Sounds like Chris is a bit off-base. But then again...........I'd like to hear Chris's angle on things before I pass judgment.

Back together next week?

These guys have been a roller coaster for their whole career. Part of what makes them The Black Crowes I guess.

Both brothers can be difficult to deal with at times and have a hard time dealing with each other more than others.

Tour announced next month? 😛

This is one case where CanadianMule's hard-earned cynicism from years in the music industry is appropriate and well-deserved

The Black Crowes have been "done" at least one other time that I know of, and the Robinson brothers have always been a volatile combination. It's probably fair to say we should wait a while before we put too much stock in the idea they are over forever.

Not really a Crowes fan so I don't understand how ONE brother gained controlling interest in the franchise. Opinions?

If I had a nickel for every time a rock band broke up for good and then re-formed, I'd have a pretty good collection of nickels.

anyway, Chris seems like his future is with CRB
http://smashinginterviews.com/interviews/musicians/chris-robinson-interview-the-black-crowes-to-be-honest-became-a-very-tedious-scenario

I like Rich's solo work, I like CRB, I like Trigger Hippy.

change sometimes is good

Interesting comment from Rich:

but his present demand that I must give up my equal share of the band and that our drummer for 28 years and original partner, Steve Gorman, relinquish 100% of his share, reducing him to a salaried employee, is not something I could agree to.

I am wondering if there is more behind that. If it is true, I am not sure why Chris would pull something like that. I really dont know much about the "big time"music biz, so what his intentions are.....greed?

I am a fan of the Crowes. Ever since Rich started putting out solo material about 10yrs ago I have been wanting him to keep his solo gig up more. I really like what he does live and what he has been releasing. The last couple of BC albums have been very good no doubt, maybe in a little different direction but definetly of high quality. I miss the swagger and the punch of the more guitar driven music they did. I like Rich's guitar playing. Nice phrasing and melodic riffing.

This might be it this time....well...for awhile at least. 😉

[Edited on 1/16/2015 by jszfunk]

Sounds like Chris is a bit off-base. But then again...........I'd like to hear Chris's angle on things before I pass judgment.

Here is Steve Gorman today and he is very plain spoken about it all.

http://www.foxsportsradio.com/media/podcast-show-hours-steve_gorman_hours/0115-steve-gorman-sports-hr-2-25740578/

I'm crushed. My frickin' idol has clay feet. The Black Crowes had replaced the ABB as my favorite band a long time ago. They made some incredible music. For Chris to do something like that is total Hollywood BS.

I've listened to the first 25-30 minutes of the Steve Gorman show on Fox sports radio and he's really good. He has a great radio voice, his brother is pretty good and Steve seems very knowledgeable, at least about NFL. I had no idea.

BTW - I'm bummed at the news. I started seeing the Black Crowes soon after the first album came out and last saw them with the TTB in Fall 2013. I saw them with lots of axe players in the band: Marc Ford (multiple times in the early 90s), Audley Freed, Marc Ford again, Luther Dickinson and then Jackie Greene (who was a pleasant surprise). I wish I had seen them with Jimmy Page!

I saw them in a club in Buckhead under the name "Big Gurls" right before the 2nd album came out. I saw them in Piedmont Park at the Pot Festival in 1992 when 50,000 surprisingly showed...I saw them at the Fox, multiple times at Music Midtown, the Tabernacle multiple times, Lakewood Ampitheatre and the final time at Encore/Verizon Park.

Gorman was a powerhouse on the drums and I look forward to seeing him again in Trigger Hippy.

That's a little disheartening. Especially on a brother to brother family level. I guess it's all about the money with him? Well just my $.02, but I don't intend on supporting CR and his projects. At times I've been turned off by his over the top self absorption. He has always seemed insecure and childish with his sophomoric drug references, We know, we get it, but some blurts must sound cooler in that buzzed little head of his. I love the BC's and accept them as a combined entity and at times in spite of CR . I cringe when he has that forced off color squawk at the end of Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye. WTF was everyone thinking who turned a deaf ear to that pompous ass display of idiocy. I like all the side projects and love the cash cow BC reunions, but it seems greed and ego has spoiled that bi-annual lovefest. It's a Shame. I'm in my 50's and it's getting tougher to motivate my dumbass out to a venue, it makes it mighty easy to skip some acts when you hear some artists do their Robby Robertson impersonations of love and loyalty.

Rich is the riff master General. He is to the Crowes what Joe Perry is to Aerosmith. His guitar work has had a nice input in my own playing. I have heard some of his influences and chased down their albums to enlighten myself. He has drenched and expanded the setlists with his sweet versions of The Who (The Seeker), The Grease Band (Let It Be Gone), Song Of Love, Multiple by The Band, The Stone, Neil Young, Bob Dylan to even The Clash?, ahhh it'd take too long to list all the diversity and beauty he brings. I love the guy!

