7.Nobody's Fault But Mine
8.You Shook Me

Disc Two:
1.The Lemon Song
2.Your Time Is Gonna Come
3.Ten Years Gone
4.Sick Again
5.Hey Hey What Can I Do
6.Shake Your Money Maker
7.Woke Up This Morning
8.Shape Of Things To Come
9.Sloppy Drunk
10.Oh Well

Live at the Greek, recorded during the final two nights of the outing at the L.A. amphitheater, provides a solid souvenir for those who were there and a wholly worthwhile consolation for those who weren't. An Internet endeavor available for download in several configurations at www.musicmaker.com, Live at the Greek is mandatory listening for anyone whose tastes run to blues-based guitar assaults — in this case not only by Page but also by the Crowes' able team of Rich Robinson and Audley Freed, whose contributions add an onstage majesty to Zep favorites such as "Ten Years Gone," "Your Time Is Gonna Come," and "What Is and What Should Never Be" that could never be replicated by Page alone. A rendition of "Shape of Things to Come" veers between the Yardbirds and Jeff Beck Group treatments, while a bit of extra mojo lends crunch to tracks such as "Heartbreaker" and "Whole Lotta Love."

And though it's the guitars, twisting and spiraling through lengthy jams and improvisations, that provide Live at the Greek's calling card, Crowes frontman Chris Robinson should not be overlooked; he more than holds his own on songs defined by Robert Plant, staying generally true to the familiar melodies but finding plenty of room to inject his own licks — which, of course, don't stray too far from the beaten path; Plant was one of Robinson's most significant influences. Though it's missing any of the Crowes' own songs — withheld for contractual reasons by the group's former label, American/Columbia — Live at the Greek's assortment of Zeppelin numbers and blues chestnuts provides ample evidence of how powerful this combination is, and can only make us pine for more dates in the (near) future. — Gary Graff

A Work In Progress 1990-1999: The Black Crowes Greatest Hits(Bullshit it is! Where is Sometimes Salvation?)
1. "Jealous Again"
2. "Twice As Hard"
3. "Hard To Handle"
4. "She Talks to Angels"
5. "Remedy"
6. "Sting Me"
7. "Thorn in My Pride"
8. "Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye"
9. "A Conspiracy"
10. "Wiser Time"
11. "Good Friday"
12. "Blackberry"
13. "Kickin' My Heart Around"
14. "Go Faster"
15. "Only a Fool"
16. "By Your Side"

Well Seeing as my Web building skills arent up to par. I would give you a better description of the albums, in due time my friend. But your better off to take the Crowes Journey yourself. Dont listen to me! Check em out! LIVE Crowes is even better! Ill try and post more when I can!
Mark

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