Star Faces interview

  Star Faces
  August 1992
  by Justine Bevan

	(NOTE: this reporter misspelled Marc (not Mark) Ford's 
	 name several times. D.F.)

   MR. ROBINSON'S NEIGHBORHOOD

  "I'm not gonna tell you because it's the one thing that all five
of us know, and no one else does."  This is what Chris Robinson had 
to say when he was asked the meaning of the name, "The Black Crowes."
His answer is just one of the first things that make you go "hmmm..."

Early 1990 started the road to success for five young ment from the
South going under the secret code name, The Black Crowes.  They had
just released their first LP, Shake Your Money Maker, which went 
triple platinum withing a year and has still managed to stay on the
charts to date.

After eighteen months of continual touring with acts such as Heart,
Robert Plant, Aerosmith and ZZ Top, not to mention headlining a 
couple of dates of their own, The Black Crowes have proven themselves 
to be hard workers.  they're also quite popular among the various
honorable award committees- the AMAs, the Grammy's, even the elite
Rolling Stone Critics Poll, all of which nominated The Black Crowes
as "Best New Act."

If you have kept up on your reading of this band they you would know
of their obvious, heavily publicized love of drugs.  "This band will
put me in my grave, I hope, and I'll go smilin' 'cause it's the one
thing I love that much," says Chris, in an almost sinisterly sincere
tone of his inner feeling for The Black Crowes.  However, the drugs
are only one of the many tidbits and asides that have created a
melting pot of controversy surrounding the band.  The Black Crowes
are not only famous for their music but also for everything from 
spitting on chubby girls in convenience stores (7-11 incident D.F.)
to being kicked off the ZZ Top tour.  They were "excused from the
tour" dure to Chris' inability to keep from saying, "this show is
brought to you commercial free," when in actuality it wasn't.  At
that time ZZ Top was being sponsored by one of the major beer 
companies.  Another favorite pastime of The Black Crowes is verbally
bashing other bands.  One might think with all the negative karma
that The Black Crowes possess, that they're all slugs that could
use a good salting.  Chris seems to be the culprit behind most of
these antics because, with the exception of brother Rich, most of the
other members are forbidden to talk to the press.  Rich, the Robinson
guitarist, will only grant interviews to guitar-oriented magazines.
In other words he's too good for anyone who isn't guitar-oriented.
Or is Chris Robinson a major control fiend having dominance over The
Black Crowes' relationship with the press?

In fact, most recently when Jeff Cease, the ex-guitarist of The Black
Crowes, talked with The Nashville Scene, his home town paper, he told
them of restrictions and impositions including everything he did in
his social life, "they'd give someone a hard time because they
disagreed with what that person thought was fun.  It was a very 
critical atmosphere and everyone was under scrutiny," recalls Cease,
to being forced to turn down interviews with guitar magazines.  He,
at one time, offered some liner notes to Les Paul: The Legend And
The Legacy, but his quote was later withdrawn by the request of another
band member.  It should be noted that Cease was planning to quit
The Black Crowes but was beaten to the punch and told his services
where no longer needed.  This kind of sounds like eating your own,
doesn't it?  In the beginning Chris told the press, without naming
any special requirements that Jeff was the perfect Crowe and that a
Crowe is truly a rare breed; perhaps even a bird in danger of 
extinction.  Jeff has been replaced by Mark Ford of Burning Tree fame.
It is a fact that Chris Robinson would be first to tell you ever so
proudly, "I don't live any lies.  I don't tell anyone what to do,
'cause I don't like anyone telling me.  I hate hypocrisy and I hate
the obvious."  Although this particular quote really pertains to 
Chris' stock answer behind why he wouldn't do a "Don't Drink and Drive"
or a "Don't Do Drugs" radio spot, the obvious seems to be that a
dictatorship is favored among the brothers.

When you refer to The Black Crowes, you might as well just say "Chris"
and "Rich" because that's what the Black Crowes really are.  The sole
purpose of bassist Johnny Colt, drummer Steve Gorman, and now new
guitarist Mark Ford, is to play the music that they're told to and fill
in the spaces on the disc cover picture.

Perhaps some things were just meant to be.  After all, the Robinson
brothers have delivered good music before and we can expect more of the
same from their second effort entitled, Southern Harmony and Musical
Companion.  This release will include Thorn In My Pride which Chris
and Rich performed an umplugged version of on MTV's Rockline in mid
'91.  This one, as well as Shake Your Money Maker were produced by
George Drakoulias.  However on S.H. & M.C., George shares the production
credits with The Black Crowes. (The whole band?)  Some of the other
songs that you can expect on S.H. & M.C. are Remedy, Hotel Illness
and Sometimes Salvation.

  As a love band The Black Crowes have proven to be quite entertaining.
The Black Crowes, as a unit, are a promise for a fun-filled evening
of interchangable, atmospheric moods that go with their music.  They
know how to set a scene and do it with simplicity.  They are the show.
"It's definitely a rock and roll show," says Chris Robinson, "and you're
there to have a good time but, then again, it's also there for you to
lose your head.  It's uncompromising.  I'm really not playing to
anyone, I'm not catering to an audience- that magic third element."