Recently reunited brothers Chris and Rich Robinson both are on the fence about jumping back into the studio for a new Black Crowes album. As it stands now, the Crowes are still onboard for their summer tour to mark the 30th anniversary of their 1990 debut album, Shake Your Money Maker — but admit they’re taking it one step at a time before laying down new music.
Rich Robinson told Classic Rock, “I have a bunch of stuff, but we want to make sure we do this properly. We want to make sure we can do this before we get into a studio and make a record. That would be cool, but right now this is what we’re focused on.”
Chris Robinson added, “I don’t know. Yeah. Maybe. I definitely think Rich and I will write songs together in our future. I don’t know how, when and where. But if Rich has songs, I’m down to hear them and do what I do. But I don’t think we can do that until we see how this (tour) goes.”
Chris Robinson says that after six years apart, the two brothers finally got together — as family, not bandmates last summer over breakfast at L.A.’s famed Chateau Marmont. As an ice breaker, the brothers brought their respective kids — marking their first time some of the cousins had ever met each other: “They’re like: ‘Holy s***, we’re having breakfast with Uncle Rich and my cousins. This has never happened in our lives.’ S*** like that will open your heart.”
Chris went on to explain why the brothers decided to move ahead without any of the previous members of the Crowes in the band: “It was the first thing on the table. Rich and I agreed on it. We just want to start with a clean slate. I’m not putting the blame on anyone else, I’m responsible for my own negative interactions with the rest of the band. But we didn’t want to trigger anything. One little thing, and you’re back to fighting on the bus in 2006, you know what I mean?”
Contrary to popular belief, Rich Robinson and his older brother, Chris, were not born southern rock apostles: [“Chris and I never sat down and said, ‘We’re gonna be in a band.’ Like, we just started doin’ it. We went through our little punk rock phase for about six months, and then it’s easy to grow out of that — ’cause we grew up in a really rich musical household, ’cause of my dad. So once we started getting into R.E.M., which spoke to us, ’cause we weren’t into southern rock. We never associated ourselves with that. R.E.M. spoke to us, more because it was so unique sounding. When I first heard ‘Radio Free Europe’ on the radio, I was like. . . I’d never heard anything like that.”] SOUNDCUE (:32 OC: . . . anything like that)
- The Black Crowes North American tour dates (subject to change):
June 17 – Austin, TX – Austin360 Amphitheater
June 19 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion
June 20 – Houston, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
June 23 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
June 24 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP
June 26 – Birmingham, AL – Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
June 27 – Atlanta, GA – Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood
June 30 – West Palm Beach, FL – Coral Sky Amphitheatre at the S. Florida Fairgrounds
July 1 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the FL State Fairgrounds
July 3 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
July 4 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
July 7, 8 – Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheatre
July 10 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veteran United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
July 11 – Washington, DC – Jiffy Lube Live
July 14 – Camden, NJ – BB&T Pavilion
July 15 – Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
July 17 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
July 18 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
July 21 – Gilford, NH – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
July 22 – Mansfield, MA- Xfinity Center
July 24 – Hartford, CT – XFINITY Theatre
July 25 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
July 28 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
July 29 – Detroit, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
July 31 – Buffalo, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater
August 1 – Pittsburgh, PA – KeyBank Pavilion
August 13 – Minneapolis, MN – Xcel Energy Center
August 15 – Chicago, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
August 16 – Indianapolis, IN – Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
August 18 – Cleveland, OH – Blossom Music Center
August 20 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
August 22 – Milwaukee, WI – American Family Insurance Amphitheater
August 23 – Maryland Heights, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
August 26 – Bonner Springs, KS – Providence Medical Center Amphitheater
August 28 – Omaha, NE – CHI Health Center Omaha
August 30 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
September 1 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre
September 4 – Seattle, WA – White River Amphitheatre
September 5 – Ridgefield, WA – Sunlight Supply Amphitheater
September 8 – Concord, CA – Concord Pavilion
September 9 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
September 11 – Las Vegas, NV – MGM Grand Garden Arena
September 12 – Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion
September 18 – San Diego, CA – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
September 19 – Los Angeles, CA – Forum
TL; DR
- The Black Crowes are waiting until after their upcoming reunion dates to seriously coinsider a new studio album.
- Guitarist Rich Robinson told Classic Rock magazine: “I have a bunch of stuff, but we want to make sure we do this properly. We want to make sure we can do this before we get into a studio and make a record. That would be cool, but right now this is what we’re focused on.”
DID YOU KNOW???
- Rich and Chris Robinson co-wrote the Black Crowes‘ biggest hits, including “Twice As Hard,” “Jealous Again,” “She Talks To Angels,” “Remedy,” and “Thorn In My Pride,” among many others.
FAST FACTS
- The Black Crowes‘ debut album Shake Your Money Maker was released on February 13th, 1990.
- The set peaked at Number Four on the Billboard 200 albums chart and has sold five million copies in the U.S. to date.
- Highlights on the set included the cover of Otis Redding‘s “Hard To Handle” and the Chris and Rich Robinson co-write “She Talks To Angels,” both of which hit Number One on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
- The album’s lead single, “Jealous Again,” topped out at Number Five on the magazine’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.