Rich Robinson and Audley Freed interviewed about their involvement on the Black Crowes Lions album (2001)

Source: Guitar Player - September 2001

Pot rock - The Black Crowes' groovy eclectisim rules Lions, Art Thompson

Ever since they swaggered onto the airwaves in 1990, the Black Crowes have been
rock's stylistic nomads. After rocketing to fame on their hard-rocking brand of
'70s revivalism, the Crowes have kept themselves and their audiences entertained
by exploring such seemingly diverse paths as Grateful Dead-style jams and Led
Zeppelin tributism.
Some ten years later and 15 million albums hence, the Crowes are still
concocting new ways to shake things up. Last year, they pulled off a monstrously
spectacular coup by getting Jimmy Page to join them for a high-profile tour,
and, in the spring of 2001 the band launched its sixth album, Lions[V2].
Recorded on stage of an old Yiddish music theatre on New York's Lower East Side,
and overseen by veteran producer Don Was, Lions highlights the band's diversity
with high-torque rock, swampy acoustic grooves, and sojourns into gospel, funk,
and psychadelia.
Besides encapsulating much of what the crowes have been doing over the last
decade, the new CD provides Internet access to live recordings made during the
band's summer U.S. tour. "It's just another way to give people free access to
our shows," explains guitarist/songwriter Rich Robinson. "We've always allowed
taping, but since some of the bands we tour with aren't cool with it, our
solution was to record the shows from this tour and post them on a special web
site. Anyone who buys this record can download one entire show of their choice,
or individual songs from different shows."
Whether a clever ploy to boost record sales or a reflection of the heartfelt
appreciation the Crowes have for their fans, this undertaking have certainly put
a new spin on the age-old taping question - hopefully, one other bands will
adopt.
Crowes co-guitarist Audley Freed was recruited in 1998 for the By Your Side
tour, and faced the challenge of weaving himself into the fabric of a band that
was determined to refocus its sound following the departure of guitarist Marc
Ford. Freed certainly had his marching orders from Rich, who told GP at the
time, "Knowing when not to play is one of the most valuable you ever have to
know. It's hard for people to learn that because your first inclination -
especially when you play lead guitar - is just to go woo and do back flips and
score the goal."
We checked in with Robinson and Freed as the band was preparing to kick off the
Tour of Brotherly Love with headliners Oasis

- Rich Robinson -

GP: How did the recording in a theater affect the saound of this record?

RR: In the past we've often recorded basic tracks with just our drummer Steve
Gorman and me - which meant that we were the entire rhythm section at that
formative stage. This time, we had the whole band together. Everything was
bleeding into Chris' vocal mic, which is a really cool effect.

GP: Did you record that way to give the record more of a live feel?

RR: Well, we started this album right after the Jimmy Page tour, and touring
does have an effect on the kind of record you're trying to make. If you want a
real studio-sounding record, it's better to get away from the live element for a
while. We've done it both ways. We took a long break before recording Amorica,
but The Southern Harmony was recorded right after a tour.

GP: What were your guitar choices for the album?

RR: I brought all my guitars this time because we had the space, but my main
guitar was a '54 Fender Esquire with a maple neck. I used it on most of the
songs because it sounds so incredible. On "Soul Singing" I used a James Trussart
metal-bodied electric, which has a resonator-like tone I just took its piezo
output and ran it direct. That was really the only guitar I could have played on
that song. I also used a custom guitar called a Zitlau, which looks like an old
Supro, but it's made out of korina and has two Tom Holmes humbuckers.

GP: Did you play through a rotary speaker on "Young Man, Old Man"?

RR: That's a Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere pdeal, which I'm also using live. I
just stepped on that during one of the pre-production sessions, and that take
wound up being the version of the song we used for the album.

GP: Which amps did you use?

RR: I've been playing Harry Joyce amps a lot lately. Joyce was the guy who built
all those early Hiwatts. My previous guitar tech turned me on to his new models,
and I wound up liking them more than the Matchless amps I had been using.

GP: What's the main difference?

RR: The Harry Joyces have more bottom and they sound a little tighter.

GP: So you were after more of a Hiwatt-type sound?

RR: Yeah, but I also had my tweed Fender Twins - a '53 and '55 - and I used
Chris' old Marshall Bluesbreaker combo on some things. I hooked the Joyce, the
Bluesbreaker, and one of the Twins together for the solo at the end of "Lay It
All On Me"

GP: Did you plan for Lions to be such a multifaceted album?

RR: We don't sit down and plan things like that - the songs dictated where the
record was going to go. I'd say 80 percent of this record was made in pre-
production - nine out of the 13 songs were cut at out rehearsal studio. When
you've got that many great takes at such an early stage, it sets the mood for a
really free and spontaneous sort of record.

