Creating Loafing article

  February 1996
  Creating Loafing interview


	From the Feb.3 edition of Atlanta's "Creative Loafing" Magazine-
	WWW site at  http://www.cln.com


                       SUE YOUR MONEYMAKER

A 4-year-old dispute between a local band and a man claiming to have once 
been their manager goes to court this week, its most important
piece of evidence nothing more a scrawled circle divided into six 
sections, surrounded by a half-dozen signatures and the legend "Heavy
Symbolism."

But for Kevin Jennings, that scrap of paper could be worth a not-so-small 
fortune, if a jury agrees that it entitles him to one-sixth of the
royalties from the sale of blues-rockers The Black Crowes' first album, 
1990's triple-platinum Shake Your Moneymaker.

Jennings, who had spent years as road manager for The Georgia Satellites, 
claims the Crowes signed him on as their manager in 1989, a
position he filled for about seven months, while the band rehearsed in 
his basement, stored their instruments in his home, and used his van to
get to gigs. He says the allegations are proved by the pie chart he and 
the band members signed to seal the deal.

Both sides agree that the association ended the night of the release 
party for Moneymaker, when Jennings' girlfriend surprised him with a new
baby. The Crowes went on tour (and to stardom), Jennings stayed home with 
his new family, and the matter seemed to drop.

Until 1992, that is, when Jennings sued for one-sixth of the profits from 
the Crowes first album. Last August, a Fulton County Superior Court
judge denied Jennings' motion for summary judgment in the case; on Feb. 
5, the case goes before a jury for what attorneys estimate will be a
seven-to-10 day trial.

Jennings attorney, Scott Sanders, told CL last summer that his client has 
"an oral and a written partnership" agreement with the band, and
expressed confidence that Jennings will emerge victorious.

But Black Crowes attorney Bill Ragland says Jennings' role in the band's 
affairs was "essentially to help book a few shows, set up equipment,
and more-or-less run errands for the band" whom, he says, considered 
Jennings a friend who provided rehearsal space while the Crowes
waited for their already-recorded album to be released.

The pie chart, he says, is recalled by the only band member who actually 
remembers signing it as "a souvenir, an expression of friendship, to
show that the Black Crowes wouldn't forget Kevin when they made it big."

"We feel Mr. Jennings' claim is completely meritless," says Ragland. -- 
Greg Land