Released on 13 February 1990 "Shake Your Money Maker" was the debut studio album by US rock band the Black Crowes. It is the only album by the band to feature guitarist Jeff Cease. Curiously, the album is named after a classic blues song written by Elmore James. The album spawned five singles "Jealous Again", "Hard To Habdle", "Twice As Hard", "She Talks To Angels" & "Seeing Things". The album peaked at No. 4 on Billboard 200 and two of its singles, "Hard to Handle" and "She Talks to Angels", reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. "Jealous Again", "Twice As Hard" and "Seeing Things" were also charting singles in the United States. Until now Shake Your Money Maker is the Black Crowes' best selling album, having sold more than 5 million copies.
Brothers Chris and Rich Robinson had formed Mr. Crowe's Garden in 1984. In 1988 George Drakoulias saw the band at a show they did in New York City and had them signed to Def American the same year; they changed their name to the Black Crowes shortly after. The recording sessions began in the summer of 1989 in Atlanta and Los Angeles,
with Drakoulias producing the album. Some tracks include retained songs
from the Mr. Crowe's Garden era such as "Could I've Been So Blind" and "She Talks to Angels", whose riff had been written years ago by then-17 year old Rich Robinson with lyrics written by Chris, which were inspired by a heroin-addicted girl he "kinda knew" in Atlanta. The band also chose to record a cover version of Otis Redding's "Hard to Handle", which would prove to be their breakthrough single.
Four music videos for "Twice As Hard", "Jealous Again", "Hard to Handle" and "She Talks to Angels" were filmed to promote the band and the album, and subsequently aired on MTV.
The Black Crowes unleashed their blistering debut, Shake Your Money Maker,
on Rick Rubin’s Def American label and a rock revival was born. No doubt the Crowes were about bringing the genre back to basics.
Thanks to four hit singles, heavy video play on MTV and 14 months of touring, Shake Your Money Maker
went on to sell more than 5 million copies, reaching triple platinum
status. The Crowes were always conspicuous crate diggers and ardent students of music history. They even named Shake Your Money Maker
after a song by legendary blues guitarist Elmore James. The Crowes were equally
adept at blending rock, soul, country and gospel into something that
felt new and electric. With swagger to spare, the very first track opens
the album as a declaration and a promise to rock "Twice As Hard".
From the screeching sounds of a car crash on "Thick N’ Thin" to Rich
Robinson’s wondrous dexterity on "Struttin Blues", the whole album has
that lighting in a bottle feeling and the raw energy of a live band who
can’t be contained. But the real success of the album relied upon a pair
of No.1 mainstream rock singles, "She Talks to Angels" and "Hard To
Handle", which reached number one on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart and No.26 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Otis Redding song had been covered by a number of top artists, from Etta James to Tom Jones and was a mainstay of the Grateful Dead’s live set, but the Crowes’ blues-rock riff on the soul standard made it theirs alone.
It’s hard to emphasize enough the omnipresence of "Hard To Handle".
It was piped through the speakers of college stations and pool halls
around the country, there are some
quieter moments with the weary and wistful "Sister Luck" and "Seeing
Things" which both show off the brothers' lyricism and Chris Robinson's
whiskey worn vocals. Several of the songs on the album, including "Could
I've Been So Blind" and the surprisingly affecting ballad "She Talks to
Angels", come from the band’s original incarnation when they were just
teens.
The critical reception was mostly favorable, with people called the band as the "Best New American Band" at the end of 1990, and also praising Rich Robinson's guitar playing and Chris Robinson's "appropriate vocal swagger".
Shake Your Money Maker Track List:
1. Twice As Hard
2. Jealous Again
3. Sister Luck
4. Could I've Been So Blind
5. Seeing Things
6. Hard To Handle
7. Thick n' Thin
8. She Talks To Angels
9. Struttin' Blues
10. Stare It Cold
11. Live Too Fast Blues/Mercy, Sweet Moan
