Counting Crows
Counting Crows | |
|---|---|
| File:Thecountingcrows.jpg | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | San Francisco, California |
| Years active | 1991-present |
| Members | Dan Vickrey David Immerglück Charles Gillingham Adam Duritz David Bryson Jim Bogios |
| Past members | Steve Bowman Ben Mize Matt Malley |
| Website | Official Website |
Counting Crows are a rock band that became extremely popular in 1993 following the release of their debut album August and Everything After, which featured the hit song "Mr. Jones."
History
Counting Crows were formed by singer Adam Duritz and guitarist David Bryson (both formerly of The Himalayans) in San Francisco in 1991. Duritz had experience as a member of the band The Himalayans and as a contributor to recordings by the San Francisco Bay Area group Sordid Humor (though never a member). Counting Crows originally performed as an acoustic duo, playing gigs in and around Berkeley and San Francisco.
Counting Crows, with their intimate and melancholy approach, quickly achieved a large fan base among Generation X alternative rock fans who were looking for something different from the raging guitars of the Seattle music scene. It was during this time that a full band was formed from local musicians, and the band was signed to Geffen Records.
The first album, "August and Everything After" was released in 1993, with the song "Mr. Jones", about Adam's childhood friend and bassist in The Himalayans Marty Jones, becoming a huge hit.
In 1996, Recovering the Satellites, the band's second album, was released. This album took a more heavy, riff led approach than August and Everything After. However, it did contain some calmer, melancholy tracks, such as the title track "Recovering the Satellites" and the singles "A Long December" and "Miller's Angels." "Recovering the Satellites" is often considered Adam Duritz's response to his sudden and somewhat unasked-for fame.
In 1999, Counting Crows released This Desert Life, sales of which were propelled by the success of "Hanginaround" and featuring the song "Colorblind" (also heard in the movie Cruel Intentions.) To support the album, the band toured extensively with the alternative rock band Live, on a co-headlining tour, where the two acts would alternate who performed first. Each night, during LIVE's song "The Dolphin's Cry," Adam Duritz would perform along side Live's Ed Kowalczyk, in a duet version of the song.
As part of their 2002 release of Hard Candy, Counting Crows covered the 1970 Joni Mitchell song, "Big Yellow Taxi." On the soundtrack to the romantic comedy film Two Weeks Notice, Vanessa Carlton sang the backing vocals on the single edit of the song, a major hit that brought new (and young) fans to the band. The band seems to be fond of classic rock, especially from the 1970's and have covered songs live by artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Pure Prairie League, Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead and Oasis.
In November 2003, Counting Crows released a "best of..." album, Films About Ghosts. ("Films about ghosts" is a lyric from the band's song "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 the summer of 2004, Counting Crows released the song "Accidentally in Love" for the soundtrack of the hugely popular computer-animated movie Shrek 2. The song was nominated for an Academy Award. Later versions of the Crows' 2003 greatest-hits disc include "Accidentally in Love."
In June of 2006, The Counting Crows released New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall a live album comprised of performances from their 2003 tour supporting Hard Candy. Although it is composed mostly of live performances of already released material, it does contain the impromptu "Hazy" as well as various vendor specific additional tracks such as "Blues Run the Game", "Black and Blue", and "Big Yellow Taxi".
Counting Crows' lead singer Adam Duritz's vocal style has often been compared to those of Van Morrison and Bob Dylan. Counting Crows' lyrics (composed primarily by Adam Duritz) frequently deal with aspects of ordinary life, and even in their most upbeat songs somber undertones are often present.
Forthcoming New Album
Band frontman Adam Duritz has hinted that their next studio record may be released as soon as early 2007, which both him and guitarist Dan Vickrey indicating the band recently spent three weeks working in a Hell's Kitchen recording studio with Gil Norton, the producer behind 1996's "Recovering the Satellites." Vickrey has added that the forthcoming album will sound closest to "Recovering The Satellites" among their other releases, with half of the songs "loud, raucous rockers" written in may in New York, and the other half (expected to be written and recorded during this summer's co-headlining tour with the Goo Goo Dolls) to be more acoustic and country-sounding.
Duritz has also speculated that the working title of their forthcoming fifth studio release is "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning", explaining, "Saturday night is when you sin and Sunday is when you regret. Sinning is often done very loudly, angrily, bitterly, violently."
