Crow “Crow by Crow”

What’s the title mean? That the title, as well as the band, is called Crow? Or does it refer to a number of crows, in succession, one after another? An orderly murder of crows, if you will. And if so, coming or going? Dying, or taking over? I love crows, and I really want one as a pet. But I looked up the feasibility of this—not likely—mostly because we (humans) are way too moronic for crows to want to hang out with us, like dogs. (Not that dogs are dumb, not at all, but you know what I’m saying.) To prove a point, my inquiry must have gotten back to the bird community, and not 24 hours later, a bird shit on me! So… this is the second album by the band everyone wishes they could be (in name)—but they’re still together! Holding out. Certainly, The Black Crowes would have just been Crow, had the name not been taken—I mean, what other kinds of crows are there? White chocolate crows? Fantastic album cover—illustration by Cal Schenkel—of a giant crow (even if it does have a yellow beak and hair instead of feathers) among the five band members—in lovely, vintage, 1960s, grade school literature textbook style. See if you can (you can!) match the rendered guys up to their black and white, caught-in-a-rage, photos on back. There, you have Crow in a nutshell. Not really.

This is a great record if you’re in the mood for some c.1970 blues-influenced heavy-duty rock, where “over the top” is pretty much the baseline—not to mention bassline—also guitar, drums, organ, voice—each with homicidal intensity (yet, there’s separation!)—which isn’t to say it can’t get quiet and slow—“Smokey Joe” is particularly nice. And, well, the singer is pretty much always at “11”—speaking of which, the infamous song on Side Two, “Cottage Cheese,” is as much a template for the band and movie, Spinal Tap, as anything. And what’s a song by that name about? Well, a delicacy made from small morsels of curdled skim milk suspended in cream, AKA smearcase. Mostly originals (though none quite as original as the C. Cheese), but a couple of fine covers really stand out. I immediately remembered “Slow Down” via a version by The Jam, from one of their first records, late Seventies, I guess. But then it occurred to me—obviously this was earlier—did anyone else cover it? The sobering internet says there’s only about 90 versions of the song out there (including one by a little squad called the Beatles). It was originally written and recorded by Larry Williams, in the Fifties. My favorite on the record is a bizarre version of The Everly Brothers’ “Gone, Gone, Gone”—a song I didn’t know, so I checked it out—the Crow turns that two-minute cry-baby jaunt into an epic eight minute psychedelic blues “you done me wrong” lament—that epically transcends the original sentiment—because now, instead of merely passing thru Phoenix, the jilted lover exits this mortal coil.

10.10.25