REVIEW: Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes, Live At The Greek
(Musicmaker.com)
- Wes Long
One common element in big-time rock bands like the Black Crowes, and the millions of bands that weren't able to kick down the garage door and make the scene, is that they all probably honed their chops on Led Zeppelin tunes. Zeppelin was one of the more influential bands in the history of rock, easily mentioned in the same breath as the Beatles and the Stones, and a big reason for that is the inventive guitar talent known as Jimmy Page. In June of 1999 Page contacted the Crowes, requesting that they back him at a benefit concert in Paris. Four months later they played six magical gigs which have somehow already entered into the arena of rock legend. The last two dates of that mini-tour were at the Los Angeles Greek Theatre, and they were recorded.
The Black Crowes, more so than any band I can think of, are a perfect fit for Page's fingerings. The southern-dipped style oozing from their amps embodies all the old-school aesthetics of the ass-kickin' rock band. Crowes singer Chris Robinson's whiskey and nicotine drenched voice swims effortlessly amidst a sea of deftly executed grooves created by his tighter-than-tight backing band. While the majority of the tunes captured here are Zeppelin covers, the Crowes add a great deal of their own special spice to the mix. "It's not just a Zeppelin thing," says Chris Robinson, we bring the way we play to it also. We stick to the meat of the matter, but I just have a different sort of (singing) style. Mine is more like if Tina Turner was in Led Zeppelin."
Page's playing seems fresh and invigorated as the result of time spent with his exuberant young band-mates, and rumors abound of a 2000 tour. Until then you can get your fix with this excellent live recording available only, that is ONLY, online. Musicmaker.com, http://musicmaker.com/ , offers you the opportunity to download as much or as little of the 19 digitally recorded tracks as you like, and in the order you like. "Giving the fans the ability to select songs makes them part of the creative process, " offers Page. Chris Robinson adds: "It's always difficult to sequence the songs on an album. We thought we'd give that problem to the fans."
It's somehow fitting that Page, the man who pushed the hell out of the rock-guitar envelope during his reign with Zeppelin, is now a part of a movement that threatens to forever change the manner in which music is packaged, marketed and sold.
