To say the least, the Black Crowes didn’t play it safe in deciding how to record its new two-CD set, “Before the Frost … /Until the Freeze …”
The band chose to skip the expected trip to a conventional recording studio. The common practice of recording vocals separately and overdubbing instrumental parts was tossed as well.
Instead, the band recorded the new music at the Woodstock, N.Y., barn owned by Levon Helm (drummer of the legendary group, the Band) that serves as a live performance space and studio. During five concerts in front of a small audience, the Black Crowes recorded the two-dozen-plus songs that make up the new releases.
There were no extensive rehearsals beforehand, and the sessions had little of the precision and control that comes with being in a conventional studio. The very real possibility existed that the recordings would not rise to the level of quality that is required of a studio CD.
“It could have been that we were out of our minds and came away with the most expensive demos ever recorded,” Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman said in an early August phone interview.
Instead, the Black Crowes emerged with one of the best CDs of its long, often stormy career.
So how did the group decide to take such a maverick approach with “Before the Frost … /Until the Freeze …”?
“The initial thing was simply how can we make a record that makes it more interesting for us, and where do you find a connection to some of our fans?” Gorman said, noting that initially singer Chris Robinson suggested bringing a handful of fans into a conventional studio to witness the recording. “Everyone went ‘Oh, wow. That could be cool.’”
Plans solidified in the summer of 2008, when Robinson went to see one of Helm’s regular Saturday night “Midnight Ramble” concerts at the barn.
“He called everyone the next day saying, ‘I got it. I see it. I know what we have to do now,’” Gorman said.
The other band members — Gorman, guitarist (and Chris Robison’s younger brother) Rich Robinson, bassist Sven Pipien, guitarist Luther Dickinson and keyboardist Adam MacDougall — bought into the idea, and in February, the Black Crowes were in Helm’s barn and ready to make new music.
Interestingly, the Black Crowes didn’t rehearse extensively or try to nail down every detail of the songs before stepping on stage to record.
“The fact is we really didn’t know the songs,” Gorman said. “There was definitely a winging it, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants vibe, and I think that translates really well.”
The music on “Before the Frost … /Until The Freeze …” certainly crackles with energy and enthusiasm.
It’s a decidedly rocking effort, with the pace slowing only for an occasional song like the acoustic ballad “What Is Home” and the violin-accented “Last Place That Love Lives.” Otherwise the band is in fine form on rocking tracks such the high-impact opening song “Good Morning Captain” and the funky “I Ain’t Hiding.”
The two-CD set is packaged separately. “Until the Freeze …” is available as a free download with the purchase of “Before the Frost ….”
“Until The Freeze …” is more acoustic, eclectic and rustic, with songs such as the cheery country-rock of “Shady Grove” and the twangy romp “Shine Along 128” setting the tone for the disc.
The new albums provide convincing evidence that the Black Crowes, which formed in 1989 in Atlanta, has rebounded from an uncertain future created when the group went on hiatus after the 2001 CD, “Lions.”
During the hiatus, Chris Robinson released two solo albums, “New Earth Mud” in 2002 and “This Magnificent Distance” in 2004, while Rich Robinson formed a short-lived band called Hookah Brown before going solo with the 2004 CD “Paper.”
But the pull of working together proved to be too much to resist for the brothers, and they reformed the group in 2005.
The band has had a few personnel changes since, but Gorman said when the current lineup came together to make the 2007 studio CD, “Warpaint,” it was clear that the group was once again feeling creative and focused.
“‘Warpaint’ was definitely like the starting gun went off,” Gorman said. “‘I mean, we had a couple of years of touring where we were trying to figure out what we wanted to do, and we were enjoying playing together and feeling like there was definitely someplace to go. But it took awhile to figure out what that place was.”
Gorman said that the group’s feeling of vitality was very much present during the recording of “Before the Frost … /Until the Freeze …,” and he said he expected it would undoubtedly continue throughout the tour.
“The band is again very much a collective,” Gorman said. “For right now where we are, all the pistons are firing or whatever sort of analogy you can use. That’s how it feels.”
