The Black Crowes: Rich Robinson - USA Today.com Chat Transcript Tuesday, July 30, 11:30 a.m. ET The British music magazine Melody Maker once called the Black Crowes "The Most Rock 'N' Roll Band in Rock 'N' Roll". Since forming the band in Atlanta in 1984, the Robinson brothers, Chris and Rich, have remained true to the Crowes' original sound; a mixture of Rolling Stonesesque greasy blues and Southern rock. The band's latest release, The Black Crowes Live (V2 Records, available August 20), is a collection of 19 of the band's best-known material. Chat with guitarist Rich Robinson about the new CD. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chicago, IL. : How did you guys meet Jimmy Page? Rich Robinson: Robert brought him to a show. We had opened for Robert in 1990, and we sort of hit it off with him. We were playing at the Royal Albert Hall, and Robert brought Jimmy to meet us. Obviously, it was amazing touring with him. He was a sweet, gracious guy. We hit it off very naturally. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lexington, KY: Real simple questions, Rich - will The Black Crowes get back together, and when? Hope it's soon - it was a sad day in the history of REAL rock and roll the day you guys called it quits... Rich Robinson: The Black Crowes are taking a break - a lot of people don't believe that! We've been touring for the last 13 years. We really needed a break to sort of refuel. Chris wants to make a solo album, there's stuff I want to do, etc. Once we feel like our batteries are recharged, maybe we'll get back together. We haven't sat down and said "hey, let's break up". -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Plainville, MA: You use a lot of alternate tunings on the guitar. Do you generally write most songs from start to finish in the alternate tuning, or does the key you write the song in dictate how you tune the guitar? Rich Robinson: I write the whole song in that tuning. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dallas, TX: Rich, is "TBC LIve" going to feature any of the more obscure material featured at so many of your live performances or is it mostly material featured on TBC studio LPs? Rich Robinson: It's mostly songs from our albums, and there's one unreleased song called "Title Song". We wrote for a studio album but never released it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Madison, CT: How has your style changed since you first picked up the guitar; have your influences changed or is it pure experimentation? Rich Robinson: My influences have sort of changed, and playing so often opens up new avenues. My list of tunings has grown. I don't know how my style has changed, I just know it has. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- East Haddam, CT: Hello Rich- Are there any plans in the works to offically release some of the B-sides and rarities recorded over the years, or maybe more live albums? Also, are you planning on going out on the road this fall? (I'll spare you from another "is the band getting back together question")Thanks! Rich Robinson: We're not planning on touring this fall. As far as more live records or B-sides, there are no plans right now, but I'm not saying it won't happen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rick, Dallas, TX: I loved your Beatles cover tune of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" on the I am Sam soundtrack, are there any plans for you to remake any other classic tunes for a future album? Rich Robinson: Not any plans as of yet. Most of the time, we don't really set out to do covers. The director of the movie asked us to do that one in particular. But we do love playing covers; we've put them on a lot of our albums. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Louis, MO: Are the songs on this CD from one show or a collection from different venues? Caught your show in St. Louis on the last go-around and you guys were amazing, hope you plan to get back together in the future. Rich Robinson: It's just two shows in Boston; actually it's the last two shows of the tour. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Hey, Rich. I really dig your sound and I was wondering what`s your favorite amp you use to record. Rich Robinson: On the last record, I used mainly my Harry Joyce amp. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ann Arbor, MI: Rich, How is the new band coming along? Can you tell us who is involved? Rich Robinson: I'm just playing with different people for fun, and I haven't comitted to anything. Something might come of it, something might not. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adrian, MI: Are you ever planning on putting out a DVD concert video? Rich Robinson: We haven't really thought about it. We don't really have any footage. As of right now, there's no plans. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Houston, TX: What happened to the varied set lists after the Further tour in 97? Why were all the covers and unreleased songs dropped? Rich Robinson: We never dropped the unreleased songs and covers; we played lots of them. There are plenty of unreleased songs on this record. On the By Your Side tour we had new members who didn't know all the songs. But on this tour we were back to doing what we were doing before. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Memphis,TN: What artist, past or present still influences you today?? Rich Robinson: Nick Drake, Neil Young, Bob Dylan. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- birmingham, alabama: are you aware that the "nashville" sessions from the spring of '97 are floating around on CD? What do you think of this? Rich Robinson: I've heard about it. If people like it, great. If they don't, great. We didn't release it because they were demos, but if people like them, cool. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lansing, MI: Why has the album "Tall" never been released? Dirty Haired Halo is one of my favorite songs you've ever done - I love your guitar solo in it- Rich Robinson: Most of the songs from Tall were re-recorded for Amorica. The other songs did come out on the enhanced re-release of all the records. The reason the record didn't come out as a whole was that no one in the band thought it was as good as it could have been. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Minneapolis, MN: What music are you listening to right now that you might recommnend to the rest of us? Rich Robinson: A lot of different world music, in particular there's a really cool record called The History of Ju Ju Music. There's another record by Ali Farka Toure, Niafunke. There's another one Abdelah Ghania called Invocation.