During his #AlmostFamous days as a music critic, Nestor Aparicio stumbled onto to some legendary bands. The Black Crowes were about to open for a long-forgotten band named Junkyard at Hammerjacks. Young, brash, hard to handle and ready to rule the world. This one is spicy…
In March 1990, Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes discussed their debut album “Shake Your Money Maker” with Nestor Aparicio. The band, which included Steve Gorman, had been together for a few years and had released their album six weeks prior. They were known for their Southern rock sound and brash attitude. Despite their humble beginnings, they had already gained some recognition, including a Grammy week appearance. The interview highlights their early touring experiences, their influences, and their unique band dynamics. The Black Crowes were known for their raw, garage-inspired sound and their dedication to real instruments and voices.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Black Crowes, debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, Southern rock, Atlanta music scene, Steve Gorman, Leonard Skinner, Grammy week, touring experiences, musical influences, band dynamics, songwriting process, live performances, garage band sound, band humor
SPEAKERS
Chris Robinson, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:00
Welcome back. Wnst. Towson, Baltimore and wnst.net it is wnst Rock week here, and we’re enjoying our little stroll down memory lane and some old rock and roll interviews. This one is amongst my favorites. This is one of my favorite bands. The drummer, Steve Gorman often comes on and visits, and you’ll hear his visits, most recently, 2014 15 and 16 in our audio vault and throughout the week here at wnst Rock week. But Chris Robinson once called and chatted with me, and it was in March of 1990 and the black crows were five weeks after the release of shaker money maker, which was their debut album. They were brash, they were Atlanta. They were Southern, but they weren’t and they were sort of wanted to be the bad boys of Southern rock, not necessarily in the Leonard Skinner vein, as he clearly alludes to, but a quarter of a century plus later, the drugs, the alcohol, the well documented partying of the black crows and the acrimony within the band has led to them to break up once again, and that story is all out on the internet, but this is one of the first interviews with the black crows as a national act. And again, back when I was at the evening sun, the publicist would reach to me, and I freelance for the evening sun for six years, as I was an ag clerk there in the sports department, as well as being a sports writer there at the time, from 86 to 92 they would come to me and say, Hey, here’s this new band, and they would send me a CD by this by that time was definitely CDs by 91 but in the early days, was albums. And you know, you spin them. 8687 88 it went from albums to CDs by 1991 it was all cds. I had to shake your money maker CD and I listened to it. I loved jealous again. I loved hard to handle. I love she talks to angels, and the album was five weeks old. Literally, they were not stars at all. No one had ever heard of them. They were calling from a pay phone outside of a supermarket somewhere in Durham, North Carolina, I believe, or Winston Salem, as you’ll hear in the interview, and they were throwing a football around. And this is Chris Robinson when he had no money, no car, no Goldie hawns, daughter for a wife, none of that. And the black crows are now a legendary band. So this is kind of, you know, along my Almost Famous Cameron crow trail, doing this. This is one of my real treasured interviews, because I think it portrays some sort of innocence of myself, for sure, as well as Chris Robinson two kids talking to each other. And a quarter of a century later, look at what he turned into. He’s now doing the Brotherhood, of course, and the black crows are no more. And Steve Gorman joins us from time to time from the black crows. And Chris Robinson actually talks about Steve Gorman’s car in this interview, and I think you’ll dig it. Chris Robinson of the black crows, they were about to open for the band junkyard at hammer Jack’s. There were literally 20 people at the show. No one was at the show, but, and Steve Gorman remembers it well, and there’s a well circulated picture now out on my Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn and everywhere else, of the early black crows and myself that night at hammer jacks. It was in March of 1990 Steve Gorman wearing the ornithologically correct Oriole hat as well. So that’s kind of cool, all right. Chris Robinson, black crows March of 1990 on the Atlanta music scene and life in a rock and roll band after five weeks after the debut of shake your money maker, still one of my favorites.
Chris Robinson 03:35
Coming right now, we’re getting ready for Baltimore. Real Price for hammer Jack.
