Rock On The Net: Counting Crows (original) (raw)

Counting Crows hail from the San Francisco Bay area and consist of Adam Duritz (vocals), David Bryson (guitar), Charles Gillingham (keyboards), Matt Malley (bass), Ben Mize (drums), and Dan Vickery. The group started to form in 1989 and hit it big with their debut LP in 1994 on alternative, rock and pop radio, spawned by the infectious hit, "Mr. Jones." Typically with most "overnight success" stories, the Crows have had their share of criticisms as well. But unlike other bands in similar situations (i.e. Hootie & The Blowfish), the Crows were more reluctant to over-saturate the airwaves with singles or TV appearances.

The creation of the Counting Crows began when Duritz and Bryson met in San Francisco and started playing acoustic shows in local coffeehouses and small clubs, and writing songs together. They duo called themselves "Sordid Humor."

Other band members were added (Malley, Gillingham, and Steve Bowman) and the band was formed and named after an old English rhyme. The band became favorites in the bay area and soon several record labels were interested in them.

The Counting Crows eventually landed a record contract with Geffen Records subsidiary, DGC Records and recorded a demo.

The Counting Crows first became noticed as a replacement performance at the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies (replacing Van Morrisonto sing"Caravan").

The Counting Crows' debut LP, August And Everything After, was released, but didn't take off until the following year. The LP was considered dark and moody with striking lyrics and expressive vocals and was hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as "one of the best rock releases of the year."

The first track heard on radio and seen on video channels, "Mr. Jones" introduced the group to the country. The LP was praised for its contemplative lyrics and soulful rock sound of Duritz. Eventually, the LP found commercial success and spawned the additional radio tracks, "Round Here" and "Rain King."

# 6Singles Artist of the Year

The Counting Crows appeared on Saturday Night Live.
August And Everything After was certified gold.

The Counting Crows hit the Top 40 with "Mr. Jones."

August And Everything After was certified platinum.
The Counting Crows hit the Top 10 with "Mr. Jones."

The Counting Crows hit #1 for a week with "Mr. Jones."

August And Everything Afterbecame one of the biggest sellers of the year, hitting the Top 10, and continued to sell well into 1995, eventually selling over 7 million copies in the U.S.
The band toured with Cracker, and soon became the spotlight of the tour. Eventually, the band found themselves opening for some of the Rolling Stones dates.
Another track by the Crows that made it to the radio was "Einstein On The Beach" from a compilation LP, DGC Rarities Volume 1.

August And Everything Afterwas certified 2x platinum.

After the success of their debut LP, Counting Crows was lost their drummer, Steve Bowman, who went on to form Third Eye Blind. Bowman was replaced with . Ben Mize, formerly of Cracker. Dan Vickery (guitarist) also joined the group's line-up.
One of the Counting Crows biggest fans and supporters has been David Letterman. When the band appeared on his show, Dave introduced the band with high praise: "Our next guests are one of the best new bands around and this is their debut album here. It's entitled August And Everything After telling you something, if you don't . And I'm have a copy of this, there's something wrong with you."

The Counting Crows hit the Top 40 with "Round Here."

August And Everything After was certified 3x platinum.
The Counting Crows hit the Top 10 with "Round Here."
The Counting Crows topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for a week with "Einstein On The Beach."

Counting Crows won a MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist ("Mr. Jones").

August And Everything After was certified 4x platinum.

The Counting Crows hit the Top 40 with "Rain King."
August And Everything After was certified 5x platinum.

# 136 Singles Artist of the Year

Counting Crows won an American Music Award for Favorite Alternative Band and were nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Album and Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist.

Counting Crows were nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group ("Round Here") and Best New Artist.

The band could be heard on the Clueless soundtrack covering the Psychedelic Furs' song, "The Ghost In You."

# 91 Singles Artist of the Year

August And Everything After was certified 6x platinum.

The Counting Crow's second LP, Recovering The Satelliteswas released and debuted at #1. Track such as "Angels Of The Silences" and the Top 10, "A Long December" continued the band's popularity on radio and video channels. The LP continued the Crow's ability to create moody rock ballads and catchy alternative tracks. Like their debut LP, Recovering The Satellites continued Durtiz's introspective songwriting and now focused more on the pros and cons of fame.
August And Everything After was certified 7x platinum.
The Counting Crows hit the Top 40 with "Angels Of The Silences."
Recovering The Satellitestopped the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart for a week.

Recovering The Satellites was certified platinum.
The Counting Crows hit the Top 40 with "A Long December."

# 29 Singles Artist of the Year

The Counting Crows hit the Top 10 with "A Long December."

Recovering The Satellites was certified 2x platinum.
The band hit the Top 40 with "Daylight Fading."

The Counting Crows performed for VH1's Storytellers.

The Counting Crows were nominated for a MTV Video Music Awardfor Best Group Video("A Long December").

