MAKER’S MARK
When The Black Crowes first arrived in early 1990, they possessed a dishevelled swagger comparable to that of Guns N’ Roses’ introduction to UK audiences at Soho’s Marquee three years earlier. Both bands shared a dangerous energy and innocence about the industry that beguiled both audiences and critics from the start. “What’s so bad about the Black Crowes?” asked a Rolling Stone cover headline in 1991 after the band had been kicked off a ZZ Top tour because its sponsors took issue with Chris Robinson railing against the commercialisation of music on stage. “I never thought I’d be on the cover of the Atlanta Journal unless I killed someone,” was his memorable response to the story being splashed across the front pages in the fallout. In those words, Chris summed up the edgy appeal that captivated so many back then – but it was far from just talk.
“WHAT’S INTERESTING ABOUT SHAKE NOW IS THAT IT SHOWS HOW MUCH AC/DC WAS IN THERE IN THE WAY WE APPROACHED RHYTHM”
It was certainly an experience for this writer, watching the band on their second UK tour in 1991, when Chris took issue with someone in the crowd and promptly flew into the pit at the Edinburgh Playhouse, ready for action. “I jumped in the crowd and punched someone,” remembers the singer, down the