Nestor Aparicio 03:40
I haven’t been there yet. No,
Chris Robinson 03:42
I used to live in DC, but never
03:45
been hammer Jack. All right. Well, here’s Chris right now, sure. Hello, come on, put the football down.
Chris Robinson 03:55
Sports break, man. What’s that? The big sports break happening right here at the Express Mart in beautiful Raleigh, North Carolina, you’re at
04:02
the Express Mart, huh? Oh, yeah, I was down to Carolina recently. So how’s the tour going, hitting towns like Raleigh, North Carolina? Oh,
Chris Robinson 04:09
it’s great. It’s been amazing. How long you been over. This is like the third week. We really don’t like touring. I mean, I mean, you get to do the whole thing you’ve dreamed up forever, play your songs every day. The only way that the Black Rose can be the black crows and not kill each other. You know, the only thing you deal with is playing every night, which is the only thing. I mean, we used to live in Atlanta, but we lived at home like we were on a tour, which is not always the best thing. People who hang around you some
04:48
marathon drinking sessions, that kind of thing. So this is natural tour. Well, you say you’ve been on the road for three weeks. I mean, were you on the road before? When did the album come
Chris Robinson 04:57
out? The record came out? About six weeks ago. Now, I think we guys, we had played before. You know, we got time. We used to go out three and four nights in a row here and there, mostly in the southeast, up the East Coast. We never played Washington, above where we went to New York, Albany, Boston a couple times.
05:17
Were you guys in LA Grammy week? Yeah, doing stuff on the radio, yeah, yeah. I heard you guys on on 98 rock here. I mean, I like, I heard you, and you were talking about, like, Leonard Skinner and all these other crazy southern bands. Leonard Skinner, yeah. Thank you so much. What do you guys were you were talking about, like, how people in the south expect southern bands to be. Oh, yeah, they expect you to be. Like. Leonard Skinner, yeah. So you guys were ripping on them. And, you know, I said, Who are these guys? You know? Oh, no. I mean, nothing intended. I just made me remember you guys. And I just said, you know, oh, really, that was the biggie for you, like your Elvis, or
Chris Robinson 05:59
definitely, like, I walk in the place and see him, and I’m just like, I got to touch that hand to play those songs and hear that voice, you know, wherever it comes from, she can talk to him, or buy him a beer or anything like it. Yeah, we gave him a clothes t shirt. We got to talk to him for a little bit. Did some pictures with him. She all fired up. It was, it was incredible. I just hung around like a total moron
06:27
together. When did this whole thing get started? As far as you guys getting signed? And
Chris Robinson 06:31
we got signed last our producer signed us out there
06:40
and out where LA, you did a lot of work in LA then, well,
Chris Robinson 06:44
no, actually, we did the whole record in Atlanta, except for the vocals and mixing, which were done in LA. Georgia. Saw the band New York a couple years ago when, you know, when we were just trying to progressively take it to another level. And he was like, Hey, you guys write incredible songs. And like, cool, man. He worked at A and M at the time, they wouldn’t sign us because we weren’t metal.
07:13
They were shopping for a metal band. They got sound garden, I think, yeah. I
Chris Robinson 07:17
mean, you know, they signed a bunch of metal bands. They had to jump on the bandwagon with everyone else. We’re a rock and roll band, you know,
07:25
where do you guys fit into that, that whole genre? I mean, I mean, I listened to the album quite a bit. They’re playing your songs in a lot. And, you know, I just got that stone sound, you know. And, well, okay, so you don’t deny that. No,
Chris Robinson 07:41
I mean, how can I? I mean, I can say that. You know, when Rich and I got together to start writing songs, it was never like, oh, what kind of band it sounds like, The Rolling Stones me, faces me, humble pie. It was like, this is a certain framework in which we can work and write good rock and roll songs that sound radically speaking, was always
08:03
the right as far as getting the deal and getting the music together with that pretty quickly, yeah.
Chris Robinson 08:10
I mean, we never stopped demos, you know, I guess we were the right place at the
Nestor Aparicio 08:15
right time. And when was this? This time last year? Oh yeah,
Chris Robinson 08:17
we signed last year. Halfway through the record finally, our lawyer finally got together.
