The summer sunlight was softening when Rich Robinson and his band ambled onto the Blossom Music Center stage on the evening of July 2, 1990. Looking more like the road crew than a proper rock band of the era, an unknown singer from an unknown band stepped to a microphone and mumbled something to an uninterested crowd that was still filtering in. And then Rich hit the opening chords and the band that was intended to be an appetizer to Aerosmith's main course ended up crashing the whole damned rock and roll party.
Aerosmith was riding high on their Permanent Vacation comeback tour and I doubt they expected to be upstaged by a bunch of 20 year olds from Atlanta. But upstaged they were, massacred is closer to the truth, really. It wasn't Aerosmith's fault. Rich had been preparing for this moment for years and a platform like an opening slot on a massive tour with one of rock's greatest bands from the 1970s was not about to be wasted.
Rich was born into a musical family today in 1969. His father had a minor hit in the 1950s and Rich and his brother Chris started playing music while young. By the time Rich was 15 he formed his first band and had already written what would become one of his biggest hits, "She Talks To Angels".
His first band would eventually become The Black Crowes and in 1990 they released their first album "Shake Your Money Maker" in February. The album initially received little to no airplay, which is understandable considering Hair Metal was king. The Crowes had more in common with Humble Pie, Faces, and the Rolling Stones than they did Poison or Motley Crue. This is why the Aerosmith tour was so important to Rich and the band as it delivered them directly to an audience that was predisposed to their brand of rock and roll.
That brand of rock and roll was in short supply at the time. Rock was getting ready to pass the baton from Hair Metal to Grunge and the Crowes were decidedly neither of those. Instead they kept the homefires burning, guarding the light of the eternal flame passed down from Chuck Berry and filtered through a 1970s lense.
Rich and the Crowes sold millions of albums and did everything a big rock band is supposed to do. Ultimately he and Chris couldn't get along and the Black Crowes are no more. Rich hasn't slowed down, having formed and disbanded the group Hookah Brown and he is currently performing in his band Magpie Salute.
More on The Black Crowes: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/forum/anything-else/2015/12/65319/chris-r...
https://www.elevenwarriors.com/forum/anything-else/2017/03/80525/black-c...
Rich on vocals with the Crowes:
