THE ROBINSONS’ AFFAIR
AS IF WE needed more evidence that 2020 was the most insanely improbable year ever, the long-separated and bickering brothers Robinson finally locked wings once again, only to have their reunion tour plans shot down by the pandemic. The show finally got back on track this summer with a national tour commemorating the 30th anniversary of Shake Your Money Maker, their landmark 1990 debut album and a record that kept roots rock relevant in the Monsters of Rock era. The album’s expanded deluxe anniversary edition features the rollicking single “Charming Mess,” a hot take on Humble Pie’s “30 Days in the Hole,” and acoustic and original demo versions of the hit “She Talks to Angels,” as well as an incendiary live set recorded in the Crowes’ original stomping grounds of Atlanta, Georgia, at the height of Money Maker mania. For the anniversary tour, they’re playing the original record in its entirety, from Rich’s instantly recognizable slide riff that kicks off “Twice as Hard” straight ahead through standouts such as “Jealous Again” and their rough-and-tumble cover of the great Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle.” The Crowes will also pick and choose from their vast catalog as they see fit at any given hootenanny.
“We’ll play ‘Remedy,’ ‘No Speak No Slave,’ ‘Cursed Diamond,’ ‘Sometimes Salvation,’ ‘Good Friday,’ ‘Soul Singing’,” Rich says. “The whole gamut.”
Rich Robinson has graced the cover of four times and been featured several times more, placing him in an elite club. Yet despite a remarkable career in which he’s sold more than 35 million records, written some of the most stalwart songs of his generation, and measured up to the herculean task of playing Led Zeppelin and Crowes music with Jimmy Page (as captured on 2000’s ), Robinson still flies under the radar when it comes to guitar god discussions. Maybe it’s because he’s more of a riff maestro than a flashy lead player. He can certainly soar, especially on slide, but as the Black Crowes’ rhythmic heart, he’s left the lion’s share of the lead work to others. A number of righteous string slingers have passed through group’s revolving door,
