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Storia del gruppo[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

Anni novanta[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

1991–92: nascita e primi anni[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

Adam Durtiz, ex membro della band The Himalayans della Bay Area, e il produttore e chitarrista David Bryson formarono i Counting Crows nel 1991. Iniziarono come un duo acustico, suonando tra Berkeley e San Francisco. Un altro amico, il chitarrista David Immerglück, di tanto in tanto suonava con loro anche se non era un membro formale della band. Con l'aggiunta di nuovi membri, la band iniziò a registrare i primi demo ed Immerglück collaborò alla registrazione di alcuni pezzi del primo album. Declinò l'invito ad entrare la band perché già impegnato in altri due gruppi, i Monks of Doom e i Camper Van Beethoven. Nel 1993 la band aveva ormai una formazione stabile: Duritz cantante e autore dei testi, Bryson alla chitarra, Matt Malley al basso, Charlie Gillingham alle tastiere e Steve Bowman come batterista. Lo stesso anno la band firmò con l'etichetta discografica Geffen Records. Il 16 gennaio 1993, la band, ancora sconosciuta al grande pubblico, sostituì Van Morrison alla cerimonia della Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, presentata da un entusiasta Robbie Robertson. Sul palco suonarono una cover della canzone Caravan di Van Morrison.

Prima di firmare con la Geffen, la band registrò una serie di canzoni più tardi diffuse e conosciute sotto il nome di Flying Demos tra i fan della prima ora. Le canzoni includevano "Rain King", "Omaha", "Anna Begins", "Einstein on the Beach (For an Eggman)", "Shallow Days", "Love and Addiction", "Mr. Jones", "Round Here", "40 Years", "Margery Dreams of Horses", "Bulldog", "Lightning" e "We're Only Love". Alcune di queste canzoni apparvero in una nuova versione nell'album d'esordio August and Everything After e in quelli successivi.

Vocalist Adam Duritz

1993–94: August and Everything After e il successo[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

Dan Vickrey, David Bryson

Sin dall'inizio i Counting Crows si concentrarono sui concerti dal vivo. L'album del debutto August and Everything After, prodotto dalla T-Bone Burnett, uscì verso la fine del 1993. Tra 1993 e 1994 la band fu impegnata in un lungo tour, sia come band principale sia come spalla di altri artisti, inclusi i [Cracker (band)|Cracker]], the Cranberries, Suede, Bob Dylan, Los Lobos, Jellyfish e Midnight Oil.[1] Il primo singolo, "Mr. Jones," si riferisc al bassista della band The Himalayans, amico d'infanzia di Adam Duritz, Marty Jones, e Kenney Dale Johnson, il batterista dei Silvertone, il gruppo di Chris Isaak,[2] in cui viene descritto il desiderio di successo e le fantasie intorno a quello che avrebbe portato con sé.[3] Soltanto qualche mese più tardi, nel dicembre 1993, MTV iniziò a trasmettere il video della canzone. Fu un successo inatteso, la canzone venne trasmessa alla radio e trascinò fuori dall'anonimato i Counting Crows. August and Everything After divenne l'album venduto più velocemente dopo Nevermind dei Nirvana.[4] Con il turbo del primo singolo e le positive recensioni di Rolling Stone e altre riviste, si decise che la band avrebbe avuto bisogno di un altro chitarrista, posto offerto a Dan Vickrey. Nel 1994 la band fu ospite del Saturday Night Live[1] e del Late Show with David Letterman, e partì in tour con i The Rolling Stones.[1][5] L'album vendette 7 milioni di copie, ma il successo fu un peso per la band; Steve Bowman lasciò e Duritz soffrì di diversi cali??? nervosi,[6] which was not his first.[4]

1995–98: Recovering the Satellites e il doppio album live[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

Charlie Gillingham, tastierista della band, qui alla fisarmonica

The band played only two gigs in 1995.[7] Questo permise a Duritz di scrivere nuove canzoni che finiranno nel secondo album, Recovering the Satellites.[6] Uscito il 15 ottobre 1996 August and Everything After,. A response to the sudden fame that "Mr. Jones" had brought, it contains lyrics such as "These days I feel like I'm fading away / Like sometimes when I hear myself on the radio" (from "Have You Seen Me Lately?") and "Gonna get back to basics / Guess I'll start it up again" (from "Recovering the Satellites"). Dealing with the theme of Duritz's unease with his newfound fame, the album was described as "a concept album of sorts about trying to pick up the pieces of a family, a social life and a psyche shattered by fame."[6] Also noteworthy that this album contained a very important hit single entitled "A Long December" which most likely increased Counting Crows fan base exponentially due to the medium to heavy rotation FM radio air play it received.

