Editing The Black Crowes (section)

===Formation: 1984–1989===
[[File:Hard Rock Cafe Atlanta The Black Crowes.JPG|alt=A golden guitar on the wall|thumb|A tribute to the band in an Atlanta [[Hard Rock Cafe]]]]
The first incarnation of the band, "Mr. Crowe's Garden", named after [[Leonard Leslie Brooke]]'s [[children's book]] ''Johnny Crow's Garden'', formed in 1984 in [[Atlanta, Georgia]].<ref name="LarkinHR">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=1999|edition=First|isbn=0-7535-0257-7|pages=60/2}}</ref> Influenced by contemporary local acts like [[R.E.M.]], as well as 1960s [[psychedelic pop]] and classic [[Southern rock]], they gradually evolved into a [[revivalist artist|revivalist]] band dedicated to 1970s-era [[blues rock]].<ref name="stone">"[https://web.archive.org/web/20070312042618/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theblackcrowes/biography Biography: The Black Crowes]." ''[[Rolling Stone]]''. Taken from ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'' (Simon & Schuster, 2001)</ref> Although the band has had a high turnover rate throughout their history, the driving force behind the band has always been brothers [[Chris Robinson (singer)|Chris]] and [[Rich Robinson]], who initially formed the band while attending [[George Walton Comprehensive High School|Walton High School]].

The first professional demo the Robinson brothers did was for [[A&M Records]] in 1987. The band's manager at the time, Dave Macias, got in touch with A&M rep Aaron Jacoves, from Los Angeles, who offered the band a 'demo' deal and arranged the band's first of several demo sessions. It was held at Steve Gronback's studio in Carrboro, North Carolina. They were paid $2,000 by Jacoves to cover production costs. Jeff Sullivan (of [[Drivin N Cryin]] fame) played drums on the first demo,<ref name="LarkinHR"/> while subsequent demo recordings featured [[Steve Gorman]] on the drums.<ref name="LarkinHR"/> Gorman played on the subsequent A&M demos in [[Carrboro, North Carolina]], during mid and late 1987, although as a guest drummer at first until he officially joined Mr. Crowe's Garden later that year. The band was originally offered a record deal in 1987 under the label "Dog Gone" by [[R.E.M.]]'s manager [[Jefferson Holt]] but declined.

The band played as a quartet in [[New York City]] clubs such as "Drums" and [[CBGB]] in 1988. In 1989 the band - which had stabilized as a five-piece including the Robinsons, Gorman, [[Johnny Colt]] and Jeff Cease<ref name="LarkinHR"/> - met [[George Drakoulias]], who signed the band at [[Def American]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Buckley|first=Peter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ctjc6UWCm4C&q=the+black+crowes&pg=PP107|title=The Rough Guide to Rock|date=2003|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=978-1-84353-105-0|pages=99|language=en}}</ref> Drakoulias turned the band on to music it had not heard before like [[The Faces]] and [[Humble Pie]]. Under Drakoulias' influence, the band began covering [[the Rolling Stones]] and Rich began playing in open-G tunings for Mr. Crowe's Garden songs.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gorman|first=Steve|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-HODDwAAQBAJ&q=mr+crowes+garden&pg=PT59|title=Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of the Black Crowes--A Memoir|date=September 24, 2019|publisher=Hachette Books|isbn=978-0-306-92201-5|language=en}}</ref> At this point, the band also changed their name, and considered ideas such as "The Heartless Crowes" and "The Stone Mountain Crowes", before settling on "The Black Crowes".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wilson|first=Dave|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tOpB23GGxAIC&q=mr+crowes+garden&pg=PA105|title=Rock Formations: Categorical Answers to how Band Names Were Formed|date=2004|publisher=Cidermill Books|isbn=978-0-9748483-5-8|pages=105–106|language=en}}</ref>