THE BLACK CROWES guitarist Rich Robinson spoke to Long Island Weekly about his reunion with his brother Chris for a tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band’s classic debut album, 1990’s “Shake Your Money Maker”. Joining Chris and Rich in the new BLACK CROWES lineup are returning bassist Sven Pipien, who played with the band live from 1997 up until the band’s hiatus in 2015, along with Brian Griffin on drums, Joel Robinow on keyboards and Isaiah Mitchell on guitar, plus backup singers Mackenzie Adams and Leslie Grant.
Asked what was behind the decision to reform THE BLACK CROWES without founding member/drummer Steve Gorman, Rich said: “Steve was one of the incredibly negative and manipulative forces in the band that we really didn’t want to deal with. In order to get back, we really had to do this very specific purge where we focus on the two of us and let this be something that will be positive. We can be in charge of our own triggers, but if you have other people around that have an agenda, which a lot of the older people around did, it’s just going to crash and burn. We didn’t look at this as a one-time thing. We want to focus and do it right for ourselves as human beings. For ourselves as brothers. For ourselves as writing and creative partners as well as the other reasons.”
In a 2020 interview, Gorman said that he was not surprised to see Chris and Rich teaming up with new musicians for a tour. “To me, it’s been an inevitability for years.” Gorman went on to say that he doesn’t necessarily fault the Robinson brothers for wanting to keep THE BLACK CROWES brand alive. “This tour has nothing to do with me — it never did; it never would have,” he explained. “THE BLACK CROWES are my past.”
THE BLACK CROWES‘ rescheduled tour will kick off on July 20 and July 21 at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheatre and include 37 dates over a two-month period, concluding on September 25 at Bethel Woods in Bethel, New York.
When they announced their split in 2014, Rich issued a statement saying that he loved his brother and respected his talent but that “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 percent of his share … is not something I could agree to.”
“Shake Your Money Maker” was re-released in multi-formats sets in February through UMe/American Recordings. The album, fueled by singles “Jealous Again”, “Twice As Hard”, “She Talks To Angels” and a cover of fellow Georgian Otis Redding‘s “Hard To Handle”, has sold over five million copies.
