Shake Your Money Maker (album) explained

Shake Your Money Maker
Type:studio
Artist:the Black Crowes
Cover:The Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker.png
Recorded:1989
Studio:Soundscape (Atlanta); Chapel, Paramount and Grandmaster (Los Angeles)
Length:44:50
Label:Def American
Producer:George Drakoulias
Next Title:The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion
Next Year:1992

Shake Your Money Maker (also stylized as The Black Crowes Present: $hake Your Money Maker[1]) is the debut studio album by American rock band the Black Crowes, released on February 13, 1990, on Def American Recordings. It is the only album by the band to feature guitarist Jeff Cease. The album is named after a classic blues song written by Elmore James. The Black Crowes have played the song live many times over the years, but it is not included on this album.

Shake Your Money Maker peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, and two of its singles, "Hard to Handle" and "She Talks to Angels", reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. "Jealous Again", "Twice As Hard" and "Seeing Things" were also charting singles in the United States. Shake Your Money Maker is the Black Crowes' best selling album, having sold more than 5 million copies.[2]

On January 8, 2021, the Black Crowes announced that a 30th anniversary edition of the album would be released on February 26, 2021. The new version contains the original tracks remastered in addition to three previously unreleased songs, outtakes, two demos from the Mr. Crowe's Garden era, and a live performance set recorded in 1990 at Center Stage in Atlanta. Previously unreleased track "Charming Mess" was released on the same day as the announcement.[3]

Background and production

Brothers Chris and Rich Robinson had formed Mr. Crowe's Garden in 1984.[4] In 1988 George Drakoulias saw the band at a show they did in New York City and had them signed to Def American the same year; they changed their name to the Black Crowes shortly after.[5]

The recording sessions began in the summer of 1989 in Atlanta and Los Angeles, with Drakoulias producing the album. Some tracks include retained songs from the Mr. Crowe's Garden era such as "Could I've Been So Blind" and "She Talks to Angels", whose riff had been written years ago by then-17 year old Rich Robinson[6] with lyrics written by Chris, which were inspired by a heroin-addicted girl he "kinda knew" in Atlanta.[7] The band also chose to record a cover version of Otis Redding's "Hard to Handle", which would prove to be their breakthrough single.[8]

Four music videos for "Twice As Hard", "Jealous Again", "Hard to Handle" and "She Talks to Angels" were filmed to promote the band and the album,[9] and subsequently aired on MTV.

Release and reception

When the album came out in February 1990, critical reception was mostly favorable. Mark Coleman called Shake Your Money Maker "the kind of streamlined, supertight groove album that bar-band dreams are made of" in a review for Rolling Stone, whose readers and critics later voted the Black Crowes "Best New American Band" at the end of 1990;[10] the band appeared on the cover of the magazine's 605th issue (May 1991) following their firing from the ZZ Top tour in March that year. The issue's interview of Chris and Rich Robinson compared the band to 1970s acts, with journalist David Fricke explicitly citing Faces and the Rolling Stones and Rich Robinson mentioning Aerosmith.[11] In Entertainment Weekly, Dave Marsh wrote, "The Black Crowes are to the early Rolling Stones what Christian Slater is to the young Jack Nicholson: a self-conscious imitation, but fine enough in its own right. Authentic bluesmen these Crowes will never be, but their sheer energy earns 'em the right to trash it up." CMJ New Music Report noted that while the band "might have studied their sonic textbooks a little too closely, if the Crowes have more songs like these in store, they could be one of the biggest bands of the new decade."[12] Retrospectively, AllMusic critic Steve Huey praised Rich Robinson's guitar playing and Chris Robinson's "appropriate vocal swagger".

"Hard to Handle", "Jealous Again" and "Twice As Hard" broke into the Mainstream Rock Tracks charts, respectively reaching the first,[13] eleven and fifth position.[14] By the end of the year, Shake Your Money Maker had sold one million copies and eventually sold two million more,[4] thus receiving triple platinum certification.

In 1991, "She Talks to Angels" and "Seeing Things" respectively reached the first and second position of the Mainstream Rock Tracks charts.

Track listing

30th Anniversary Edition

Notes

Personnel

The Black Crowes

Additional personnel
Production

Charts

Year-end charts

Chart (1991)!scope="col"
Position
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[17] 10
US Billboard 200[18] 3
Chart (1992)!scope="col"
Position
US Billboard 200[19] 87

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker. Discogs. August 1998 . en. March 20, 2019.
  2. Curtis, Gregory (January 30, 1997). "The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion | Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  3. Web site: 'SHAKE YOUR MONEY MAKER' 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION BOX SET + NEW TRACK "CHARMING MESS". 2021-01-08. 2021-04-08. The Official Website of The Black Crowes.
  4. Web site: [{{AllMusic|id=p3688/biography|pure_url=yes}} The Black Crowes – Biography ]. January 12, 2011. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas . AllMusic.
  5. Web site: 25 Years Ago: The Black Crowes Release Their Debut Album. ultimateclassicrock.com . January 29, 2015 . February 18, 2016.
  6. Web site: What's So Bad About the Black Crowes?. rollingstone.com . May 30, 1991 . February 18, 2016.
  7. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Chris Robinson (interviewee) . August 7, 2007 . Moving From SYMM TO SHAMC (1992) . YouTube . January 12, 2010 . 1:54 . 'She Talks to Angels', you know, is about a girl I kind of knew in Atlanta, who was a goth girl, who was into heroin..
  8. Web site: Rock Rewind: The Black Crowes "Hard To Handle". recordingconnection.com . November 23, 2013 . February 18, 2016.
  9. Web site: The Black Crowes Official Videos. theblackcrowes.com . February 18, 2016.
  10. https://web.archive.org/web/20110124183356/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-black-crowes/biography The Black Crowes
  11. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/whats-so-bad-about-the-black-crowes-19910530 What's So Bad About The Black Crowes?
  12. Black Crowes: Shake Your Moneymaker . . 188 . February 2, 1990 . September 30, 2008 . https://archive.today/20070624192321/http://prod1.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?id=13490 . June 24, 2007 . dead.
  13. Book: Banister, C. Eric . Counting Down Southern Rock: The 100 Best Songs . 2016-05-12 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-1-4422-4540-2 . en.
  14. Book: Banister, C. Eric . Counting Down Southern Rock: The 100 Best Songs . 2016-05-12 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-1-4422-4540-2 . en.
  15. Shake Your Money Maker re-issue liner notes.
  16. Web site: The Black Crowes And Rick Rubin "Executive Producer" Credit Fight . feelnumb.com . 2010-01-20 . 2016-02-18.
  17. Web site: Top Selling Albums of 1991. Recorded Music NZ. February 15, 2022.
  18. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1991. Billboard. February 15, 2022. January 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150124045927/http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1991/the-billboard-200. dead.
  19. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1992. Billboard. February 15, 2022. January 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150124032732/http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1992/the-billboard-200. dead.