Chris brings a groove. No doubt, He brings a level of emotion at times, He also brings a tremendous ego that thinks his vocal range is wider that it actually is. I do not dislike his vocals, but he's not one of fav's either. His voice is adequate, and he does harmonize well with his brother. He needs to stop reading his press releases before bedtime.

Steve Gorman is a great drummer that added to that BC's sound. He may not have had as much writing credits as Rich & CR, but to attempt to shut him out completely is just disrespectful to his long term input, sacrifice, & tolerance. Didn't Jimmy Page in part hand pick the Black Crowes for that Zep material tour because of Gorman's skillset. There are drummers that are just special. Bonham, Moon, Baker, Pert. Etc. They bring a certain dynamic to melody. Their fills are meaningful even if subtle. There are meat and potato drummers who just provide a stable backbone to the music and then there are the ones who command your attention with their influence on the song.

A classic Chris quote from the interview linked above...

"I’m the first person who escaped the South after four hundred years of white male domination"

I am sure that sounded cute in your head, but really? Are you sure you want to say that Chris?

If it wasn't Chris Robinson, I'd almost think he was misquoted, but there are plenty of other "WTF" moments in the same interview.

Not really a Crowes fan so I don't understand how ONE brother gained controlling interest in the franchise. Opinions?

I don't think that is the case. From what Rich said, Chris was trying to get controlling interest by having Rich give up his equal share and he refused.

To me it looks like Chris wanted out so he made super high demands that he knew nobody would agree to and he could always say the others broke the band up since they didn't agree with his demands.

Disappointing, but far from shocking news. That said wouldn't be surprised to find myself at a Black Crowes sometime in the future either.

Chris Robinson is a talented songwriter, performer, and singer. However, judging by interviews over the years I would think you would be hard pressed to find a larger douche bag than him. While making that statement I acknowledge that Rich Robinson is no piece of cake either. Rich ' s newest album, Ceaseless Sight, is pretty great, much better than what I have heard from Chris Robinson Brotherhood. That said the brother's definitely are at their best when writing songs together.

Not really a Crowes fan so I don't understand how ONE brother gained controlling interest in the franchise. Opinions?

I don't think that is the case. From what Rich said, Chris was trying to get controlling interest by having Rich give up his equal share and he refused.

To me it looks like Chris wanted out so he made super high demands that he knew nobody would agree to and he could always say the others broke the band up since they didn't agree with his demands.

Yeah, I get that - but the POWER to make the drummer a salaried employee? Seems like an attempt at a hostel takeover to me!

As stated - I've just never really been a fan. I've been to three Black Crowes shows (usually to see the opening act) and ended up leaving before the end of their set all three times. Don't know if it's Chris' punk persona (the beer stealing incident gave me a bad impression) or that I just find them over-rated. I loved their take on "Hard to Handle" and I liked New Earth Mud. But I find most of Chris' attempts at blue-eyed soul/gospel/blues to be him just trying too hard or something. Like all of these white girl Janis wannabes that just get up there and scream until they're hoarse. Safe to say that I just don't get 'em.

Best of luck to them - good riddance, too!

It would have been nice to lace em up one more time with the Crowes this summer for the the 25th Anniversary. Whatever it is between the brothers, I've always immensley enjoyed Black Crowes concerts. I've seen ones better than others but like the Mule and ABB, can't seem to think of a bad one among all their various line ups. Just real great Stones style R&R with some jams thrown in.
Those first 3 albums are incredible and the last one recorded at Levon's barn was great. I feel like they only toured those songs once. I saw them in '10 with Luther and 13 with Jackie and they seemed to be focused on pleasing the crowd with the old songs. J

Chris is a mini Mick Jagger. Great stage presence, great rock n roll singing and persona but a total doosh. It seems like he pulled a Robbie Robertson and Rich pulled the plug to call his bluff.

Just like Levon in that situation, Gorman seems like the only sane one and the coolest of the bunch. I really liked that radio clip.

Don't be surprised if we see this band again...

I had a great time at the TTB/Crowes in 13 but a Saturday night late summer at Jones beach was only about half full. Kind of lame. I wonder if lower ticket sales factored into Chris's demands...

from the shows i've seen, their internal strife has never affected their live show. i've seen the internal strife affected ABB shows (as many here have). but the Crowes never brought that to the stage.

for the TTB tour, Chris R and Jackie G would sit behind the drummers and boogie. it was cool to see.

