<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Steve Gorman looked into the bathroom mirror and conversed with his reflection:\u00a0 \u201cJust do what your gut tells you.\u201d His gut replied, \u201cDo NOT join this band, they\u2019re (expletive deleted)<\/span><\/p>\n crazy.\u201d\u00a0 With that settled, he resolved to stay with Mary My Hope, the band he had joined soon after relocating from his native Kentucky to Atlanta, Georgia.\u00a0 He went to break the news about turning down the offer to join Chris Robinson\u2019s band Mr. Crowe\u2019s Garden. Out on the the balcony where they were polishing off a second bottle of wine, Gorman looked Robinson straight in the eyes and said, \u201cAlright, I\u2019m in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If the name isn\u2019t familiar, Steve Gorman is the former drummer for The Black Crowes, a radio personality, and the time keeper for his current band, Trigger Hippy.\u00a0 Our source for all things Crowes, Todd from the WOAS-FM Western Bureau in Eugene, tells us that the brothers Robinson (Chris and his younger brother Rich) have reconvened the band, but with new sideman.\u00a0 After reading Gorman\u2019s new book (<\/span>Hard to Handle:\u00a0 The Life and Death of the Black Crowes – A Memoir <\/span><\/i>(2019) by Steve Gorman and Steven Hyden), it doesn\u2019t sound like he was sitting on pins and needles waiting for a reunion to happen.\u00a0 Even if he was, Gorman casts serious doubts that he would have jumped back into the middle of the maelstrom that had tossed him about for several decades.\u00a0 Gorman has never been one to keep his opinions under a basket, but this entertaining, no holds barred account of his life as a musician sheds some light on this former band.\u00a0 Admittedly, Gorman points out that the story is told from his perspective, but he certainly had a front row (well, back row from his location on stage) seat to observe all that took place in The Black Crowes\u2019 saga.\u00a0 From what I have read about the battling Robinson brothers from other sources, he didn\u2019t really need to juice up the stories as much as just report what he observed from his fly on the drum stool perch in the band.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Having read a lot of stories by and about drummers, Gorman\u2019s isn\u2019t typical.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t do the \u2018jam with his friends, play wedding receptions, gig at frat parties, and eventually become famous\u2019 route.\u00a0 Before he dropped out of Western Kentucky University, his only connection to the drums was his long held yen to be a drummer in a rock band.\u00a0 As Gorman tells it, \u201cFor as long as I could remember, I had listened to music and imagined myself playing the drums. When I played records, I would focus on how the drums would play off the other instruments.\u00a0 And I would air-drum for hours, years after most people stopped doing that kind of thing. When I went to see bands, I would focus on the drummer, judging his playing with a critical ear as if I really knew anything about it.\u201d\u00a0 There isn\u2019t a drummer who ever picked up a pair of sticks who hasn\u2019t done the same things, but the other side of that coin is \u201cget a drum kit and start practicing\u201d. Gorman says he did sit behind someone else\u2019s drums a few times, but just enough to fuel an \u201cirrational confidence\u201d in himself that,\u00a0 \u201cyes, I could be a pretty good drummer.\u201d When his friend Clint called and invited him to drop out of school and travel to Boston to form a band, he jumped at it with no realistic idea if he could actually pull it off. Boston eventually became Atlanta, then Tuscaloosa, and again Atlanta where he landed in February of 1987 with one bag of worldly goods and $1200 to his name.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The first person he met as he came off the bus was Chris Robinson, who told him that guitarist Clint and bassist Sven Pipien would be right back.\u00a0 Gorman\u2019s first impression of Robinson was that he looked like the new wave, deadpan comedian Emo Philips. He moved into a house with the trio and started chipping away at his $1200 grub stake while they plotted the future of their band with no name.\u00a0 Robinson was already the singer in a band called Mr. Crowe\u2019s Garden, but as he got to know him better, Gorman had a hard time picturing his rather neurotic sounding new friend as a lead singer. Once he saw him on stage, he knew Robinson had that extra something that meant he was made to front a band, he just wasn\u2019t there yet.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Gorman finally figured out that if he was going to be the drummer in the newly named Mary My Hope band, he probably needed a kit.\u00a0 He visited Rhythm City where he detailed what he needed and the clerk inquired what his budget was. Sure enough, the salesman set him up with Pearl brand Explorer starter set and cheap line Zildjian cymbals that \u201csounded like trash can lids.