Dancing to My Own Beat With The Black Crowes
I like thinking of myself as a fiercely independent sort who would never be unduly influenced by opinion makers, talking heads, or pop culture. I march to my own beat, damn it! Don’t I?
I am opinionated and truly believe what I’m saying most of the time and most of my opinions are my own. Like a lot of us, I can be led and have on occasion been misled or led astray.
I thought Chris Robinson was a big dope but U liked The Black Crowes debut Shake Your Money Maker. Yeah, I know the critics howled with derision and taunted them by saying liked them better when they were the Stones or the Faces. I ignored the critics – and Chris Robinson – and happily reveled in that debut.
They followed SYMM with Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, which spawned the infectious “Remedy” and the underappreciated gem “Sometimes Salvation” (which is my favorite BC song). Somehow I never bought this album at the time even though I continued to ignore Robinson and his critics.
I don’t know exactly when but at some point the critics’ barbs got in my head and I left the Black Crowes for dead.
Years went by and I never gave the band much of a second thought until last Christmas when I achieved victory over those who’d led me astray. I wasn’t ready to break down and buy every album they’d released but decided to start small and buy their greatest hits package. One BIG problem with that strategy: “Sometimes Salvation” got left off. That needs to be corrected, guys.
There was only one other solution I was willing to consider. I bought SYMM again and finally bought SHAMC. The critic (and follower) in me could easily spot the band’s influences but I started to hear the music above the nagging voices in my head.
Earlier this year we had the Maxim incident that I alluded to in an earlier post (it was brilliantly and humorously excoriated by the mighty El Bicho). That combined with my rediscovery of their earlier albums and a rare cash surplus combined and created a critical mass. I needed Warpaint.
Filed under: Tags: Musical Musings and Random Ramblings