The band performed live for MTV's Live From The 10 Spot.
The Counting Crows found some problems during touring when Duritz was ordered by doctors to take 4 days off from singing due to throat problems. The fear was that any straining of his vocal chord nodes could result in permanent damage. The band missed a few appearances on their tour with The Wallflowers but were soon back into the action.

The Counting Crows released a 2-CD set, Across A Wire - Live In New Yorkfeaturing 21 live tracks from Live At The 10 Spot (recorded for MTV on November 6, 1997 at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York) and Storytellers (recorded for VH1 on August 12, 1997 at Chelsea Studios in New York).
Duritz talked with SonicNet about work on their next LP: "I play a ton of xylophone on this album. It's really good for figuring out pure melody lines. I don't know whether they'll end up as xylophone parts... they might be on some other instrument, but I keep hearing them in my head as xylophone parts, and then I lay them down as xylophone tracks."

Across A Wire - Live In New York was certified gold.

# 100 Singles Artist of the Year

A track by the Counting Crows, "Colorblind," could be found on the soundtrack for Cruel Intentions.

The Counting Crows performed at Woodstock '99 in New York and performed 4 dates in Canada.
The band spent most of the year in the studio recording a new LP, This Desert Life. Duritz told SonicNet: "We made this album without writing any songs before we started. That really freed up the sound a bit because we didn't have any preconceptions, and I think that worked really well. Nobody had any rules about what they could do."

The band took part in NetAid.

The Counting Crows hit the Top 40 with "Hanginaround."
This Desert Life was released.

This Desert Life was certified gold.

# 118 Singles Artist of the Year

The Counting Crows hit the Top 10 with "Hanginaround."
This Desert Life was certified platinum.

# 146 Singles Artist of the Year

The Counting Crows released Hard Candy.
The Counting Crows opened for The Who.
The Counting Crows hit the Top 40 with "American Girl."
Hard Candy topped the Billboard Internet Album Sales chart.

Hard Candy was certified gold.

# 82 Singles Artist of the Year

The Counting Crows hit the Top 40 with Vanessa Carlton on their cover of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" used in the filmTwo Weeks Notice.

The Counting Crows began a co-headlined tour with John Mayer.

The Counting Crows released Films About Ghosts - The Best Of....

# 84 Singles Artist of the Year

Films About Ghosts - The Best Of... was certified gold.

The Counting Crows could be heard on the soundtrack for Shrek 2 with "Accidentally In Love."

The Counting Crows hit the Top 40 with "Accidentally In Love."

The single "Big Yellow Taxi" was certified gold.

# 109 on the Top Pop Artists of the Past 25 Years chart.

The Counting Crows were nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song ("Accidentally In Love").
The single "Accidentally In Love" was certified gold.

The Counting Crows were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media (awarded to the songwriter) ("Accidentally In Love").
The Counting Crows were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song ("Accidentally In Love").
The single "Accidentally In Love" was certified platinum.

Across A Wire - Live In New York was certified platinum.

New Amsterdam: Live At Heineken Music Hallwas released - a live set from 2003.

VH1: 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's included "Mr. Jones" at # 27.

Counting Crows released Saturday Nights And Sunday Mornings.

Counting Crows topped the Billboard Top Digital Albums chart with Saturday Nights And Sunday Mornings.

Counting Crows released August & Everything After: Live From Town Hall.

Counting Crows released Underwater Sunshine.

Counting Crows released Echoes Of The Outlaw Roadshow.

• September 2: Counting Crows released Somewhere Under Wonderland.

• May 21: Counting Crows released the EP Butter Miracle Suite One.