In July 1997, after nine months of near-constant touring in support of the album, Duritz developed nodules on his vocal cords, leading to the cancellation of a number of gigs.[8] After taking time off to recover, the band toured for the rest of 1997, concluding with a show at the Hammerstein Ballroom, New York. This concert was released as half of a double live album Across a Wire: Live in New York City. The other disc was a recording of a predominantly acoustic set from the band's appearance on the VH1 Storytellers show.[9]

1999–2001: This Desert Life e le tournée[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

In 1999, Counting Crows performed at Woodstock 99.[10] Later that same year, the band released This Desert Life, sales of which were propelled by the success of "Hanginaround" and "Colorblind," which was also featured in the movie Cruel Intentions. Supporting the album, the band embarked on a co-headlining tour with alternative rock band Live. Counting Crows closed nearly every show. Before this album and subsequent tour, the band invited session player and long-time friend David Immerglück to join the band as a permanent member. Immerglück had played on every Counting Crows album as a sideman, but early on had declined a permanent position.[11] This time, however, Immerglück said yes and now plays variety of instruments with the band, including acoustic, electric, and pedal steel guitars, slide guitar, and mandolin, as well as contributing backing vocals.[11]

Anni duemila[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

2002–03: Hard Candy e il greatest hits[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

On July 9, 2002, the band released their fourth studio album, Hard Candy. The album included a cover of Joni Mitchell's song "Big Yellow Taxi". Vanessa Carlton contributed backing vocals to the single edit of the track, which appeared on the soundtrack for Two Weeks Notice and was re-released on future Hard Candy albums.[12] The original version, without vocals by Carlton, appeared on the first album release as a hidden track. Hard Candy received better reviews than the previous efforts, with "radio friendly" songs, like "American Girls" (which featured Sheryl Crow on backing vocals), and contains a more upbeat feel and tempo. The band toured with the Dutch band, Bløf. A song, "Holiday in Spain," came together as a result of the camaraderie between the two groups: it is sung partly as a dual language duet, and partly as a musical "round", with both lead singers singing in differing languages at the end of the song.[13]

Midway through the Hard Candy tour, drummer Ben Mize (born February 2, 1971, Durham, North Carolina) amicably left the band to spend more time with his family and pursue his own musical interests. After Mize completed the American leg of the tour, he was replaced by Jim Bogios, formerly a drummer with Ben Folds and Sheryl Crow.[14] Following the Hard Candy tour, longtime bassist Matt Malley left the band. He was replaced by Millard Powers.

Counting Crows released the greatest hits album, Films About Ghosts in November 2003; the album title was taken from the lyrics of "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby," which appeared on This Desert Life. The band also toured in 2003 with John Mayer, in 2008 with Maroon 5, and in 2002 and 2004 with the Graham Colton Band.

2004–06: Gli Oscar e New Amsterdam[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

In 2004, the band's "Accidentally in Love" appeared on the soundtrack of the hugely popular computer-animated film Shrek 2. The song was nominated and performed for an Academy Award,[15][16] and later versions of the 2003 greatest hits album include the track, which was re-released in 2004. The official film clip of the song features LA-based international model Steve Vanda.

Bassist Millard Powers

In June 2006, the band released New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall, a live album assembled from performances on their 2003 tour in support of Hard Candy. Although it is composed mainly of performances of already released material, it also contains "Hazy" (co-written with tour support act Gemma Hayes) and various vendor-specific additional tracks, such as a cover of Jackson C. Frank's "Blues Run the Game".

2007–08: Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

Duritz hinted in a 2006 interview[17] that Counting Crows' next studio record would be released in late 2007. He indicated that the band had spent three weeks working in a recording studio with Gil Norton, the producer behind Recovering the Satellites, and revealed the working title of the album to be Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings. Duritz explained that "Saturday night is when you sin and Sunday is when you regret. Sinning is often done very loudly, angrily, bitterly, violently."[18] Vickrey stated that "the idea at the moment is to have kind of a rocking side and then an acoustic-y, maybe country-ish side. We got the first half done in May in New York, so half of it is pretty strong and done. And now we're going to work on the second half, the country tunes, during the tour."[17]

Amidst touring in July 2007, the band performed live before the Home Run Derby at the 2007 MLB All-Star Game,[19] and on July 22 previewed two new songs at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium in Wilmington, Delaware, a new ballad titled "Washington Square" and a hard rocking track called "Cowboys." On August 8, 2007, VH1 filmed a live performance of "Mr. Jones," clips of which were shown on the miniseries 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s. The song ranked No. 27 on the list.[20]

In September 2007, Counting Crows played a unique show at Town Hall in New York City, during which they performed all tracks from August and Everything After in album order. The show was recorded for a planned DVD release, and also featured several songs from the new album. On September 27, Duritz announced on his blog that the band had asked its record label to postpone the album's release until early 2008, citing the time pressures involved in preparing both the new album and an August and Everything After deluxe edition for release.[21]

On January 16, 2008, the band released a digital single on their official website as a free download. It featured "1492" from the "Saturday Nights" half of the new album, and "When I Dream Of Michelangelo" from the "Sunday Mornings" half as its B-side.[22] The album was released on March 25, 2008.[23]

In support of the release, Counting Crows performed on The View, Good Morning America, and The Howard Stern Show in March; A&E Private Sessions, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and The Late Show with David Letterman in April; and again on Good Morning America in May, this time from a live concert in Bryant Park.

Abbandono della Geffen[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

On March 22, 2009, Duritz announced on the band's website that the band would be leaving Geffen Records, with whom they had worked for 18 years. On this day a message from Duritz himself was posted on the band's homepage: a second message was posted a few weeks later. He ended the first letter with a free download of the band's cover of Madonna's "Borderline." The track was recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall in 2003.[24]

Following the departure from Geffen, the band has continued to tour. During the summer of 2009, they launched the ambitious Saturday Night Rebel Rockers Traveling Circus and Medicine Show tour with long time Bay Area friend Michael Franti, his band Spearhead, and the band Augustana.[25] Instead of the traditional concert format of a short set by an opening act, followed by a longer set from a main supporting act, and then a long set by the headlining band, the shows featured members of all of the bands joining each other for songs from each bands' catalogs at various points throughout the evening. As Duritz explained in a welcoming message on the official website for the tour, each show "is going to start with EVERYONE onstage together and we're going to all be running on & off stage all night playing one each other's songs all together and basically just playing whenever we feel like playing."[26] The success of the first tour spawned a second in the summer of 2010 with Counting Crows and Augustana joined by rock/hip-hop artist (and formally trained jazz trumpeter) NOTAR, whom Duritz had signed to his independent Tyrannosaurus Records label,[27] in place of Franti & Spearhead.

Anni duemiladieci[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

2010–13: etichette indipendenti e progetti personali[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

At the conclusion of the second Traveling Circus tour, Duritz returned to his home in New York City while the other band members retreated to California. Various members began work on individual projects. Duritz has shared solo recordings and musical cover songs online, including the 7-song EP All My Bloody Valentines recorded in February 2011, as well as his progress with recovery from several prescription drug addictions. Vickrey and Bogios recorded the self-titled debut album for their side project, The Tender Mercies, a band with roots going back to the early 1990s.[28] The album was released on October 24, 2011.[29]

The long-awaited release of August and Everything After: Live at Town Hall on August 30, 2011 marked the band's third professionally produced live album and the first concert video of their career, using footage from the Town Hall concert recorded in September 2007.[30] The band also returned to the studio in the spring of 2011 to record a number of cover songs with the intention of releasing a full-length album, an idea Duritz first began publicly speaking of following the release of Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings. Duritz confirmed, while on tour with the band and through social media in the fall of 2011, that they were in the process of mixing over 20 songs and that an album of the covers would be released in the spring of 2012.[31][32]

