Black Crowes Roaring Like Lions (part two, 5.10.01) By Jonathan Cohen / Associate Editor He's married to the gorgeous young actress Kate Hudson, and his band continues to be hailed as one of rock'n'roll's most vital acts. Indeed, life is pretty sweet for Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson these days. But it's been a rocky past few years for the Crowes, having endured lackluster sales for 1998's By Your Side and a slew of lineup changes that have continually upended the band's internal dynamic. But the Crowes have perservered and returned to form with the brand new Lions, their first album in a new deal with V2 Records. Chris Robinson talked to NATN Associate Editor Jonathan Cohen about the Crowes' evolution, and the upcoming "Tour Of Brotherly Love" with Oasis in tow. Click here for NATN's interview with Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson. NATN: It's been a long time since By Your Side. Can you talk about the process of getting the material together for the new album? Chris Robinson: I mean, I think that we do something different in the recording process every record we make. We've made them all under different circumstances, and all of those circumstances are sort of.. not really decided upon, but we kind of fall into them. We don't really know how we're going to work until we're there. In a way, this record might have seemed.. the only thing hard about this record was us having to be patient [laughs]. In a way, that was the thing that made it so different. The wholeBy Your Side thing, it was a learning experience. We really got in a place where we could be as creative as we wanted to and within that, really feel free to do something different. I don't think we really had that same kind of enthusiasm or encouragement.. to be in our most creative place, we have to be in our most independent place. That's really where a lot of the stuff is born. NATN: How did you choose Don Was as the producer? CR: Don.. well I'd met Don at some various functions, and through the Rolling Stones and stuff. He's worked with so many great artists, and being a musician himself, over the years we've run into each other. We played him a bunch of the songs in L.A., and we were on the same wavelength, for lack of a better word. Rich and I had been writing songs since By Your Side. Obviously a lot of those come and go, but that's a lot of music we covered in a few years, and a lot of changes in our personal lives. So Don, I think, was really good in the sense that, my brother and I had come to some sort of agreement, in a very legal and binding sense, about just being more available to each other in a creative way. I'm very happy with the work we've always done, but we got into this project and decided there's no reason for us not to be together. We're at our most powerful creatively when we are. Let's both really focus and celebrate that on this one. Don helped keep Rich and I.. it wasn't hard, but it helps to have another person there keeping it moving when it's so positive. NATN: Rich told me he felt some of the earliest songs written for the album set the tone. Do you agree? CR: Um, no. I don't agree with him on that. I think the tone of the album comes across.. when we were at Montana Studio rehearsing, that's really where "Cosmic Friend" and "Young Man, Old Man" came together.. a lot of songs we had pieces to.. "Losin' My Mind." That's where the tracks come from, you know what I mean? I don't know what Rich is talking about. He's crazy. I see "Lay It All On Me" and "Ozone Mama"... obviously Rich and I kind of focus on different things [laughs hard]. Anyway, we made the record. Now we're back to being normal. Don's not around [laughs]. NATN: Do you have any favorites? CR: Well, I mean, I don't think there's anything.. to be honest, there's a lot of elements we hinted on before.. the funk and R&B. We've never been under the influence that there's a "Black Crowes sound." There is, because it's me singing, and the way Rich and Steve play, but as far as.. because one record made a lot of people a lot of money, that's not just what we do. That's never been the case, and I think that's pretty obvious 11 years later. NATN: It sounds like the Crowes have been revitalized. CR: We've never been trapped in a corporate rock machine, but the lines are drawn so much more heavily now. I think it's more attractive for people to know that there is an anti-corporate rock machine out there. People want to buy records and hear music. It's a part of all of our lives. It's not the labels' fault that people will do anything for a dollar [laughs]. That's fine. That's survival. But this is something that runs a little deeper than selling jeans or car parts, or whatever. NATN: I asked Rich this also, but how is the band dynamic? Is it the first time that the four core members have been in the studio alone? CR: No, not really. Southern Harmony was a record where we got off the road, Marc Ford joined the band, and we made that record in a week. Oh, happening man! We're in Malibu and there's dolphins swimming around out there. That makes the day better [laughs hard]. If anything, the dynamic always starts with me and Rich. Then we bring in Steve, and then Ed. Amorica was more of the same type of everyone at once. It changes a little bit, but it changes in terms of where Rich and I's fucking heads are at. NATN: And now there's another new bass player? What does that bring the total up to? Four? CR: Yeah, I know, man. It's getting ridiculous [laughs]. You know what, I haven't counted in a while [laughs]. Rich plays most everything on the record. We'll see how Andy [Hess] works out. He's an awfully nice guy, and he can play, and I really hope this turns out to be what we need. In the few gigs we've played, I'm really happy and he seems happy. It's been so sporadic. You know, once we start working, we start working. But I'm like, "okay man. enjoy being in the band once a month [laughs]." It must be weird, because this is the only band we've ever been in! Once we get out and start getting into a groove, and it's clicking in second and third gear, it's really going to be nice. NATN: Okay, so the Oasis tour.. CR: It's funny, because people have said, "well, what is that about?" And I'm like, "what do you mean? [laughs] It's rock'n'roll bands touring together! Remember that?" Oasis was always a guilty pleasure, kind of like how my band has been for people, you know what I mean? It's kind of like, "ugh." But then you hear the songs and you really like them. It's kind of funny. I can't speak for them, but we're at a point now where we're available to a lot of things that we haven't been available for, just in a personal way, and where our heads are. We met [Oasis guitarist] Noel [Gallagher] a couple of years ago, and we became friends and hung out, and talked about maybe doing something. It's lonely out there [laughs]! It just works, you know what I mean? They want to do it, we want to do it, and it's done! NATN: Oasis has no new album to promote, and with Lions coming out right when the tour begins, it would seem the emphasis is on the Black Crowes. CR: I don't think so, because if anything, Oasis.. We're going out to play music. It just so happens that there's our album. We went out and did shows with Jimmy Page when we didn't have an album out. We've always done gigs when there's nothing to do. It's just part of being a musician and wanting to play. If anything, us and Oasis is an evening to get your head our of your ass for 10 minutes. People don't even fucking stop everything for a couple of hours and let it hit them. NATN: Let's talk about this live show promotion you guys are doing. Basically fans can stream every show and then burn one for free, just by entering a code on the physical CD copy of Lions. CR: I think the people who are interested in our band are interested in music in general, and I think this is a great way to be involved with our music. I've always been into trading tapes and bootlegs and all that. This is just a way also for us to give them something if they buy the record, and for us to control it, too. People are into technology, you know what I mean? NATN: I don't suppose you have any problem putting up the shows warts and all? CR: No, definitely not, man [laughs]. I hate to say it, but that's part of it. That's just as big a part of it as when it works. We believe in balance, and that's part of the balance. I'd like to think we mess up less than most people, but we play a kind of music that.. to keep it real every day means we have to step outside of it sometimes. NATN: Would you say your time spent with Jimmy Page was a springboard for new ideas? CR: Uh, not so much on a song-to-song basis. I think it was important for us to enjoy playing music together that wasn't our music, but that we could bring our sound to. Singing somebody else's songs was another thing. We've always played covers, but to really get immersed in someone's repertoire was completely different for us. Led Zeppelin's music is very dramatic and very dynamic. That's something we've attempted to do with our style also. I think it definitely affected how we make our music. I can't say anything exact. NATN: It's really too bad the tour got cut short. Can you talk about the lawsuit against Lloyd's Of London at all? CR: Um, yeah, but that's business. I don't talk to our attorneys, so [laughs].. I wish we had done more dates, because it was never finalized. And this kind of shit doesn't help, you know?