Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes: Live At The Greek (SPV)
Mat Snow, Mojo, September 2000

sent in by:  David Montgomery  

from the Crowesnest: http://qfg.tierranet.com/crowesnest.html


Recorded live in October’99, a scorching blues-rock hit-packed double album
like they used to make ‘em.

THERE ARE some things that are fun by yourself but are even better with a
few thousand close friends. Boogieing down to the sound of Led Zeppelin is
just such a pleasure. The more of you there are, the bigger the blast. Which
is all the excuse Jimmy Page needed to bring the LZ songbook to the
multitudes once more. But after Robert Plant and the crew that came with him
for the 1998 Page & Plant world tour dispersed in search of fresh
challenges, Page required a new band to carry the weight. That band is The
Black Crowes, and he has chosen wisely. Like the ‘60s Eel Pie Island
generation of which Page remains (after Keith Richards) the second least
likely to get a knighthood, this Atlanta-based outfit have a soul-blues
schooling and that lucrative knack for alchemising the defiance of the
downtrodden black underclass into the dandified swagger of the
hormone-driven white libertine. (Can we agree that this particular paradox
has been chased around the cultural studies farmyard long enough? Leave it
to the copyright lawyers to sort out.) And, crucially, they sing and play as
if their careers so far have been leading to this point.

What we don’t hear, due to The Black Crowes’ record contract, are any of
their own numbers which they and the blues-rock legend performed last year
at Hollywood’s Greek Theater. What we do get are 13 Zep tunes, plus blues
chestnuts by Willie Dixon ('Mellow Down Easy' and 'You Shook Me'), Elmore
James ('Shake Your Money Maker'), B.B. King ('Woke Up This Morning') and
Jimmy Rogers ('Sloppy Drunk'). Even more mouthwatering: Fleetwood Mac’s
rattlesnake-shaking 'Oh Well' and The Yardbirds’ psych-rock 'Shape Of The
Things', which Mr Page revisits just as excitingly as did his former
Yardbirds spar Jeff Beck back when Rod Stewart fondled the mikestand.

Nothing here is rethought or even rearranged from studio versions we know
and love strutting to. Chris Robinson hollers mid-point between Rod The Mod
gruffness and Percy Plant’s suppleness. Brother Rich and fellow guitarist
Audley Freed crank out those interlocking dog-leg riffs, chugs and wails
that a mere two-handed Page never could on-stage with Led Zep. Which means
that 'Whole Lotta Love' blasts away with bells, whistles and maximum
heaviosity. The crowd’s buzz does the rest.

So, probably the most conservative rock’n’ roll record of the year so far,
and probably also the most enjoyable. It’s said they’re doing it all over
again. Make sure they do it all over you.

from the Crowesnest: http://qfg.tierranet.com/crowesnest.html