GP: Did Don Was become involved at the pre-production stage?

RR: Yeah, Chris and I wrote the songs and had them pretty much finished, and
when we played them on acoustic for Don, he said "Man, I really get what you
guys are going for. I think it's a big step for you."

GP: In what sense?

RR: There aren't a lot of guitars on this record because I wanted more space.
It's a guitar-based record, but I wanted the keyboards and bass to stand out. I
wanted everything to be in its place so you can hear the inner workings of the
instruments, as opposed to just hearing a wall of guitars. Another benefit to
having leaner arrangements is that when Audley came in, he had great moments to
play over. He doesn't come off sounding like just another guitar noodling in the
background.

- Audley Freed -

GP: What is your primary role in the Crowes?

AF: My job is to flesh out the songs live and to fill any holes in the
recordings that the guys feel would benefit from my style. At the end of the
day, it all comes down to all of us trying to play the right stuff.

GP: Do you have any standout parts on the new album?

AF: I have a solo spot on "Greasy Grass River" and that's me playing the clean
wah solo at the end of "Ozone Mama." I also did the pedal steel-sounding things
in the beginning of "Cosmic Friend." I definiatly don't consider myself to be a
legitimate country guitar player - I got that sound just screwing around with a
Fender Blues Deville amp and a Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler pedal.

GP: What is your main guitar?

AF: I've been leaning on a Gibson '59 Historic Les Paul plaintop for the past
couple of years. I didn't want a guitar with a fancy flame top, so I went to the
gibson Custom Shop in Nashville and found this one. It's very responsive, and it
has that big neckthat contributes a lot to the tone. I've also got a '56
Historic goldtop with P-90s, a Terry C. McInturff Taurus prototype, a Fender '57
Relic Strat, and a reissue '52 Tele.

GP: Did you tune down for some of the songs on this album?

AF: I played a Fender Sub-Sonic Tele for a few songs that are in open tunings
and tuned down a whole step. Sometimes I'll tune the Sub-Sonic to a Skip James-
style tuning, which is like a D-minor, but down a whole step. Add a little
tremolo, and you've got a killer swamp sound. I didn't use that setup on the
record, but it works great for filling in parts live.

GP: What kind of amps are you using onstage?

AF: I have a Bogner Ecstasy and a Fender Tone Master. I mainly use the clean
channel on the Bogner and just turn it up - which is kind of a waste because it
has so many other sounds. The Tone Master is primarily for the clean stuff and
it's a good substitute for my old Fender Dual Showman, which I don't bring on
the road because of reliability issues. I run the Bogner and Fender heads into
two open-back Matchless 4x12 cabs that are loaded with 8W Celestion Vintage 30s.
I just switch between them - I never use both amps at the same time. I also had
my tech wire one of the Matchless cabs for stereo operation so I can run both
heads into one cabinet when we're playing a smaller place. Another amp I might
put into the live setup is a Dr Z KT45, though it's not quite loud enough for
this band.

GP: Did you use different amps in the studio?

AF: For my solo on "Greasy Grass River," I plugged into Chris' original
Bluesbraker combo. Plug a Les Paul into that amp, crank the first bit of
"Hideaway," and there you go. I also used a Fender Blues Deville for the clean
solo on "Ozone Mama."

GP: What do youi use to switch amps live?

AF: I have a Bradshaw switch er, which I also use to control my stompboxes. I've
been thinking about going back to a simple pedalboard but I havn't gottenthast
together yet.

GP: What kinds of pedal are in the system?

AF: I recently went back to my old Ibanez TS9 after my Klon Centaur stopped
working. I'm also planning to try the Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, which I've heard
good things about. I thought the Klon box was cool because it didn't color the
tone, but I've found that I found that I prefer the more midrangy sound of the
Tube Screamer with a Strat. I've also got a Fulltone Deja Vibe, a Fulltone Soul
Bender, and a Prescription Electronics Clean Octave pedal that I use when I need
a freaky Funkadelic lead sound, or some Hendrix color. I carry an assortment of
wahs, too - a reissue Vox, a budda Wah, and a Teese Real McCoy.

GP: What was it like playing with Jimmy Page?

AF: It's hard to put the whole experience into perspective. He showed me things
about those Zeppelin songs that were different from the way I'd learned them,
and it was cool to be able to cover most of the guitar parts. Page did so much
layering on those records, but he'd never been able to hear the songs that way
live until he played with us. Jimmy was very gracious and totally easy to be
around, but I've got to say standing next to him trying to figure out who was
going to play which part was pretty mindblowing!