08:25
So tell me about land in the south, and how do southern roads inspire you?
Chris Robinson 08:33
I mean, I love the South. I don’t think the south inspires me. If it turns then it’s like a subconscious thing.
08:41
Were you like, born, reared and raised in Atlanta? You have no accent. You’re not fully unaffected by the whole southern
Chris Robinson 08:49
thing? Well, I am, but I don’t think it affects me as far as music goes. I mean, it has to, because if you think about it, Rock and Roll was invented in the south, and I consider Robert Johnson in front half rock and roll records, even though Chuck Berry from St Louis, he would be nowhere without money. And those guys too, you know? I mean, and then comes the stones, and they’re English, so I mean, as far as I the influences, maybe, yeah, that kind of stuff. I never really dug. I mean, I like their records now, actually, I think they’re kind of cool. I think they’re funny. Actually, as far as growing up in the South, I really, I like it, but I like it better when I’m out there, which
09:45
is insane for everyone. You know what I mean, right? Grass is always greener coming from Iowa,
Chris Robinson 09:50
like Iowa better when they’re not there. Well,
09:53
I mean, are you real attached to seeing in Atlanta? Did you? Did you dig around a lot there? I mean, you know, like the driving and crying guys or. Yeah.
Chris Robinson 10:00
I mean, we were never really understood quite in Atlanta, because Atlanta, even though the city is too many people, it’s like they want you to cater to a certain thing, as far as the music seems there. We never did. We couldn’t pigeonhole ourselves that much to worry about the Atlanta scene. If there is one and I think people, we definitely get tagged with the whole, you know, ego thing and bad attitude, which is fine, you know, people miss you through knowing what you want and how to go about it and having an ego problem. Maybe, I mean, I would say the band is pretty arrogant, as far as it goes, but that’s all the musical level, because we know what we want, and we do it every night. So we never had any problem saying, Yeah, I would love to make lots of money. Yeah, I did girls coming to the show. You know what I mean? Right? Mean, that doesn’t mean that that ruled our life and that was priority one, because it’s not, and it wasn’t,
Nestor Aparicio 11:05
but it’s nice, you know
Chris Robinson 11:08
what I mean? Yeah, but we at least admitted we, you know, we admitted that we have no problem going out and doing openings for any arena tours this year, which we probably will do by the end of the year in Atlanta. But to sin, you know what I mean to us, it was like, Well, why not? The more people get to hear what we do, the better. That’s why we do it. If I wanted to be some weird, ace, ridden artist to recluse, I would just stay in my house and write songs just for me, right? You wouldn’t sign a record deal, yeah? But I mean, it’s just very strange, because it’s like there’s no magic left in the music business, which is boring. You know what I mean? I think actually the black clothes can be a magic band again, because the fact that I dig what we do as a band, since you don’t get these five people together, personality wise,
Nestor Aparicio 12:03
you get car crashes on the sounds of your music. Oh
Chris Robinson 12:06
yeah. Steve just got rid of that car, by the way. What kind of car wasn’t it? Was a 66 bad start, a nice basically, we just got really drunk when I drill around running into things, which is not the smartest thing in the room, but we had a blast. And you know, hold on my goddamn football. You’re fucking tired
Nestor Aparicio 12:37
like it is. We
Chris Robinson 12:41
were just bored one day, he was on the parking lot of the studio, and next again, early, just ramming his car into the dumpster. And we all had a big laugh, and we decided we had to tape it for posterity. Things like ramming an automobile into a huge metal object kind of breaks the tension, I think, kind
13:01
of breaks the tension. I think, how do you get a name like black crows? Is this kind of like thing where it’s just
Chris Robinson 13:09
between the five of us? I wish I could tell you I’m legally binded. Can’t do it.
