AS THE CROWES FLY Straight-ahead rockers stay the course through personnel woes, rumors of strife Tuesday, October 9, 2001 FEATURES - ACCENT & ARTS 08C By Aaron Beck Dispatch Pop Music Critic In March 1990, the Black Crowes released their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker . Writers either hailed or lambasted the young Atlanta band for sounding like another wave of the British Invasion. And when the band toured for 22 straight months, critics all over saw the Crowes' rock-solid '70s image: period gear, period clothes, period concert posters, period emaciated lead singer using the period word "mama" in his lyrics. They also heard the music, which was -- and is -- rooted and growing in a bluesy rock-, R&B- and '60s soul-filled Southern swamp. The comparisons with Humble Pie, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones started to stick. Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson will be the first to tell you he still enjoys some Stones and Zeppelin. With his lyric-writing brother, Chris, playing the role of Robert Plant, the Crowes toured with former Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page in 1999 until Page's back gave out. Two of the tour's shows from Los Angeles make up the disc Live at the Greek , which was released last year. Calling last month from a tour stop in San Francisco, Robinson said, "I was 19 when we recorded Money Maker . We loved Led Zeppelin and the Stones. We still do. Lots of people do. It's funny, you know? It's not like I don't like those bands, but when I talk to some people it's like, 'Have you even listened to our new record?' " The new record. Ah, yes. Produced by Don Was, Lions , the Crowes' sixth studio album, is a rock 'n' roll record pure and simple. It's a slight departure from the band's previous album, the sleazy, slide guitar-mad rock of By Your Side , released in 1998. But on Lions , the band's first for the independent label V2 Records, the band sounds rejuvenated. The songs are full of lyrics only a man in tune with the cosmos could write -- "while staring at the sun you speak explosions" -- and stomp through a dense garden of funky hard rock. Robinson said his work on a soundtrack for a friend's independent film that might never be released also contributed heavily to his mood going into the band's rehearsal space in New York's Upper West Side. Robinson writes all of the band's music. Chris, the lead singer, writes the lyrics. "I wanted there to be fewer guitars on this album," Robinson said. "I do like a layer of sounds. Three Snakes and One Charm (the band's 1996 album) has that wall of guitars. But this time I wanted there to be more space between the sounds. I wanted there to be a different mood. The whole goal always is just to try to make something beautiful." One song, Ozone Mama , Robinson said, was born after an inspirational moment he had with War, the '70s soul machine. Come On rollicks with a back line of female singers stompin' and shoutin'. Soul Singing is gorgeous. The nasty Lickin' rides Robinson's fuzz-box and staccato notes and mile-thick bass line. Robinson played all bass parts on Lions . He had to. Drug abuse forced Crowes' bassist Sven Pipien, who had replaced Johnny Colt in '98, to leave the band after the "Jimmy Page & the Black Crowes" tour. "I don't know what the deal is with our bassists," Robinson said. "But all I know is that it isn't the band's fault. It's their (expletive) fault. I'd much rather all of the guys who have played bass and guitar for us were still here. I didn't want to see any of them go, but it's always been something they did to themselves. "Sven (expletive) freaked out in less than two years. He turned into a crystal meth addict and started talking about John Lennon and talking like John Lennon. He almost didn't make a gig and we were like, 'Look, (expletive), we aren't driving over to a (expletive) pizza place to play for our friends. There are 20,000 people out there. This is real. We take this seriously.' " Robinson, 32, has been married eight years. He has two kids. Brother Chris recently married actress Kate Hudson. For Robinson and the members of the band, he said, music is their only muse. "Money isn't beautiful. It's a perk, sure. But, you know, we've gone through that boring (expletive) (expletive) rock bands go through. We've gone through drug problems with people in the band. We've seen it. We don't want to deal with it anymore." While he was at it, Robinson said he's also sick of hearing talk about quarrels with his brother. When the Crowes toured with the British rock band Oasis last summer, gossip mongers' mouths watered. The Robinson brothers and the Gallagher brothers -- Liam and Noel, who head Oasis -- read all about their brotherly squabbles in the music press and in the gossip columns. The brothers dubbed their jaunt the "Tour of Brotherly Love." To the dismay of many, no one lost a tooth. "Sometimes we are fighting," Robinson said. "Sometimes we aren't. We're brothers. . . . "I think everyone was disappointed that someone -- anyone -- in one of the bands, didn't kill somebody. I forget what the odds were in Vegas. There were odds. (Oasis) were cool. We were all impressed by the music they listen to and their band. We had a good time. "And, right now, our band is getting along well, which is no small feat. It's a cliche, but it really is a six-way marriage where you have to juggle all the personalities." Robinson said the band, which also includes keyboardist Eddie Harsch, guitarist Audley Freed, new bassist Andy Hess and drummer Steve Gorman (the only other Crowe who was on the band's first album), is having a great time on the road right now. He said the Crowes are rediscovering songs from Three Snakes and One Charm , the record they had the most difficulty recording. As usual, the Crowes play a core set list and then play what they want to play for 21/2 to three hours each night. "We do the songs we think people want to hear, of course -- Remedy , Jealous (Again )," Robinson said. "But, I don't know. People out there each night seem to be into whatever we're playing, which is the best position to be in."