The Black Crowes: Join The Jubilee

A lot of stuff has changed. We went through so many things when we got the band back together [in 2004]. And the people who weren't supposed to be here aren't here... This thing is here and either we love and nurture it, and in return it gives back to us, or we fuck around with it and it becomes like black magic, and that's something you don't want to deal with. -Chris Robinson

Pastoral

Warpaint was recorded at Allaire Studios in Upstate New York. The facility is quickly becoming a new Bearsville or Record Plant Studios. In the past few years it's helped birth the debuts of Norah Jones and the Wood Bros, Ray LaMontagne's Till The Sun Turns Black and My Morning Jacket's Z, just to name a few. The remote location focuses everyone on the task at hand, and trace elements left behind by Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson and others have clearly seeped into the water table. Warpaint handily joins this list of great releases, and no small part of the credit for the album's cohesiveness and insight into their strengths and weaknesses belongs to producer (and temporary second guitarist for a spell) Paul Stacey.

"It's got that whole Woodstock history, and it's a beautiful atmosphere, beautiful views," says Stacey. "The Internet's rubbish up there and mobile phones don't work well, and in a way that was good. We were kind of cut off communication-wise up there. There's only one place we could all stand to get our cell phones working, so whenever I wondered where someone had got off to I'd find them standing there [laughs]."

"I thought of it as our little temple for three weeks. We were watching bears and turkeys run around the place, and beautiful sunsets," says Chris. "And The Black Crowes do keep a fantastic cellar, if I do say so myself. There was no shortage of fine French wines. That's just a fact. I'm one of those people that think even though F. Scott Fitzgerald lost everything he probably had a blast."

"With technology and the way people make records today, they're more interested in quick, easy results that can be had by pressing a button on a computer. Then you're missing the most important thing, and the thing we celebrate after 18 years and a lot of recording and writing, which is the dynamic of the group, the dynamic of music and the balance within that," says Chris. "All the tracks were recorded live. We used Pro-Tools but used it as a seamless sort of thing. There's very few overdubs compared to the last few Crowes records. The first couple things we cut we instantly knew. You don't know until you get in there, especially with a group like ours that's super temperamental and sensitive and weird and egocentric. We got in there and realized this is the part of our story I've been looking forward to for a long time. If there was any bit of it that had turned out tedious or contrived then it all falls. And then The Black Crowes fall because we're not the kind of people who are just going to play our catalog."

"You can really tell the difference this setting made," comments Rich. "Lions was really a Lower East Side [NYC] record. We made it on Attorney Street and Rivington in 2000. There's plenty of that place in there. Southern Harmony [1992] and Shake Your Moneymaker [their 1990 debut] were made in Atlanta. Amorica [1994] does feel like L.A. to me. You draw from the place where you are. I've always wanted to go to Europe and record in Italy or France just to see what it's like."

Gorman & C. Robinson by Jake Krolick

"Not to say there aren't dark moments but I think, overall, this was permeated by light," observes Pipien. "Chris put words to what we were all feeling. There's not a word on this record I disagree with."

Chris Robinson has long been a poetic and consciously clever lyricist but there's an emotional depth on Warpaint that boils tough concepts down to a few potent words that knock at your heart, like on "Locust Street" where the sunrise finds Robinson singing, "Just a glimpse of what love could be/ Once a dream that I owned/ One of many lonely, longing souls/ At least I'm not alone."

"It's one thing to say those things but the poignancy of that song is he understands them. It's not trite. He really did feel those things, and turn some corners in his life and had the experiences to come up with these lyrics. It's not just lines," says Pipien. "It's easy to come up with stereotypical bullshit. The fact that his words come from honest, real experience translates and the listener feels that."

The Crowes are a rare exception in these rush rush times, slowing down periodically to really sink into the music in an almost contemplative way. Until someone smartly puts the brakes on like this it's easy to miss how much music just speeds past. They grip the reins tight, using their considerable power with focused restraint, letting it loose at all the right moments.

"If you rush by something people will miss the lack of craftsmanship. It's much harder to take it slow," comments Rich. "To record live like we did is also exposed. We go in there and focus on the craft of singing, the craft of playing and the craft of putting it all together, which is getting lost."

"The mid-tempo rock song, we're the last people in the world playing them" laughs Chris. "I wonder what the stud fee on an animal like that is? We've always liked that world. That's always been a good place for us, and when we pick it up and rock then it means a little more. Anyone can write a rock song but you have to write a good rock song. The Stones from '68-'72 are the best example of that. Even 'Bitch' from Sticky Fingers is slow."

"If there's a turn-of-phrase or an idea that works for you then I've hopefully really done my job," continues Chris. "Lyrically, all the songs on Warpaint came to me very easily in a big bunch. Warpaint manifested itself in a super organic, quick fashion. The whole idea of making this record was to be able to go out and play these songs."

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