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The Melody Maker once called the Black Crowes the "most rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll band in the world." Throughout their career, this Atlanta-based band has remained true to their blues-based rock roots -- a fusion of Rolling Stones bar room R&B and Lynryd Skynyrd southern rock.
The Robinson brothers, Chris and Rich, began playing as the Black Crowes in 1984 in Atlanta. By the time their first album, Shake Your Money Maker, debuted in 1990, they had added Johnny Colt (on bass), Jeff Cease (on guitar) and Steve Gorman (on drums) to the lineup. The album was a huge success, selling more than three million copies and staying on the U.S. charts for 18 months. "She Talks to Angels" and the Otis Reading cover "Hard to Handle" both hit the Top 40 singles charts.
When the The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion was released in 1992 it entered the charts at No. 1. By this time, Cease had been replaced by ex-Burning Tree guitarist/bassist Marc Ford and keyboardist Eddie Harsch joined the band. The album produced two standouts, "Remedy" and "Thorn in My Pride," which both hit the Top 100 singles chart.
Throughout their career the Black Crowes have viewed rock 'n' roll as a true rebel art form, a gift to be shared and not undermined by the men in suits and ties, or the self-avowed taste makers who profess to own the culture. When their first album hit the charts, they refused to give in to the pressure to play arena shows, and in 1993 the band was dropped as an opening act on the ZZ Top tour after voicing their opinion about keeping rock 'n' roll free of corporate sponsorship.
"I guess it's where we want to be and where we want to live, but we're stuck in America," explains Chris Robinson about the inspiration for the title of their third album, Amorica. "We were born Americans and as much as there is to love about that, there's a lot of things to fear. I'd like for "Amorica" to be a fearless place. Amorica the album was released in 1994 and caused an uproar because of the American flag G-string clad model on the front cover.
In the summer of 1996 the band relased their fourth album, Three Snakes and One Charm, which entered the charts at No. 15. The following year, Ford was fired after five years as the band's lead guitarist.
In 1998, the Crowes jumped to Columbia Records to record their fifth album, By Your Side. In the fall of '98, they hit the road for a six-week string of club dates, which they dubbed the "Sho' Nuff" tour. They also released a five-CD Sho' Nuff box set containing their four digitally re-mastered albums and a bonus EP.
By Your Side, produced by former Aerosmith collaborator Kevin Shirley, hit record stores in January 1999. Later the same year, the Black Crowes teamed up with former Led Zepplin guitarist Jimmy Page for a series of concerts in the U.K. and the U.S. In 2000, Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes Live at the Greek, an album consisting mainly of Zepplin standards, ruffled some feathers in the retail world because of its exclusive online distribution through Musicmaker.com.
On New Year's Eve 2000, Chris Robinson and actress Kate Hudson, who had announced their engagement the preceding summer, were married in Apsen, Colo. In spring of the same year the band released their sixth album, Lions, their first for the V2 Music imprint.
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