A Nice Pair: The Black Crowes

It’s Sunday and we’re back with another Nice Pair: book and music pairings that go together like lazy summer days and blissfully losing track of time. Today we’re pairing the memoir Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of The Black Crowes by Steve Gorman with the album Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes Live at The Greek.

Hard to Handle is Steve Gorman’s unflinching account of his time as drummer for The Black Crowes, charting the band’s explosive rise and turbulent unravelling. With sharp insight and dry humour, he exposes the inner chaos – especially the volatile dynamic between brothers Chris and Rich Robinson – that plagued the group despite their musical brilliance. It’s a backstage pass to rock stardom, dysfunction, and the cost of ego.

Live at the Greek captures the fiery collaboration between Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes during their 1999 shows in Los Angeles, delivering high-voltage performances of Led Zeppelin classics and blues standards. Originally released in 2000, the album was reissued in 2025 with remastered sound and 16 previously unreleased tracks, including Black Crowes originals that were left off the first version. It’s a dynamic fusion of legendary guitar work and Southern rock swagger, now fully realized in its expanded form.