\u201d\u00a0 Gorman was happy to finally own a drum kit, but when he told the clerk he had seven hundred dollars to spend, \u201cI might as well have stamped \u2018sucker\u2019 on my forehead . . . the bill came to $699.99, leaving me with one cent to my name.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Dominated by The Georgia Satellites, R.E.M., and a newer band called Drivin\u2019 and Cryin\u2019, the music scene spreading out between Atlanta and Athens was a lively place to break a band.\u00a0 These bands would serve as the template for the kind of music the newly named Mary My Hope would play. As they set up to rehearse the first time, Gorman was terrified because he really didn\u2019t know what he was doing.\u00a0 Luckily, he had the good sense to keep it simple: \u201cI just played a straight beat for hours. No fills, not ever a cymbal crash. I hammered away on the same simple beat and either sped up or slowed down depending on what Clint wanted.\u00a0 He had written some songs and had already been in a band before, so he led the way. Little did I know that what most songwriters want is exactly what I was providing: a simple beat without any nonsense for them to work around.\u201d With both Mary My Hope and Mr. Crowe\u2019s Garden rehearsing in the same house, Gorman had plenty of time to soak up the vibe.\u00a0 He quickly felt comfortable drumming with a band and started to feel like, \u201cHey, this just might work.\u201d Their first gig would find Mary My Hope opening for Mr. Crowe\u2019s Garden at a college bar called The Dugout. It was Steve\u2019s first gig and the first time he heard himself playing on a kit amplified through a PA. Three months after arriving in Atlanta, Gorman says, \u201cI was an entirely different person from the one who had moved to Atlanta.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was shortly after this first ever live gig by Mary My Hope that Chris first asked Gorman to join Mr. Crowe\u2019s Garden.\u00a0 When he refused, Robinson did a little arm twisting to get him to at least play on a couple of demo recordings MCG were about to make.\u00a0 Their drummer had just departed to play with Drivin\u2019 and Cryin\u2019, so Gorman figured it would be a new experience. After they had jammed the tunes a few times, the recording engineer praised Gorman\u2019s feel.\u00a0 When Steve admitted that he had only been playing three months (\u201cI\u2019m way over my head,\u201d Gorman told him),<\/span><\/p>\n the engineer said, \u201cYou\u2019re fine, man.\u00a0 I just want you to find the pocket. You don\u2019t have to play any fills.\u201d\u00a0 Gorman recalled, \u201cI would have never admitted to anyone I thought I was already really good.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t play many fills, but I always knew instinctively what <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> to do.\u00a0 Young drummers tend to overplay, but that was never an issue with me.\u00a0 I played simple, straight, and strong.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0During this first recording session, he also got to see the Robinson brothers writing process:\u00a0 \u201cRich would play parts and Chris would put them together. Rich would play a few chords and Chris would say, \u2018Do that again, just stay there, that\u2019s the verse.\u2019\u00a0 Then Chris would start singing, and tell Rich, \u2018Go up somewhere so I can go down.\u2019 Then Rich would play one of the twelve chords he knew and wait for Chris to give him the yea or nay.\u201d\u00a0 On the road home from the session, Chris put the push on to get Gorman in the band, but Steve wasn\u2019t interested in being in a band with the two brothers. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be \u2018my\u2019 band,\u201d Gorman said even when Robinson tried to convince him that they would all be considered equal partners.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Gorman\u2019s Mary My Hope bandmates were not at all happy to hear that he had recorded with the Robinson brothers.\u00a0 Steve assured them that he was not going to leave his band for MCG, yet there were signs that all things were not well with Mary My Hope.\u00a0 Both Clint and Sven were taking LSD regularly and Clint said, \u201cI\u2019m only excited about the band when I\u2019m tripping. If I\u2019m totally straight, I don\u2019t get excited about much of anything.\u201d\u00a0 Gorman knew next to nothing about drugs but he knew that this spelled trouble for the band. It no doubt was one of the contributing factors that made him ignore his gut instincts and join Mr. Crowe\u2019s Garden.\u00a0 After playing only his third live band gig, he told the Mary My Hope guys that he was leaving them. MCG would soon have a recording deal and, \u201chow could I turn that down?\u201d They were not happy. Steve found it ironic that within twelve months, Mary My Hope signed a deal, were planning a trip to Europe to record, and were doing quite well on the circuit.