Current tentative song titles for the new record include "Come Around," "Hanging Tree" and "Suffocate." (the last of which pre-dates "Recovering the Satellites")
Band members
Current Members
- Adam Duritz (Vocals, Piano)
- David Bryson (Guitar)
- Dan Vickrey (Guitar)
- David Immerglück (Guitar, Mandolin, Pedal Steel)
- Jim Bogios (Drums)
- Charles Gillingham (Keyboards)
Former Members
- Ben Ulrich (Drums) 1990-1992
- Steve Bowman (Drums) 1992-1994
- Matt Malley (Bass Guitar) 1992-2005
- Ben Mize (Drums) 1994-2002
Singles
| Year | Song | US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Adult Top 40 | US AC Chart | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | "Mr. Jones" | #1 | #2 | - | #25 | August And Everything After |
| 1994 | "Round Here" | - | #7 | - | - | August And Everything After |
| 1994 | "Einstein On The Beach (For An Eggman)" | - | #1 | - | - | DGC Rarities Volume 1 |
| 1995 | "Rain King" | - | - | - | - | August And Everything After |
| 1995 | "A Murder Of One" | - | - | - | - | August And Everything After |
| 1996 | "Angels of the Silences" | - | #3 | - | - | Recovering The Satellites |
| 1997 | "Daylight Fading" | - | #26 | #20 | - | Recovering The Satellites |
| 1997 | "A Long December" | - | #5 | #6 | - | Recovering The Satellites |
| 1999 | "Hanginaround" | #22 | #17 | #5 | - | This Desert Life |
| 2000 | "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby" | - | - | #40 | - | This Desert Life |
| 2000 | "All My Friends" | - | - | - | - | This Desert Life |
| 2002 | "American Girls" | - | - | #24 | - | Hard Candy |
| 2002 | "Miami" | - | - | - | - | Hard Candy |
| 2003 | "Big Yellow Taxi" | #42 | - | #5 | #5 | Hard Candy |
| 2003 | "If I Could Give All My Love (Richard Manuel Is Dead)" | - | - | - | - | Hard Candy |
| 2004 | "She Don't Want Nobody Near" | - | - | #20 | - | Films About Ghosts (The Best Of...) |
| 2004 | "Accidentally In Love" | #39 | - | #3 | #23 | Shrek 2 Soundtrack |
A new album was announced, to be released 20th June 2006, entitled *New Amsterdam and composing of 15 live tracks plus one new song composed with Gemma Hayes [1].
Discography & Tracklist
- 1993 August and Everything After
- 1996 Recovering The Satellites
- 1998 Across a Wire: Live in New York City
- 1999 This Desert Life
- 2002 Hard Candy
- 2003 Films About Ghosts (The Best Of...)
- 2006 *New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall 2003
External links
- Official Counting Crows Website
- Counting Crows Trader Network
- Counting Crows Fan Covers
- Official Himalayans Website
- Official Counting Crows Fan Club
- Annabegins - Unofficial Fansite
- Hummingbird's Nest - Fansite
- Counting Crows discography at MusicBrainz
Trivia
- The band's songs have been used in many motion pictures including 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") and Shrek 2 (2004) ("Accidentally in Love")
- Counting Crows used outside collaborators to good effect on their album Hard Candy. Among the most notable cameos are Ryan Adams contributing vocals and lyrics to the wistful waltz "Butterfly In Reverse," Jerry Hey delivering a rich flugelhorn solo to the melancholy "Carriage," and Sheryl Crow adding her distinctive voice to the groove-happy first single "American Girls."
- Lead singer Adam Duritz dated Friends actresses Courtney Cox and Jennifer Aniston during the early 90’s. Duritz wrote the song "Monkey" for Cox which is featured on the 1996 album "Recovering the Satellites".
- Counting Crows were Oscar nominated for best song for "Accidentally In Love" from the animated movie Shrek 2. They performed the song live at the 2005 Academy Awards.
- Lead singer Adam Duritz wrote the song Mrs Potters Lullaby, found in their third studio album This Desert Life about actress Monica Potter. He dated her during the mid 90’s.
- Band members Adam Duritz and David Immerglück have performed a radio show known as “The Devil and The Bunny Show” in various countries while touring with the Crows.
- August and Everything After was certified 7 times platinum in October 1996.
- Shawn Hunter, a character on the ABC comedy Boy Meets World, is said to be a fan of Counting Crows.
- At their June 21, 2006 concert in Portland, Oregon, Adam Duritz said the song "Goodnight Elisabeth" was "written about a girl from Lake Oswego who fuckin' ruined me."