Chris Robinson Brotherhood was an American

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

band formed in 2011 by

Black Crowes Black is a color which results from the absence or complete Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption of visible spectrum, visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or fi ...

singer Chris Robinson while the Crowes were on hiatus. The original lineup consisted of Robinson (vocals, guitar),

Neal Casal Neal Graeme Casal (November 2, 1968 – August 26, 2019) ...

(lead guitar, backing vocals), Mark Dutton (bass guitar, backing vocals),

George Sluppick George Peter Sluppick (born January 14, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. to George Thomas Scott Sluppick and Rosa Lee Deckard) is an American touring and session drummer, best known for his association with bands such as The City Champs, Robert Walte ...

(drums), and

Adam MacDougall Adam "Mad Dog" MacDougall (born 8 May 1975) is an Australian author, businessman and former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian international representative ...

(keyboards). Since 2015, the band had undergone various personnel changes with Robinson and Casal remaining the only constant members. Following the death of Neal Casal in August 2019, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood announced it would disband.

History

Formation and ''Big Moon Ritual''

Chris Robinson Brotherhood began as an experiment but became a 'band' during their California residency tour. The original intention, according to Robinson, was to "have a local L.A. band, just play in California, see where the music takes us and have a good time." They then embarked on a 118 date North American tour in 2011. Robinson names

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

members

Phil Lesh Philip Chapman Lesh (born March 15, 1940) is an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career. After the band's disbanding in 1995, Lesh continued the tradition of ...

and

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...

, who sat in with the band during CRB's run at the

Great American Music Hall The Great American Music Hall is a concert hall in San Francisco, California. It is located on O'Farrell Street in the Tenderloin neighborhood on the same block as the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre. It is known for its decorative balconies ...

, as both musical inspirations and friends. As well as Robinson, the band features fellow Black Crowes member

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, artist, and poet. He has released 23 albums, as well as three studio albums as a former member of alt-country band Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams left ...

collaborator

Neal Casal Neal Graeme Casal (November 2, 1968 – August 26, 2019) ...

, bassist Mark Dutton, and drummer

. Robinson describes the Brotherhood as a "farm-to-table psychedelic band". Chris Robinson Brotherhood released a version of "

Blue Suede Shoes "Blue Suede Shoes" is a rock and roll standard written and first recorded by American singer, songwriter and guitarist Carl Perkins in 1955. It is considered one of the first rockabilly records, incorporating elements of blues, country and po ...

" (written by

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...

) b/w a live version "Girl, I Love You" (written by

Al Bell Al Bell (born Alvertis Isbell; March 15, 1940) is an American record producer, songwriter, and record executive. He is best known as having been an executive and co-owner of Stax Records, based in Memphis, Tennessee, during the latter half of the ...

and

Eddie Floyd Edward Lee Floyd (born June 25, 1937) is an American R&B and soul singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s, including the No. 1 R&B hit song " Knock on Wood". Biography Floyd was born in ...

) for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

on April 21, 2012. The CD version also features a cover of the

Jimmy Reed Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with blues as well as non-blues audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), " ...

song, " Bright Lights Big City". The band's debut album, ''

Big Moon Ritual ''Big Moon Ritual'' is the debut studio album by American blues rock band Chris Robinson Brotherhood. It was released on June 5, 2012, and was recorded during the same sessions as the band's second album, ''The Magic Door,'' which would be releas ...

'', was recorded at Sunset Sound Studios,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and was released on June 5, 2012. Chris Robinson suggests that ''Big Moon Ritual'' is "not a concept album, but it's very conceptual sonically." He also notes that CRB "isn't the type of band that's going to make a concise four-minute song record" and that they prefer instead to make lengthier compositions.

''The Magic Door''

Just three months after its predecessor, on September 11, 2012, Chris Robinson Brotherhood's second studio album, ''

The Magic Door ''The Magic Door'' (also known as ''The Magic Door Television Theatre'') was a Jewish educational television series, aimed at providing kiruv (outreach) to Jewish children in the Chicago metropolitan area but intended to appeal to all children ...

'', was released. It was recorded at the same time as ''Big Moon Ritual'' and features a cover of the

Hank Ballard Hank Ballard (born John Henry Kendricks; November 18, 1927 – March 2, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter, the lead vocalist of The Midnighters and one of the first rock and roll artists to emerge in the early 1950s. He played an inte ...

song "

Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go" (also known as "There's a Thrill on The Hill") is a 1960 pop and R&B single written by Hank Ballard and performed by Hank Ballard and The Midnighters The Midnighters were an American vocal group from Detroit, Mi ...

," which the band has often played live.

"Betty's S.F. Blends, Volume One"

In September 2013, Chris Robinson Brotherhood released an album that featured songs picked by the Grateful Dead's record producer,

Betty Cantor-Jackson Betty Cantor-Jackson (born 1948) is an American audio engineer and producer. She is best known for her work recording live concerts for the Grateful Dead from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, including the '' Cornell 5/8/77'' album. She is not ...

, which were recorded over five nights in San Francisco. The band played 96 songs altogether and Cantor-Jackson picked the best ones for the album. The album has only been released on vinyl record format, which results in it not being available on CD. The album was called "Betty's S.F. Blends, Volume One". The 5 full shows are also available as separate downloads.

''Phosphorescent Harvest''

Chris Robinson Brotherhood released its third studio album " Phosphorescent Harvest" on Silver Arrow Records on April 29, 2014. The songs on the album are mostly co-written by Chris Robinson and Neal Casal. Produced by Thom Monahan. FORMATS: 12" Vinyl / CD / Digital Download.

''Any Way You Love, We Know How You Feel'' and EP

Chris Robinson Brotherhood released its fourth studio album ''Any Way You Love, We Know How You Feel'' on July 29, 2016, and on November 4, 2016, an EP titled ''If You Lived Here, You Would Be Home By Now'', containing five songs left over from the same sessions.

''Barefoot In The Head''

The CRB released their fifth studio album ''Barefoot In The Head'' in 2017.

''Servants of the Sun''

Chris Robinson Brotherhood released their sixth studio album, ''Servants of the Sun'', on June 14, 2019. As Robinson notes, he wrote the songs on the new album with the idea that they would definitely be played live. "With our last couple of albums we made songs we knew we probably weren't going to play live," he said. "This time around every one of these songs will fall into the live repertoire."

Personnel

* Chris Robinson – lead vocals, guitars (2011–2019) *

Neal Casal Neal Graeme Casal (November 2, 1968 – August 26, 2019) ...

– guitars, vocals (2011–2019; his death) *

– keyboards (2011–2019) *Mark "Muddy" Dutton – bass guitar, vocals (2011–2016) *

– drums (2011–2015) * Tony Leone – drums (2015–2019) *Jeff Hill – bass guitar (2016–2019) *Joel Robinow – keyboards (2019) *

Pete Sears Peter Roy Sears (born 27 May 1948) is an English rock musician. In a career spanning more than six decades, he has been a member of many bands and has moved through a variety of musical genres, from early R&B, psychedelic improvisational rock o ...

– keyboards (2019)

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Singles

References

External links

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{{Authority control The Black Crowes American blues rock musical groups Jam bands Musical groups established in 2011 Musical groups from Los Angeles 2011 establishments in California