\u00a0 \u201cMeanwhile,\u201d Gorman reports, \u201cMr. Crowe\u2019s Garden couldn\u2019t get arrested.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The band progressed and improved by playing as much as they could.\u00a0 Their new mentor from A&M Records, George Drakoulias told them not to be impatient about getting into the studio.\u00a0 He encouraged the band to disect the Stones, Faces, and Humble Pie so they would be ready when the time came to record.\u00a0 By the time they began recording their first album <\/span>Shake Your Moneymaker<\/span><\/i> (with a relatively unknown producer named Brendan O\u2019Brien recommended by Drakoulias), they had shuffled personnel some.\u00a0 With a new bass player named Johnny Colt in the band, Gorman was just getting comfortable with him when they entered the studio.\u00a0 His first experience with playing to a click track was a disaster, leading Rich to suggest that Drakoulias bring in a \u2018real drummer\u2019 for the sessions.\u00a0 Drakoulias took Gorman out for a burger and shake to discuss things. Drakoulias had been telling Gorman that he was \u2018falling off\u2019 the click track and Steve said he was going crazy trying to fix the problem.\u00a0 Gorman told George that he was pushing the beat to fix the \u2018falling off\u2019 problem, to which George said, \u201cYou keep speeding up because you\u2019re pushing, that is what I am saying.\u201d Gorman suddenly realized that he wasn\u2019t crazy after all:\u00a0 \u201c\u2018<\/span>Falling off\u2019 means slowing down!\u00a0 That\u2019s what that means! If you mean speeding up, then say speeding up!\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>As it turns out, I was pretty good playing to a click track.\u00a0 All it took was a nervous breakdown at Steak \u2018n\u2019 Shake and I was good to go.\u201d\u00a0 A little over three weeks later their debut album was in the can.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Def American record founder Rick Rubin had wanted to retool their image and name.\u00a0 Rubin told them, \u201cI just don\u2019t see it. I don\u2019t know what to make of you guys. You\u2019re a southern band and you don\u2019t look southern.\u201d\u00a0 Even though they were based in a city of four million people, he wanted to dress themselves in overalls, flannel shirts and work boots.\u00a0 Worse yet, he wanted to rebrand them the Kob Kounty Krows (the KKK!). He may have been the label boss, but the band dug in their heels and vowed to keep their name.\u00a0 Chris hinted to Rubin that if the band needed a gimmick to get some attention, he would be glad to do a pro wrestling number on Rubin right then and there. Rubin was a big wrestling fan so he got the hint and dropped the KKK idea.\u00a0 With the exception of Johnny, the band wasn\u2019t all that invested in Mr. Crowe\u2019s Garden, so they began jotting down alternatives, the only condition being it had to have \u2018Crowes\u2019 in it: The Stone Cold Crowes? Flying Crowes? The Heartless Crowes?\u00a0 Someone even suggested The Black Crowes but they rejected it because of the redundancy (\u201cHave you ever seen a crow that wasn\u2019t black?\u201d). In the end, they vowed that they would just fight for the lame name that none of them really liked anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They were informed that the label\u2019s international distributor hated the Mr. Crowe\u2019s Garden name and if they stuck with it, the album wouldn\u2019t be released across the pond.\u00a0 Ruben let it be know that he kind of liked the sound of \u2018The Black Crowes\u2019. The battling Robinson brothers decided that the threats to not release the album were probably not going to come true, but it was a fight with no purpose.\u00a0 Thus they became The Black Crowes and their meteoric rise in the music world began. We have discussed the battling Robinson brothers before and after we see how this \u2018new\u2019 version of the BCs turns out, we will no doubt talk about them again.\u00a0 Gorman probably won\u2019t be in the discussion, but who is to say? They tried without success to replace him once before and ended up begging him to rejoin. Gorman has dropped many hints in recent articles that he isn\u2019t about to make that mistake again, but as they say, \u201cStranger things have happened.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I enjoyed reading Gorman\u2019s take on The Black Crowes.\u00a0 I have heard him interviewed on radio and on the internet.\u00a0 He is an engaging, funny personality on the air and is capable of telling tales about life on the road with the best of them.\u00a0 It is unfortunate that he peppered his 344 page book with enough expletives to sink a battleship. If this book ever becomes the basis of a reality TV show, it will contain more bleeps than any of the Tony Beets\u2019 segments aired on the popular Yukon mining soap opera, <\/span>Gold Rush.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Top Piece Video:\u00a0 Steve Gorman’s current band Trigger Hippie performing\u00a0Don’t Want to Bring You Down<\/em><\/p>\n