Happy Birthday Chris Robinson: Performing Live With The Black Crowes In 2021

Today marks The Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson’s birthday. Born on December 20, 1966 in Marietta, Georgia near Atlanta, Chris formed the band that would become The Black Crowes — then called Mr. Crowe’s Garden — in 1984 with his brother guitarist Rich Robinson.

In 1989, Mr. Crowes Garden became The Black Crowes and the band signed with Rick Rubin’s Def American label. The Black Crowes broke through in 1990 with their landmark debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, which contains some of their most well-known and commercially successful songs like “Twice As Hard,” “Jealous Again,” “She Talks To Angels” and their cover of Otis Redding’s “Hard To Handle.”

The Black Crowes broke onto the scene at an interesting time for rock ‘n’ roll. They were one of the last bands to initially exist in the brash and bawdy rock ethos of the previous three decades — the one-two punch of the Robinson brothers, featuring Chris’s wildly talented vocals and swaggering stage presence and Rich’s guitar stoicism, coupled with their songwriting prowess a la Jagger/Richards or Plant/Page a prime example. But they have evolved well — if not acrimoniously at times — and remain to this day one of the greatest rock bands of the past 30 years with a devoted fanbase.

Also standing the test of time is their debut, Shake Your Money Maker, which the band took for a 30th anniversary spin over the past year beginning in July and recently wrapping up in Las Vegas (where they will return early next year). A month into the tour, The Black Crowes came to Concord, California in the Bay Area — practically Chris’s backyard — on August 21, 2021.

The Shake Your Money Maker Tour saw the Crowes kicking off the show with a complete rendering of the album. From the jump in Concord Chris’s command of showmanship was on full display as he burst on the stage with an umbrella following opener “Twice As Hard’s” rocking guitar intro from his brother Rich.

The band — Chris, Rich, longtime bassist Sven Pipien, guitarist Isaiah Mitchell, drummer Brian Griffin and keyboardist Joel Robinow as well as backing vocalists Leslie Grant and Mackenzie Adams — then ran through the album including classics like “Jealous Again” but also stellar deeper tracks like the southern rocker “Sister Luck,” the soulful slow-burner “Seeing Things” (on which Chris particularly shines) and full-tilt boogies like “Thick N Thin” and “Struttin’ Blues” ahead of closer “Stare It Cold.”

The Black Crowes filled the rest of their set with classics and favorites including a number of songs from Money Maker’s equally great follow up The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion: “No Speak No Slave,” “Remedy” “Thorn In My Pride” and “Sting Me.” The band also delivered a song each from their subsequent albums including Amorica’s (1994) vibey classic “Wiser Time,” By Your Side (1999) slide-soaked rocker “Kickin’ My Heart Around” and Lion’s (2001) uplifting “Soul Singing” to close out the mais set. Chris would preface the encore by saying “this something Jimmy Page taught us” (the Crowes collaborated with the guitar great in the late ’90s) before Rich banged out the opening riff of Led Zeppelin’s “Hey, Hey What Can I Do.”

To celebrate Chris Robinson’s birthday, watch him front The Black Crowes from Concord, California in August:

Setlist

Source: JamBase.com