The Black Crowes – Shake Your Money Maker (2020, Remastered)

It all started at high school in Georgia: Brothers Chris and Rich Robinson founded the Black Crowes in their teens, although in 1984 they were still called Mr. Crowe's Garden. At that time, the guitar riff for the ballad She Talks To Angels, a later classic of the group, was already created. According to Chris himself, he wrote the lyrics about a heroin-addicted girl from Atlanta whom he "somehow knew"

In 1987, the band released their first demo, followed a year later by their renaming as The Black Crowes and their first major record deal. This is quite surprising at that time, because towards the end of the eighties glam metal, sleaze rock and soon grunge dominate the musical scene. Earthy blues rock? A rarity. But that doesn't stop the Robinson brothers, guitarist Jeff Cease, bassist Johnny Colt and drummer Steve Gorman from recording a timeless classic with Shake Your Money Maker.

The album production takes place in Atlanta and Los Angeles in the summer of 1989. In addition to older tracks like Could've Been So Blind and She Talks To Angels, the group decides to cover the song Hard To Handle by Otis Redding. This is later released in two different versions: the album version and an elaborate single version with horns. The latter reached number 26 in the Billboard charts and marked the breakthrough of the Black Crowes.

When the album was released on February 13, 1990, it triggered a sympathetic response. The editors and readers of Rolling Stone later declared the Black Crowes the "best new American band" of the year. The group also toured the States with ZZ Top, albeit only until March 1991, when the Crowes were fired because Chris Robinson lashed out on stage at Miller Beer, the sponsor of the concert tour. But it doesn't matter: from May on the band crosses the USA on their own, later they open for Metallica, AC/DC, Mötley Crüe and Queensrÿche as part of the Monsters Of Rock tour.

Today, Shake Your Money Maker enjoys multi-platinum status with at least five million copies sold and has not lost its charm 30 years later. For the Black Crowes, the journey then really takes off: With their second album The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion (1992), the Southerners enter the US album charts at number one without further ado.

"This album is 31 years in the making, but still sounds fresh: a brilliant melange of rock'n'roll, soul and Americana, available for the first time as a remaster." (Audio, April 2021)

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