Many fans of what is loosely called classic rock are still mourning the demise of Black Crowes, but its former singer Chris Robinson and his Brotherhood are doing better than fine these days, thank you.
Not that the previous four studio and two live albums didn’t already prove that, but the latest, fifth Brotherhood album Barefoot In The Head simply proves the point and might be the best one the band has done so far. Much of it has to do with the approach Robinson and his cohorts, guitarist, composer Neal Casal and others, have taken - “cosmic American music”, as he stated in a recent “Rolling Stone” interview. Yes, that certainly sounds like Chris Robinson Brotherhood are some kind of Grateful Dead’s younger relative, which is a lofty goal to achieve, and The Brotherhood are up to the task on this album.
But their Grateful Dead cue is partly only a spiritual one, because Robinson and his guys have thrown quite a few other great influences in the mix: The Band, Harvest era Neil Young, Little Feat and even more here than before, the country soul of Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, something that fits Robinson’s soulful voice, like that of Little Feat’s late great Lowell George did too.
While some of the tracks on previous albums (admittedly, not the many) might have flown by you unnoticed, every single one here, from the opening “Behold The Seer” (like the best Little Feat track you haven’t heard yet) to the closing “Good to Know” (Jerry Garcia and his guys would have covered this one if Jerry was still around) has its distinctive musical identity that shines. But it is those country soul tracks like “She Shares My Blanket” that are the bread and butter of this album and that makes it such a good listen.
The days of Black Crowes are by now long gone and Chris Robinson and his Brotherhood have taken another road that is slowly turning into a much better one anyway. Take a ride down on it, it certainly an enjoyable one.