13:13
Was it a joke? Is it a joke? Yeah. I mean, like,
Chris Robinson 13:19
I wish I could tell you I’m not at liberty. This
13:21
will never be divulged. Okay, why shake your money maker? Well,
Chris Robinson 13:29
I mean, first off, is a great song, the version I know Elmore James, and then again, it’s what we do, what everyone does, I think, besides, like the vivid sexual image that you know, what exactly is your money making? Exactly girls can take it the other way, I think
Nestor Aparicio 13:55
everything is a meat market for money. And then, like I said,
Chris Robinson 13:58
you shake your money maker, whatever you do mean for me to get on stage at night and pass around or whatever I’m doing, it, the whole band of it. So as far as the band
14:12
being the black crows and being a member of this fraternity, so to speak, I mean, what kind of things you do when you hang out together. I mean, you say you’re best friends, you know, but
Chris Robinson 14:28
usually, usually it revolves around a bar setting. We tend to get real clandestine as far as our little jokes and stuff between the guys. But still, let
Nestor Aparicio 14:40
anybody get into your little circle?
Chris Robinson 14:42
No, we do. They have to be like us. You know, I mean, I mean, it’s like the five nicest people in the world, people like I said, misconstrue like our humor, as long as you know, like we. It’s hard to say. I mean, like we’re content to be lashed away and as long as there’s a battle and 20 and Chuck Berry records, I think we’re doing fine. You know what? I mean, which may seem boring, but
15:17
what inspires you to write material at this I mean, are you still writing right now? Oh yeah,
Chris Robinson 15:21
definitely. We’re doing new songs in the set every night.
15:25
So how many songs do you have any repertoire? I don’t think a French word for we have
Chris Robinson 15:31
the record. A lot of things we did, 30 or so songs that we could go through if we had to do 31
15:40
night. She pull out covers and stuff live and do some Chuck Berry stuff or some
Chris Robinson 15:48
hooker stuff we really didn’t like, sit down and go. Well, here’s five songs of what I want to do. We can throw in here and there. We do a Jimmy Reed song called it’s a sin. We’ve been doing that one. How much time are you getting? You’re opening this show, right? Yeah. How much time are you getting? About 45 minutes, long enough to do what you need to do. I think we get stabbed. I think, you know, like most people come and see the band, and they’re used to seeing a certain thing, and they see the black holes, and it’s like their jaws kind of drop, because it’s like five people playing real instruments with real voices. You know what I mean,
Nestor Aparicio 16:26
like a garage band,
Chris Robinson 16:31
but there’s a little more style to it than that. Well, that’s
16:34
an overused term, but I mean, I think the sound, I guess, from you guys, is real garage more so than other bands. Well,
Chris Robinson 16:44
yeah, I mean, I mean, if Xi were Main Street the garage record, then I guess we are garage bands. As far as like sounds, I hate slick production. There’s no need for it. You lose something that sounds tinkered with? Yeah, you know, sample drums and all that kind of stuff. Have no time for that. Can’t really play your drums and make them sound right,
17:13
all right. Well, I think that wraps it up for my question. You can go back and toss your football around. Is it nerf football or just a real football. I gotta get
Chris Robinson 17:22
a manly football. Yeah, no, I had one, but we already lost it in a hotel somewhere. This is a much cheaper investment.
17:30
That’s true. And then we don’t break what kind of places you guys staying in if you call me from, like the mini market or
Chris Robinson 17:41
something pulled over, I pulled over. I like the ones that have, like lobbies and stuff motel outdoor woodlands,
17:52
which we were doing in Texas, you always think of Norman Bates, all right. Well, I’ll maybe catch you guys Monday night when you bomb in here,
Chris Robinson 18:01
baby, man, attitude on me, buddy.
18:07
What I get this question from, like, anyone that’s never been there, you know, being here and going there and, you know, seeing is still in a bar me. But then again, I’ve never experienced, like, towns that wish they had a hammer jack. So it’s a big place. It’s a fun place. It’s a place to be and to be seen on weekends for the Hard Rock crowd, and it gets all fired up, and then hopefully you guys will do it on a Monday. It’s kind of difficult to get people in there on weeknights, to be honest, but Fridays and Saturdays, it’s happening place.
Chris Robinson 18:46
Have fun. Down Tobacco
Nestor Aparicio 18:47
Road. See you. Bye.
