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'Counting Crows' is an American alternative rock band originating from Berkeley, California. They became highly popular in 1994 following the release of their debut album ''August and Everything After'', which featured the hit song "Mr. Jones." Their influences include R.E.M., Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and The Band. Counting Crows biography Stephen Thomas Erlewine Counting Crows: Biography Greg Kot They received a 2004 Academy Award nomination for the song "Accidentally in Love".
History
Formation
Singer Adam Duritz and guitarist Dave Bryson (both formerly members of Bay Area band The Himalayans) formed Counting Crows in San Francisco in 1991. As well as his experience in ''The Himalayans'', Duritz had contributed to recordings by the Bay Area group Sordid Humor, though never a member. Counting Crows began as an acoustic duo, playing gigs in and around Berkeley and San Francisco.
By 1993 the band had grown to a stable lineup of Duritz, Bryson, Matt Malley (bass), Charley Gillingham (keys) and Steve Bowman (drums), and were regulars on the Bay Area scene. The same year, the band was signed to Geffen Records. On 16th January 1993, CountingCrows.com Gig Archive the band, still relatively unknown, filled in for Van Morrison at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony; they were introduced by an enthusiastic Robbie Robertson.
At some point before their signing to Geffen, the band recorded demo versions of a number of songs, known as the 'Flying Demos'. These later surfaced among the Counting Crows fanbase. Tracks include "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" and "We're Only Love".
Various songs from this tape would later resurface on the band's debut album ''August and Everything After''; the songs contained on the tape featured different music and in some instances different lyrics.
Origin of the name
The band took their name from a divination rhyme about the crow, heard by Duritz in the film Signs of Life. The rhyme is used at the end of the song "A Murder of One" on the album ''August and Everything After'': ''"Well I dreamt I saw you walking up a hillside in the snow / Casting shadows on the winter sky as you sat there, counting crows / One for sorrow, two for joy / Three for girls and four for boys / Five for silver, six for gold / Seven for a secret never to be told."'' In the poem, the act of counting crows is particularly useless. Duritz reveals that a name is just a name, and, with that, is useless and can be anything.
Success with "Mr. Jones"
From the beginning, Counting Crows focused on performing live. The band's debut album ''August and Everything After'', produced by T-Bone Burnett, was released in the autumn of 1993. The band toured heavily in 1993 and 1994, both as headliners and in support of artists such as Cracker, the Cranberries, Suede, Bob Dylan, Los Lobos, Jellyfish, and Midnight Oil. The first single, "Mr. Jones," refers to The Himalayans bassist (and Duritz's childhood friend) Marty Jones and Kenney Dale Johnson, the drummer of Silvertone (Chris Isaak's band)[1], describing the desire of working musicians to make it big and the fantasies they entertain about what this might bring.[2] In December 1993, MTV began playing the video for the song. It was an unexpected hit, drawing massive radio play and launching the band into stardom. ''August and Everything After'' became the fastest-selling album since Nirvana's ''Nevermind''. In 1994 the band appeared on ''Saturday Night Live'' and ''Late Show with David Letterman'', and toured with The Rolling Stones. Steve Bowman - About Steve The Biggest New Band In America The album sold 7 million copies, but success took a toll on the band; drummer Steve Bowman left, and Duritz suffered a widely-reported nervous breakdown, Stars Come Out From Under Neil Strauss which was not his first. Q&A: Adam Duritz Rosanna Greenstreet
''Recovering the Satellites'': Breakdown and recovery
The band played only two gigs in 1995. This allowed Duritz to write a set of songs that became the band's second album, ''Recovering the Satellites''. Released on October 10, 1996, it was heavier than ''August and Everything After,'' perhaps due to the addition of second guitarist Dan Vickrey, who had joined in early 1994. 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."
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.[3] 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 ''. The other disc was a recording of an acoustic set from the band's appearance on VH1's Storytellers.
''This Desert Life''
In 1999, Counting Crows released ''This Desert Life'', sales of which were propelled by the success of "Hanginaround" and "Colorblind" (which was heard in the movie ''Cruel Intentions''). In support of the album, the band embarked on a co-headlining tour with alternative rock band Live; Counting Crows closed nearly every show. Frequently, Duritz joined the stage for Live's performance of "The Dolphin's Cry," and Live's Ed Kowalczyk sang a verse of "Hanginaround" with the Crows.
For the album and subsequent tour, the band invited session player and long-time friend David Immerglück to join the band full-time. Immerglück had played on ''August and Everything After'' and ''Recovering the Satellites'', but other musical commitments had prevented him from joining the band full time. Interview with David Immergluck of Counting Crows Mike Farley Immerglück plays a variety of instruments with the band, including acoustic, electric, and pedal steel guitars and mandolin, as well as contributing backing vocals.
''Hard Candy''
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''.