Rusty, the Crowes body of work is incredible. Nobody could touch them during their run ... Nobody. Chris Robinson while coming off as a douche/jerk is one of the premier front men in rock as he is a media dream. He can say something, funny, profound, stupid and outrageous often in the same sentence. The rest of the band can focus on music. They have an uncanny ability to find great guitarists and actually allowing them free rein to solo - a guitar players dream. I've seen them several times as well and found the earlier shows plagued with bad sound (loud, muddy.) However, the last couple of shows have been just great. I believe they're employing some kind acoustic baffles. Also Jeff Gorman is Steve's cousin not his brother and he raises a very good point. Chris Robinson has always had an anticorporate stance. He has passed himself of as some hippy-dippy guru, but this statement from his own brother he is obviously what he has supposedly detested ... A fake, a phony, just another greedy snake oil salesman. The bad part is that his impressive body of work takes a hit in the credibility department. Rich's new CD is great much better than the CRB's latest effort. Like I said I'm tore slap down on this news.

Love their music. They'll be back when the money runs out. No to mention, we've heard this all before.

I'd like to hear Chris Robinson defend himself, if in fact he can. Not sure what make of such a power grab?

[Edited on 1/16/2015 by revonah]

Yeah, I get that - but the POWER to make the drummer a salaried employee? Seems like an attempt at a hostel takeover to me!

I am guessing that power would have came if Rich had given in to the first demand.

I love the Black Crowes and hate that it went this way, but they were always one step away from breaking up their whole career.

On his radio show (linked above), Gorman sounds very sane. Steve confirms what Rich said...that he was asked to give up his partnership in the band to be a part of a 25th anniversary reunion. That Rich was also asked to give his up is even crazier.

I recall Van Halen requiring Michael Anthony to give up his partnership to allow him to be a part of the Hagar reunion tour back about 10-12 years ago (before they reunited with Roth and hired Ed's son on bass).

I love the Crowes but Chris has always had LSD.

The two brothers start to disagree, escalates to arguing which leads to full on fights. Usually followed by an intervention of sanity from the management and then some music. Hopefully that all happens again.

Likely as the disagreement escalated then so did the demands. Love both of my brothers dearly but Lord knows that we couldn't all work together. 😉

I've seen the Crowes more times than I can count and they've been a huge influence on me musically through the years.....both in songwriting and guitar playing. I'm a big fan. Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised to see them tour again at some point and won't really comment on any of this until Chris speaks to it. I listened to the Gorman thing too and it just made me love the guy more. All 3 of them are irreplaceable aspects of the band.

Even though I love the band and wouldn't be surprised to see them on the road together again at some point, it won't be the same. They're a band that is at it's best 2-3 years into an "era" or "line up". Saw them probably 4 times with Jackie last year and don't get me wrong, they were great and Jackie fit in well, but they were doing a greatest hits set throughout the whole tour. It was obvious. It also probably had alot to do with not overwhelming Jackie with a huge catalog to have to learn (which is understandable). Marc will never come back to the band and from what it seems neither will Luther, BUT....the line ups with both of those guys once they got into their groove, were just badass. The setlists were deeply varied and the improv at times was just off the charts.....THAT is what The Black Crowes is all about. They gotta marinate a bit.

Still, it sucks to see two of my all time favorite bands wrap it up within months of each other. Piss.

JP

"I find most of Chris' attempts at blue-eyed soul/gospel/blues to be him just trying too hard or something. Like all of these white girl Janis wannabes that just get up there and scream until they're hoarse."

So you are saying he is the male Susan Tedeschi? 😉

Sorry, I couldn't resist, I'll show myself out.....

The best music of the Crowes is behind them. Tried CRB, but the live show I went too was like paying $20/ticket for aural quaaludes. We we kinda disappointed they didn't BRING IT.

Chris and Rich, without each other, aren't all that great.

As for yet another BC soap opera feud? YAWN.

I'll catch Chris' band this weekend at the sunshine music fest in Boca. It's a pitty dickey betts had to pull out. I was very much looking forward to seeing him play and join others on stage. He was replaced with Robby krieger of doors. I'll keep an open mind about that - Derek and Susan must have picked him as a replacement for a good reason. As far as the crowes go, I won't use this break-up to throw a cheap shot at Chris; that band was amazing. Like someone else said it's shame the Allmans and the crowes called it quits but all the players are still playing so the show will go on in some fashion or another.

I'm not surprised. I like the band and their music, and have seen the crowes live; but Chris is burnt out from way too many drugs, his huge ego/greed, and he's his own worst enemy at times, and for awhile it's been clear that he cares more about money than making music.

I've seen people claim that Rich and Chris just love to imitate the Rolling Stones both musically, and in their personal lives; but in some ways this is true, while in other ways it's not.

[Edited on 1/17/2015 by The_Newt]

Huge fan here. Excluding the ABB and Family bands the BC are probably my all time favorites alongside Rory Gallagher. If they are indeed over with forever would really suck. I disagree with the "The best music of the Crowes is behind them". Their last releases were great and they still had lot's of good music in them. Wouldn't be surprised if there still would be a reunion somewhere in the future. But dissappointed if it has to end with a financial feud like this. Chris Robinson appears to be one greedy hippie. Could understand if Steve and even Rich would earn a bit less but not like this. Time will tell.