The covers album, Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did On Our Summer Vacation), was originally announced on December 14, 2011, with a planned release on March 27, 2012.[33][34] The band recorded versions of songs by Travis, The Romany Rye, Dawes, Sordid Humor, Madonna, Big Star, Kasey Anderson & the Honkies, Gram Parsons, Joe Jackson, the Faces, and Stereophonics, amongst others.[35][36][37][38][39] It was eventually released on April 10, 2012, with a cover design by a fan chosen in a promotional contest.[34][40] After touring extensively in 2012 and 2013 in support of the album, including headlining The Outlaw Roadshow, a traveling festival tour presented by the band in conjunction with Ryan Spaulding of the music blog Ryan's Smashing Life, and a summer 2013 North American tour with The Wallflowers, the band began working on material for a new album. Duritz also took time in the summer of 2012 to begin co-writing a play called Black Sun, which will also feature some music written by Duritz, including well-known rarity songs "Good Luck" and "Chelsea."[41][42]

In addition to touring, a number of live recordings for the music discovery website Daytrotter soon followed. A four-song session was released on the site in April 2012,[43] with a second session recorded in July 2012 but released on the site the following July.[44] A top-billed performance at the site's Barn on the 4th celebration concert at Iowa's Codfish Hollow Barn on July 4, 2012, was also released through the site on video and digital download.[45]

A live album, Echoes of the Outlaw Roadshow, was released in April 2013. Culled from various performances throughout the previous year's festival tour, the album was released in different fashions throughout various markets. Available for direct sale in the UK market, Echoes was offered as an incentive for purchasing Underwater Sunshine in the Australian market. In North America, Echoes was given away as a digital download with the purchase of tickets to the summer 2013 tour. The album was given an official retail release in North America in November 2013.

2014–oggi: Somewhere Under Wonderland[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

Writing of material for a new album, Somewhere Under Wonderland, began early in 2013 and continued during that year's summer tour.[42] Duritz, Powers, Vickrey, and Immerglück got together in New York City that August for a 10-day writing session during which they wrote six songs. Expecting to go into the studio in late fall 2013, the band began recording for the new album in early December and finished in February 2014. The group signed with Capitol Records to distribute the album with an expected release in fall 2014. Lead single "Palisades Park" was released on July 8, 2014.

