To Tell the Truth Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson sets the record straight By DOUG ELFMAN REVIEW-JOURNAL Friday, September 07, 2001 Copyright c Las Vegas Review-Journal People shouldn't believe the Black Crowes' clich‚s, says guitarist Rich Robinson. His assertions:  He and his brother, singer Chris Robinson, aren't always fighting. "(Journalists) say, `I understand you and Chris are fighting.' It's not like you're going to get a scoop. ... They're, like, `You're not fighting?' No. `Are you sure?' " Rich Robinson says.  The Crowes, who perform at the House of Blues tonight, have not subsisted on tons of drugs and partying. "We were not about the clich‚: sex, drugs and rock and roll. Ninety percent was music. The other (stuff) was boring." Now Rich Robinson has been married eight years and is the father of two kids. Chris Robinson recently married actress Kate Hudson.  The Crowes were influenced by more than three bands, more than just the Faces, the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. "But now everyone's saying Led Zeppelin influenced us. It's, like, no (kidding). `You wear your influence on your sleeve.' Well, psh, who doesn't?"  The Robinsons didn't flaunt their fame wildly in Atlanta when they became famous in the early 1990s, after making such hits as "Jealous Again," "She Talks to Angels" and "Remedy." "People said we drove around in white limos. I drove myself. In a car," says Rich Robinson, who lives in Connecticut now. "A lot of people from (the Atlanta) scene hated us. Drivin' N' Cryin' and other bands really cared about making it in Atlanta and that was it. We were, like, `(Screw) this. If we want to do it, do it all the way.' "  Cash wasn't the reason the Crowes toured a co-headlining gig with the British pop band Oasis. "The reason we did Oasis is because they were fans of ours," Robinson says. "We had sort of liked Oasis as well, (and) those guys impressed us with how much music they listened to. ... They were great." Robinson's demeanor about all this is pretty calm. He's not ranting, just explaining. He almost sounds like a happy rock survivor, at just 32 years old, even when he remembers some of the more unfortunate moments from the past few years. They were:  After starting a tour with Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, Page hurt his back and canceled a lot of the tour dates. The Crowes are now suing an insurance company, allegedly for not insuring the whole tour. Robinson remains buoyant about playing with an idol. "It was really cool," he says. "I think we fed really well off of each other, and I think it was really natural for him to play with us, because we're big fans."  In the meantime, record label executives were trying to change the Crowes, who resisted and ended up leaving a major label. "We were at Columbia, and they wanted Diane Warren to write for us," Robinson says of the songwriter-for-hire who wrote the sappy "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" for Aerosmith. The Crowes have flown on, even though Columbia never supported them as much as the band wanted, Robinson says. "That's the cool thing about the band. We've been around for 12 years, and no one knows why. It totally sort of defies logic why we're still around, because we are unto ourselves. Actually, it used to defy logic, and we are starting to become comfortable with ourselves."  The Crowes' Southern rock often has trouble finding a home on the radio. "We still like playing. That's the thing. The state of music is weird right now. But it's hand in hand with the disco era. Donna Summers: Britney Spears. The Bee Gees: the Backstreet Boys. But I do like some Bee Gees songs," Robinson says. "It's so funny to see the '80s back again. The '80s are back, and (the music industry is) trying to (resurrect the decade's sound). What are you gonna do, start to play, like, the Fixx and the Thompson Twins? Because that's what the '80s was: The Fixx and Guns N' Roses. Well, Prince was great, but he was doing his own thing. "There are bands that the biggest influence is like Korn, or their old influence is Van Halen. A lot of people get into music because they think they can get fame and wealth, and they're proud they can play three chords on guitar. That's where everyone starts. It really doesn't impress us. They have to take it somewhere" better.  Rocker Lenny Kravitz convinced the Crowes to co-headline a tour with him, but he disrespected the Crowes on the road. "We'd show up, and we wouldn't be on the marquee, and he wouldn't put us on the tickets, but he put us on the poster, to get people there. We don't have to open for him. We did it because it was a co-headlining tour," Robinson says.  The Crowes had a rough time playing the hippie Further Festival. So afterward, they made the great 1999 rock record, "By Your Side." "Coming off after Further and its (Grateful) Dead following, which I was never a big fan of, we were touring and looking at each other, playing (the rock songs) `Remedy' and `Sting Me,' and it seemed natural, and we said, `Let's make a straight-ahead rock record.' " That was "By Your Side," a consistently powerful record, but label executives convinced the band to remake one song, "Only a Fool," to release it as a single. Then the label didn't support the single, so the compromise left the band with ill feelings, Robinson says. As it was, the Crowes had already trashed the whole first version of their 1994 album, "Amorica" and started over from scratch. "We threw away a million-dollar record, because it sucked," Robinson says. But "that was our choice, not the label's. ... We're our own worst critics." So how would Robinson criticize himself? "I think I've (improved) light years since I started. I started when I was 15," he says. "I've never been one to practice. I'm definitely more of the mentality of letting things happen. If I write one thing on guitar, I'll apply it to 10 songs. ... And lately, because of touring and writing, I think I can play 100 times better than I used to." Robinson, who calls the group's newest album "Lions" another "straight-ahead rock record," thinks he's also more well-grounded than when the Black Crowes became famous. "I didn't know what ... to do. I had just gotten out of high school. (The Crowes' debut album), `Shake Your Money Maker' came out when I was 19. ... I had made a record that no one at the label cared about, and then it sold X-million copies." Then, the Crowes could do no wrong, or so they were told. "If you're successful, and people are around you all the time telling you you're great, you become self-serving. Everyone goes through it. We went through it," Robinson says. "Now we're definitely being confident with ourselves. If this record doesn't sell, who ... cares. We're still around, and fans still come out to see us."