HEADLINE: Hope springs fraternal 
BYLINE: Mark Edwards 
Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Limited 
Sunday Times (London) 
April 29, 2001, Sunday 
BODY: 

No strangers to sibling spats themselves, revitalised rockers the Black Crowes are teaming up 
with Oasis for what promises to be an explosive tour. By Mark Edwards 
It's the Starbucks that gives them away. Put an American in a London hotel, no matter how posh 
it is, no matter how extensive the room service, and within quarter of an hour, you'll see
them walking along the corridor clutching a Starbucks. 

As the lead singer of the Black Crowes, Chris Robinson doesn't have to go out for his own 
Starbucks. He can send someone out to get it. Halfway through our interview, a tall Starbucks
takeaway cup is brought into the room, and Chris slurps greedily from it. 

"Mmmmm," he sighs. "Let me tell you how much more enjoyable this day is right now." I follow 
his gaze out of the window of the Inter-Continental hotel. Hyde Park Corner is grey, damp
and drizzly. "I was here for all of January and February, too," says Chris. "So depressing, and 
ending with a plague on the animals themselves. I was just checking out the news each day,
going, 'Honey, let's flee.' You know, pack up the missus and head back to Malibu." 
The missus, incidentally, is the actress Kate Hudson, star of Almost Famous. They married on 
New Year's Eve at Kate's mum's house - Goldie Hawn's ranch in Aspen, Colorado - with
Chris's brother, Rich, as best man. At the time, Chris was 34, and Kate was 21 (she turned 22 on 
April 19). When Chris was only 23 (and Rich was 20), their band released its first album, Shake 
Your Money Maker. Propelled by a cover of Otis Redding's Hard to Handle, the album sold 7m
copies. Then the trouble began. 

"When we recorded the follow-up, we didn't have any supervision," explains Chris. "The record 
company were so busy counting the money from the first one that they didn't have time
to come and ask us what we were doing." 

The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion was released in 1992, and sold 4m copies. "If 
you start out by selling seven million records and you make the record company a lot of
money, then they want you to make them that much money the whole time," explains Rich. "We 
thought selling four million was good, but there was this vibe of failure around us." 
Perceived failure led to a souring relationship with the record company, and tense relationships 
within the band. Their next two albums, Amorica, and Three Snakes and One Charm,
reflected this - and as for their last album, well, Chris puts it like this: "We never should have 
called that album By Your Side. We should have called it Just Trying to Hang in There." 
But, after a rejuvenating period touring with Jimmy Page, the Black Crowes are back where they 
want to be, with a new record label, a new album, and tours lined up with one of their
heroes, Neil Young, and with some mates of theirs, Oasis. 

The new album, Lions (released on V2 on May 7), marks a return to form. Produced by Don 
Was, and partly recorded in a converted Yiddish vaudeville theatre on New York's Lower East
Side, Lions sees the band delivering the straight-ahead rock at which they excel. Deeply and 
unashamedly rooted in the sound of 1970s good-time bands like the Faces and their
contemporaries in the Crowes' native southern states of America, songs such as No Use Lyin' 
and Soul Singin' are easily the equal of early hits like Jealous Again and Remedy. 

The Crowes will also be setting out soon on what promises to be either the best rock package 
tour of the year or an unmitigated disaster. The Tour of Brotherly Love will see the Crowes
and Oasis co-headline 17 dates around America in May and June. British music fans will be all 
too aware of the irony in that title when it comes to Noel and Liam Gallagher; they may be
less aware of the equally hostile past of the Robinson boys. 

"Chris and I had some horrible fights," admits Rich. "It started when we were making Amorica. 
It was a very paranoid time. The second record had 'failed'. Nirvana had created this whole
new music scene that we weren't seen to be part of. And there was a lot of drug use, a lot of 
cocaine- induced bullshit. It really drove a wedge between us. Just endless power struggles. 
"We broke up four times on the tour. We booked the flights, but then we realised that we still 
wanted to be in the band, but we just couldn't stand each other. Finally, I said: 'If I don't get
my own bus and get away from that asshole, I'm going to kill him or I'm going to leave.'" 
Rich believes their relationship began to improve when they spent a summer supporting a 
succession of their heroes - the Rolling Stones, Page and Plant and Bob Dylan. "Maybe it was
because we were like kids again, standing behind Keith Richards's amps every night. It reminded 
us why we were doing this, and that allowed us to drop all that emotional baggage." 
Given the Gallaghers' penchant for actually walking out on tours, I suggest that the American 
brothers may have to help our boys with their emotional baggage if they want the Tour of
Brotherly Love to last its full 17 dates. 

Perhaps it's up to the more mature Robinsons to keep Liam in hand. Chris laughs. "I don't think 
anyone could keep Liam under control," he says, as he slurps the last of his Starbucks. 

Thanks to Corey for the transcription!