The Black Crowes

Funny thing -- when the Rolling Stones play, everybody calls it "rock 'n roll." When the Black Crowes play almost the same kind of music, everybody calls it "retro." Everybody but rock 'n' roll fans, that is. Though the Black Crowes might reverberate certain tones of Classic Rock, they never subserviently imitated their influences (even with the Jam Rock of Three Snakes & One Charm in 1996). Brothers Chris and Rich Robinson formed the band in Georgia around 1984. Chris' Terry Reid cum Rod Stewartesque raspy singing blended with his brother's tone-heavy guitar leads in a familiar setting that had critics hailing them the bastard sons of the Faces. They added to these comparisons by going multi-platinum with a near-perfect cover of the late, great Otis Redding's "Hard to Handle." Over the course of four albums, the Black Crowes experimented with blues, country music, and festival jams only to return to what they do best -- nitty, gritty rock 'n' roll. Despite lineup changes and ambitious pit-stops in different genres, they have enough impressive material for listeners to glean that, at the end of the day, the Black Crowes are just a talented band who wake up each afternoon to chase down another song (before disbanding in 2002). Chris now sings in a project named New Earth Mud with his old guitar player Mark Ford and ex Beachwood Sparks drummer Aaron Sperske.