Black Crowes – Three Snakes and One Charm
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Posted On September 1, 1996
I feel compelled to preface the following observations by saying I’m a reasonably unabashed fan of this band. I’ve actually seen these guys more than I have any artist (close to a dozen times), dating back to when the band was playing under the moniker Mr. Crowe’s Garden.
That said, I’m still waiting for the Black Crowes to make the record I believe they’re capable of recording, although Three Snakes And One Charm sees them getting a step closer. The core of the album finds the band sticking to what got ’em this far, although their early-period Sly-meets-Faces melding has been extensively filtered though a tie-dye screen in recent years. And while I continue to find some of the band’s more jam-oriented songs (“One Mirror Too Many”, “Blackberry”) to be a tad derivative and plodding at times, the Crowes do have their moments. The southern funk swagger of “Let Me Share The Ride” is perfectly complemented, as well as fueled, by the Dirty Dozen horn section, and the group throws down a righteous groove (with a falsetto harmony chorus) on the heed-the-white-horse tale of “Nebakanezer”.
Historically, though, it’s always been the ballads of the Robinson Brothers (Chris on vocals, Rich on guitar) that are most worthy of repeated listening. This effort has the band further exploring the rootsier side of its personality by embellishing those slices of stoner beauty with the occasional trace of twangy instrumentation. On “Good Friday”, a perfectly placed and plaintively understated banjo enters at the start of the second verse and remains throughout the song, while “Girl From A Pawnshop” highlights some tasty pedal steel and organ interplay before stepping aside for a slightly more rockin’ chorus.
Throw in the elevating vibe of “Bring on, Bring On”, and arguably the album’s high point in Chris and Rich’s shared vocals during the minimal acoustic and percussive melancholia of “How Much For Your Wings”, and you’ve got a damn strong half an album. It’s moments like these that keep me hanging around and waiting for that no-filler, start-to-finish quintessential Crowes record.
