“We’d order eight pitchers of margaritas and by the time the gig started we were out of our heads and barely able to finish the show”: How a group of rock’n’roll outcasts made the first great debut album of the 1990s
The article recounts how The Black Crowes, then known as Mr Crowe’s Garden, developed from an unpopular local Atlanta band into the group behind 1990 debut album Shake Your Money Maker. It presents the record as an important rock debut of its era, while highlighting the band’s improvised live approach and chaotic early behaviour.
Frontman Chris Robinson recalls that the band would sometimes write a riff at soundcheck and perform it the same night, an approach that did not always win over audiences. Their breakthrough began when American Recordings A&R representative George Drakoulias, visiting Atlanta to scout other acts, was told about the group by a stranger in a bar; although they had no local show booked, he was able to see them at a forthcoming New York gig.
- An accidental discovery helped launch The Black Crowes.
- Their debut emerged from an unconventional local-band period.
- Shake Your Money Maker became a major 1990 rock record.