	August And Everything AfterReleased: September, 1993 US: 7x Platinum Billboard peak: # 4 Tracks: "Round Here" - "Omaha" - "Mr. Jones" - "Perfect Blue Buildings" - "Anna Begins" - "Time And Time Again" - "Rain King" - "Sullivan Street" - "Ghost Train" - "Raining In Baltimore" - "A Murder Of One"
	Recovering The SatellitesReleased: October, 1996 US: 2x Platinum Billboard peak: # 1 (for 1 week) Rolling Stone review: Tracks: "Catapult" - "Angels Of The Silences" - "Daylight Fading" - "I'm Not Sleeping" - "Goodnight Elisabeth" - "Children In Bloom" - "Have You Seen Me Lately?" - "Miller's Angels" - "Another Horsedreamer's Blues" - "Recovering The Satellites" - "Monkey" - "Mercury" - "A Long December" - "Walkaways"
	Across A Wire - Live In New YorkReleased: July, 1998 US: Platinum Billboard peak: # 19 Rolling Stone review: Live Tracks: "Round Here" - "Have You Seen Me Lately?" - "Angels Of The Silences" - "Catapult" - "Mr. Jones" - "Rain King" - "Mercury" - "Ghost Train" - "Anna Begins" - "Recovering The Satellites" - "Angels Of The Silences" - "Rain King" - "Sullivan Street" - "Children In Bloom" - "Have You Seen Me Lately?" - "Raining In Baltimore" - "Round Here" - "I'm Not Sleeping" - "A Murder Of One" - "A Long December" - "Walkways"
	This Desert LifeReleased: November, 1999 US: Platinum Billboard peak: # 8 Rolling Stone review: Tracks: "Hanginaround" - "Mrs. Potter's Lullaby" - "Amy Hit The Atmosphere" - "Four Days" - "All My Friends" - "High Life" - "Colorblind" - "I Wish I Was A Girl" - "Speedway" - "St. Robinson In His Cadillac Dream"
	Hard CandyReleased: July, 2002 US: Gold Billboard peak: # 5 Rolling Stone review: Tracks: "Hard Candy" - "American Girls" - "Good Time" - "If I Could Give All My Love (Richard Manuel Is Dead)" - "Goodnight L.A." - "Butterfly In Reverse" - "Miami" - "New Frontier" - "Carriage" - "Black And Blue" - "Why Should You Come When I Call?" - "Up All Night (Frankie Miller Goes To Hollywood) - "Holiday In Spain" - "Big Yellow Taxi"
	Films About Ghosts - The Best Of...Released: November, 2003 US: Gold Billboard peak: # 32 Tracks: "Angels Of The Silences" - "Round Here" - "Rain King" - "A Long December" - "Hanginaround" - "Mrs. Potters Lullaby" - "Mr. Jones" - "Recovering The Satellites" - "American Girls" - "Big Yellow Taxi" - "Omaha" - "Friend Of The Devil" - "Einstein On The Beach (For An Eggman)" - "Anna Begins" - "Holiday In Spain" - "She Don't Want Nobody"
	New Amsterdam: Live At Heineken Music HallReleased: June, 2006 US: Gold Billboard peak: # 52 Live Tracks: "Rain King" - "Richard Manuel Is Dead" - "Catapult" - "Goodnight LA" - "Four White Stallions" - "Omaha" - "Miami" - "Hazy" - "Good Time" - "St. Robinson In His Cadillac Dream" - "Perfect Blue Buildings" - "Hanginaround" - "Goodnight Elisabeth" - "Hard Candy" - "Holiday In Spain"
	Saturday Nights And Sunday MorningsReleased: March, 2008 Billboard peak: # 3 Rolling Stone: - Entertainment Weekly: B- Tracks: "1492" - "Hanging Tree" - "Los Angeles" - "Sundays" - "Insignificant" - "Cowboys" - "Washington Squeeze" - "On Almost Any Sunday Morning" - "When I Dream Of Michelangelo" - "Anyone But You" - "You Can't Count On Me" - "Le Ballet D'or" - "On A Tuesday In Amsterdam Long Ago" - "Come Around"
	August & Everything After: Live From Town HallReleased: August, 2011 Live Tracks: "Round Here" - "Omaha" - "Mr. Jones" - "Perfect Blue Buildings" - "Anna Begins" - "Time And Time Again" - "Rain King" - "Sullivan Street" - "Ghost Train" - "Murder Of One"
Amazon.mp3	Underwater SunshineReleased: April, 2012 Tracks: "Untitled (Love Song)" - "Start Again" - "Hospital" - "Mercy" - "Meet On The Ledge" - "Like Teenage Gravity" - "Amie" - "COming Around" - "Ooh La La" - "All My Failures" - "Return Of The Grevious Angel" - "Four White Stallions" - "Jumping Jesus" - "You Ain't Going Nowhere" - "The Ballad Of El Goodo"
Amazon.mp3	Echoes Of The Outlaw Roadshow Released: November 11, 2013 Tracks: "Girl From The North Country" - "Round Here" - "Untitled (Love Song)" - "Four Days" - "Hospital" - "Carriage" - "Start Again" - "I Wish I Was A Girl" - "Sundays" - "Mercury" - "Friend Of The Devil" - "Rain King" - "Le Ballet D'or" - "Up All Night" (Frankie Miller Goes To Hollywood)" - "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere"
iTunes Amazon.mp3 vinyl	Somewhere Under Wonderland Released: September 2, 2014 Billboard Top 200 LPs peak: # 6 Tracks: "Palisades Park" - "Earthquake Driver" - "Dislocation" - "God Of Ocean Tides" - "Scarecrow" - "Elvis Went To Hollywood" - "Cover up The Sun" - "John Appleseed's Lament" - "Possibility Days"
iTunes Amazon.mp3 vinyl	Butter Miracle Suite One (EP) Released: May 21, 2021 Tracks: "The Tall Grass" - "Elevator Boots" - "Angel Of 14th Street" - "Bobby And The Rat-Kings"