Mid-way through the Hard Candy tour drummer Ben Mize decided to leave the band to pursue his own musical interests. Mize completed the American leg of the tour, and was then replaced by Jim Bogios, formerly drummer with Sheryl Crow. [4]
In November 2003, Counting Crows released the greatest hits album, ''Films About Ghosts''. (The title is taken from the lyrics of "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby," which appeared on ''This Desert Life'') They also toured in 2003 with John Mayer, Maroon 5, and the Graham Colton Band.
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 for an Academy Award, Counting Crows [5] and later versions of the 2003 greatest hits album include the track.
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 "Blues Run the Game".
''Saturday Nights, Sunday Mornings''
Duritz hinted in a number of interviews Counting Crows: Rearranged, revealing, riveting Ben Weiner New Counting Crows: One Part Rock, One Part Country John Benson that Counting Crows' next studio record will be released in late 2007. He indicated that the band recently had spent three weeks working in a recording studio with Gil Norton, the producer behind ''Recovering the Satellites''.
Duritz has revealed the working title of the album to be ''Saturday Nights, Sunday Mornings'', explaining, "Saturday night is when you sin and Sunday is when you regret. Sinning is often done very loudly, angrily, bitterly, violently." Vickrey has 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." On his website, Duritz has said that the new album will be released in November of 2007.
On August 8, 2007, at Drillers Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Duritz revealed that the band is to release a deluxe version of August and Everything After this fall. Rumors of a DVD that will accompany the deluxe version are 'false'. A new song was also previewed at the concert, titled "Washington Square"; an acoustic ballad that is the first track on the latter half ("Sunday Mornings") of the new record. Also played was "Cowboys," the first track off the first half ("Saturday Nights") of the new album. "Insignificant" was stated by Adam to be the second track the "Saturday Nights" portion of the album.
On August 8, 2007, VH1 was on hand to film "Mr. Jones" for a TV appearance yet to be announced.
Other current tentative song titles for the new record include "Come Around", "Hanging Tree", "Anyone But You," "You Can't Count On Me," "1492," and "When I Dream of Michelangelo."
The album will be released on November 6, 2007.
August and Everything After (Re-Released)
The Crows have announced a deluxe version of the album featuring demos and a live CD from Paris in 1994. The two discs are to be released on September 18th, 2007.
Disc: 1
1. Round Here
2. Omaha
3. Mr. Jones
4. Perfect Blue Buildings
5. Anna Begins
6. Time And Time Again
7. Rain King
8. Sullivan Street
9. Ghost Train
10. Raining In Baltimore
11. Murder Of One, A
12. Shallow Days - (Acoustic Demo)
13. Mean Jumper Blues - (Acoustic Demo)
14. Love And Addiction - (Demo)
15. Omaha - (Demo)
16. Shallow Days - (Demo)
17. This Land Is Your Land - (Acoustic Demo)
Disc: 2
1. Anna Begins - (live)
2. Omaha - (live)
3. Jumping Jesus - (live)
4. Margery Dreams Of Horses - (live)
5. Perfect Blues Buildings - (live)
6. Round Here - (live)
7. Rain King - (live)
8. Time And Time Again - (live)
9. Ghost Train - (live)
10. Children In Bloom - (live)
11. Muder Of One, A - (live)
12. Sullivan Street - (live)
13. Ghost In You, The - (live)
Live Performances
Counting Crows, and Adam Duritz in particular, have become renowned for the energetic, passionate nature of their live performances. They have been described as "riveting and revealing...emotionally wracked, radical rearrangements." It has been said that "each set is wholly raw, emotional and on the fly."[6] Duritz frequently extends and rewrites songs live, adding extra verses or alternate middle sections and/or endings, sometimes fitting most of another of the band’s songs into the middle of the first. He often uses other artists’ lyrics in these sections as well, ranging from well-known acts like Bruce Springsteen and Van Morrison to obscure Bay Area bands, including revisiting material from his days working with Sordid Humor. Most songs have been altered at some point during the band’s history; the ones most often subjected to this treatment include Round Here, Goodnight Elisabeth, Rain King and A Murder of One. Examples of this can be heard on the “MTV Live at the 10 Spot” disc from ''Across a Wire: Live in New York City'' (“Round Here” contains lyrics from “Have You Seen Me Lately?”) and the “VH1 Storytellers” disc (Anna Begins has an extended mid-section with new lyrics, and the introduction to Mr Jones includes lyrics from a song by The Byrds). Fansites[7] have attempted to keep records of these alternate lyrics or “alts”.
The band has covered artists such as Rod Stewart, Pure Prairie League, Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, U2 and Oasis.
The band has also become known for its acoustic performances, most notably recorded on the VH1 Storytellers disc from ‘’Across a Wire: Live in New York City’’. The band reportedly decided that they would not play any songs for which they did not have substantially different acoustic arrangements. They have since performed variations on these acoustic arrangements at a number of concerts, often opening with a few acoustic numbers before launching into an electric set.
