Black Crowes Shake Your Money Maker Songs

Before the pandemic stopped (or delayed) their moneymaking tour, The Black Crowes, recently reunited at the time, were supposed to hit the road to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their multi-platinum debut effort, "Shake Your Money Maker."

A year later, the brothers Robinson — Chris (vocals) and Rich (guitar, vocals) — are finally flying again with a show booked for Aug. 4 at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls.

To mark the debut album's milestone, earlier this year the band released a remastered box set that includes unreleased studio songs, demos, B-sides and a 1990 concert recorded in their hometown of Atlanta.

As for the upcoming set, fans can expect to hear not only "Shake Your Money Maker" in its entirety — including hit singles "Jealous Again," "Twice As Hard," "She Talks to Angels" and the act's breakthrough cover of Otis Redding's "Hard To Handle" — but also plenty of other Black Crowes staples.

During a recent call to Nashville, The News-Herald talked to Rich about three decades of rock 'n' roll, Aerosmith, getting kicked off a ZZ Top tour and the future of The Black Crowes.

Q A quick look back 30 years finds The Black Crowes played seven Northeast Ohio shows in a calendar year while supporting "Shake Your Money Maker." That includes two Blossom Music Center gigs opening for Aerosmith. What do you remember about that tour?

A Aerosmith, growing up, was one of our bands that we just loved. So just to be kids and then all of a sudden within literally 12 weeks of touring — and opening for a couple of club bands — we got the call to go open for Aerosmith, it was so life-changing to see how that side lived, what it meant to do a tour in a big place and how that shaped us. Chris has said 100 times as a frontman touring with Aerosmith and Robert Plant in the first couple of months of your record coming out was a huge lesson to be learned.

Q As a young band, it must have been empowering to be thrust so deeply into the spotlight.

A It was affirming, but it took a minute to kind of gain our bearings. We came from Atlanta, where our background or approach was more indie. We loved R.E.M. and punk rock. We were coming from a place that viewed sort of this more popular music as kind of not what you wanted to do. For instance, the first night we opened for Aerosmith we wrote a new song at soundcheck. We wanted to play it much to the chagrin of our manager, who said we were supposed to promote our new record. But our mindset was like, we were so excited to play this new song. But it's interesting, you can either learn how to be in these big places or you can't. I'd say we learned and sort of moved onward.

Q Speaking of a learning experience, the other notable Northeast Ohio gigs came in the winter of 1991 at the former Richfield Coliseum. Roughly a month later, the Black Crowes would be kicked off the ZZ Top tour by a beer company sponsor.

A That was going back to our indie roots. Having some massive corporation try to tell us what to say and what not to say didn't really jive well with us. It was just kind of like, "What? I don't work for you." That was our mentality. The pressure raised on both sides, and it just kind of got a little bit silly But, look, we stood up to what we believed in.

The Black Crowes — led by brothers Rich, left, and Chris — have a colorful history that includes long ago getting fired from its gig opening for ZZ Top on a tour. (Josh Cheuse)

Q As far as returning to "Shake Your Money Maker," how does the album stand up?

A It's funny — when we were putting together the box set, I hadn't listened to "Moneymaker" in years, decades really. I don't really sit down and just put on our old records, but I was really happy with it. Now to play this record in its entirety is just a cool prospect. For a band that never did those kinds of things, like the Aerosmith tour we opened with a brand-new song and changed our sets all of the time and added cover tunes, we kind of ran away from "Shake Your Moneymaker." So for the first time focus on this one record, it was a really cool exercise for us.

Q It sounds like in a way you're finally serving the spirit of the album.

A Exactly, we're honoring it for what it is. We grew up listening to old bootlegs of Zeppelin and the Stones. Those guys would break out into some cool jams. Those things we sort of wanted to bring to the table, so now what you're saying is absolutely correct — we're really serving our past, serving this thing that Chris and I created when we were kids and set us off on this whole thing.

Q Now that the band is finishing its walk down memory lane, can fans expect a new album from The Black Crowes?

A Yeah, definitely. I've been writing songs. We took the time, really, at home to write songs. I sent Chris about 30, and he started working on a bunch of stuff and sent it back. So we're always writing, we're always looking forward.

The Black Crowes

When: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 4.

Where: Blossom Music Center, 1145 W. Steels Corners Road, Cuyahoga Falls

Tickets: Starting at $19.

Info: Livenation.com.