  1. ^ a b c The Biggest New Band In America, Rolling Stone, June 30, 1994. URL consultato il March 1, 2007.
  2. ^ Interview with Drummer Kenney Dale Johnson, Blogcritics Magazine. URL consultato il June 17, 2007.
  3. ^ We're gonna be big stars, Rollingstone.com, October 31, 2005. URL consultato il March 1, 2007.[collegamento interrotto]
  4. ^ a b Rosanna Greenstreet, Q&A: Adam Duritz, The Guardian, February 15, 2003. URL consultato il March 1, 2007.
  5. ^ Steve Bowman – About Steve, stevethedrummer.com. URL consultato il March 1, 2007.
  6. ^ a b c Neil Strauss, Stars Come Out From Under, The New York Times, October 15, 1996. URL consultato il March 1, 2007.
  7. ^ Errore nelle note: Errore nell'uso del marcatore <ref>: non è stato indicato alcun testo per il marcatore GigArchive
  8. ^ Duritz Needs To Rest Voice, RollingStone.com, July 25, 1997. URL consultato il March 1, 2007.[collegamento interrotto]
  9. ^ Farber, Jim. Free As A Bird Counting Crows' Live Double Album Plays Faster And Looser. New York Daily News. August 2, 1998.
  10. ^ Farber, Jim. WOODSTOCK: HURTS SO GOOD LOUD BANDS, MELLOW FANS & THE JOY OF MISERY. New York Daily News. July 26, 1999.
  11. ^ a b Mike Farley, Interview with David Immerglück of Counting Crows, Bullz-Eye.com. URL consultato il March 1, 2007.
  12. ^ [1] “David Immerglück on mandolin replaced Vanessa Carlton's backup vocals on that...”
  13. ^ BLOF en Counting Crows samen op concert at SEA [Blik op Nieuws.nl – Glossy], su blikopnieuws.nl. URL consultato il 29 marzo 2012.
  14. ^ Counting Crows are Riding High, Vox.com, December 11, 2002. URL consultato il April 22, 2007.
  15. ^ Counting Crows, IMDB. URL consultato il March 1, 2007.
  16. ^ Alex Mar, Crows Nab Oscar Nom, RollingStone.com, January 25, 2005. URL consultato il March 1, 2007.
  17. ^ a b John Benson, New Counting Crows: One Part Rock, One Part Country, Billboard, June 20, 2006. URL consultato il March 2, 2007.[collegamento interrotto]
  18. ^ Ben Weiner, Counting Crows: Rearranged, revealing, riveting, Orange County Register, July 2, 2006. URL consultato il March 2, 2007.
  19. ^ Pre-Derby tunes a home run
  20. ^ VH1 picks 100 greatest songs Let the 5-part countdown, bickering begin USA Today
  21. ^ CountingCrows.com news.journal
  22. ^ Recounting Crows: Adam Duritz's dark secret “He also went to the mat with the label to release a free digital single featuring two of the songs, "1492" and "You Can’t Count on Me.”
  23. ^ Saturday Nights And Sunday Mornings, su amazon.ca. URL consultato il May 9, 2009.
  24. ^ Counting Crows Part Ways With Geffen, su idiomag.com, March 22, 2009. URL consultato il May 9, 2009.
  25. ^ Traveling Circus and Medicine Show 2009 Summer Tour Promo, su youtube.com, July 13, 2009. URL consultato il October 30, 2011.
  26. ^ Traveling Circus and Medicine Show – Counting Crows, Michael Franti and Spearhead, and Augustana Official Tour Page, su travelingcircusshow.com. URL consultato il 29 marzo 2012.
  27. ^ Artist Bio: NOTAR, su tyrannosaurusrecords.net. URL consultato il October 30, 2011.
  28. ^ Biography, su facebook.com, Facebook – Tender Mercies. URL consultato il October 30, 2011.
  29. ^ Check Out Tender Mercies, su countingcrows.com, October 21, 2011. URL consultato il October 30, 2011.
  30. ^ Counting Crows – Live!, su eaglerockent.com, Eagle Rock Entertainment, July 15, 2011. URL consultato il October 30, 2011.
  31. ^ Twitter Update: October 20, 2011 8:15am
  32. ^ Twitter Update: October 20, 2011 8:19am
  33. ^ Just to remind everyone..., su facebook.com, Facebook – Counting Crows. URL consultato il December 14, 2011.
  34. ^ a b Be a part of Counting Crows' future..., su facebook.com, Facebook – Counting Crows. URL consultato il December 14, 2011.
  35. ^ Twitter Update: October 20, 2011 8:38am
  36. ^ Twitter Update: October 20, 2011 8:44am
  37. ^ Twitter Update: October 20, 2011 8:51am
  38. ^ Twitter Update: October 20, 2011 8:55am
  39. ^ Twitter Update: October 20, 2011 8:56am
  40. ^ Design an Album Cover for Counting Crows, su creativeallies.com, Creative Allies. URL consultato il December 14, 2011.
  41. ^ Reddit: I am Musician Adam Duritz from Counting Crows. Ask me anything..., su reddit.com, Reddit, 30 luglio 2013. URL consultato il 6 settembre 2013.
  42. ^ a b MSN Exclusives: Counting Crows, su video.ca.msn.com, MSN Canada, 26 giugno 2013. URL consultato il 6 settembre 2013.
  43. ^ Counting Crows – April 19, 2012: So You Know There Will Be Treatment, su daytrotter.com, Daytrotter, 19 aprile 2012. URL consultato il 6 settembre 2013.
  44. ^ Counting Crows – July 5, 2013: When The Sun Came Shining, su daytrotter.com, Daytrotter, 5 luglio 2013. URL consultato il 6 settembre 2013.
  45. ^ Counting Crows – July 4, 2012: Barn on the 4th (Video), su daytrotter.com, Daytrotter, 4 luglio 2012. URL consultato il 6 settembre 2013.
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