Counting Crows are one of a small number of contemporary popular music acts that not only permits but actively encourages the recording of their concerts, and the distribution of the resulting “bootleg” recordings. They host a trading network on their website[8] to enable fans to swap concert recordings; no one is allowed to sell recordings for profit on this network, instead fans either trade bootlegs for other bootlegs, or else pay for the blank media, postage and packing.
Band members
'Current Members'
★ Adam Duritz (vocals, piano)
★ David Bryson (guitar)
★ Dan Vickrey (guitar)
★ David Immerglück (guitar, mandolin, pedal steel guitar)
★ Jim Bogios (drums)
★ Charlie Gillingham (keyboards, accordion)
★
★ Millard Powers (bass guitar, piano)
'Former Members'
★ Ben Ulrich (drums) (1990-1992)
★ Marty Jones (bass guitar) (1990-1992)
★ Lydia Holly (keyboards) (1990-1992)
★ Toby Hawkins (drums) (1990-1992)
★ Steve Bowman (drums) (1992-1994)
★ Ben Mize (drums) (1994-2002)
★ Matt Malley (bass guitar) (1992-2005)
Discography
Main articles: Counting Crows discography
Studio albums
★ ''August and Everything After'' (1993) #4 U.S.
★ ''Recovering The Satellites'' (1996) #1 U.S.
★ ''This Desert Life'' (1999) #8 U.S. #8 Canada
★ ''Hard Candy'' (2002) #5 U.S.
★ ''Saturday Nights, Sunday Mornings'' (2007)
Chart positions obtained from All Music Guide, May 6 2007.
Best Of Albums
★ ''Films About Ghosts (The Best Of...)'' (2003)
Live albums
★ '' (1998) #19 U.S.
★ ''New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall 2003'' (2006) #52 U.S.
Singles
| Year | Song | US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Adult Top 40 | UK | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | "Mr. Jones" | - | 2 | - | 28 | ''August And Everything After'' |
| 1994 | "Round Here" | - | 7 | - | 70 | |
| "Einstein on the Beach (For An Eggman)" | - | 1 | - | - | ''DGC Rarities Volume 1'' | |
| 1995 | "Rain King" | - | 3 | - | 49 | ''August And Everything After'' |
| "A Murder Of One" | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1996 | "Angels of the Silences" | - | 3 | - | 41 | ''Recovering The Satellites'' |
| 1997 | "Daylight Fading" | - | 26 | 20 | 54 | |
| "A Long December" | - | 5 | 6 | 62 | ||
| 1999 | "Hanginaround" | 22 | 17 | 5 | 46 | ''This Desert Life'' |
| 2000 | "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby" | - | - | 40 | - | |
| "All My Friends" | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2002 | "American Girls" | - | - | 24 | 33 | ''Hard Candy'' |
| "Miami" | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2003 | "Big Yellow Taxi" | 42 | - | 5 | 13 | |
| "If I Could Give All My Love (Richard Manuel Is Dead)" | - | - | - | 50 | ||
| 2004 | "Holiday in Spain" ''(Together with Bløf)'' | - | - | - | - | |
| "She Don't Want Nobody Near" | - | - | 20 | - | ''Films About Ghosts (The Best Of...)'' | |
| "Accidentally in Love" | 39 | - | 3 | 28 | ''Shrek 2 Soundtrack'' |
Other appearances
★ The band's songs have appeared in several films:
★
★ ''Clueless'' (1995): "The Ghost In You"
★
★ ''Rounders'' (1998): "Baby, I'm A Big Star Now"
★
★ ''Cruel Intentions'' (1999): "Colorblind"
★
★ ''Mr. Deeds'' (2002): "Goin' Down to New York Town"
★
★ ''Two Weeks Notice'' (2002): "Big Yellow Taxi"
★
★ ''Shrek 2'' (2004): "Accidentally in Love" (nominated for Best Song and performed live at the 2005 Academy Awards)
★ The song "Raining in Baltimore" is featured on the soundtrack of "The Last of the Watermen" episode of ''.
★ The song "Walkaways" is featured on a particularly somber episode of the FOX hit ''Party of Five''.
★ Songs by Counting Crows were played during TV drama shows, such as Cold Case and the following: Boston Public (they made a personal cameo as "the band in bar"), Brothers & Sisters, Dawson's Creek, The Days, Everwood, E.R., Laguna Beach, One Tree Hill, Party Of Five, Roswell, Felicity (twice), and Scrubs.
★ Counting Crows performed live before the 2007 MLB All-Star game, broadcast on ESPN.
Notes
1. Interview with Drummer Kenney Dale Johnson
2. We're gonna be big stars
3. Duritz Needs To Rest Voice
4. Counting Crows are Riding High
5. Crows Nab Oscar Nom Alex Mar
6. Our Critic Picks Julie Seabaugh
7. http://www.annabegins.com
8. http://www.countingcrowsdb.com
External links
★ Official Counting Crows Website
★ Official MySpace Page
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