Raven Mad

It's probably one of the more unlikely cross-cultural, rock ‘n’ roll match-ups. But the current Brotherly Love Tour in the US featuring kick-ass Southern rockers The Black Crowes and erstwhile Brit-poppers Oasis has been a surprising success.

"It's been the most enjoyable tour we've ever done," says the Crowes' drummer Steve Gorman on the line from New York before the two bands take to the stage at Radio City Music Hall. "We like Oasis a lot and we've become good friends with them.”

The two outfits (both featuring brothers in the line-up) met in London three years ago when Noel Gallagher turned up backstage at a Crowes gig, as Gorman explains. "Musicians are like dogs. We sniff each other and we see if we like each other. Noel's a cool guy, he talks about records and guitars and we hit it off right from the beginning.

"Our perception of Oasis is probably a lot different to yours," he adds. "They're not as big in the States as they are in Britain and Europe. They sold a lot of records here but they got into trouble by cancelling shows. I think they're relieved to be away from England to be honest. They've been through their thing in the tabloid spotlight. They've spent a lot of time being rock stars now they've realised that they're in it for the long haul and that touring is what they do."

The Gallagher Brothers aren't the only Brit-rockers to have hooked up with the Black Crowes in recent times. Former Led Zeppelin axe-man Jimmy Page also toured with the band resulting in the mega-selling Live at the Greek album. "That was great on all levels," Gorman offers. "It started out as a one off and it went from there. From his perspective he got to do what he loves the most which is to play. There wasn't any pressure on him to sound like Led Zeppelin. He didn't look up and see Robert Plant and think about the first argument they ever had. Unfortunately the tour was cut short when he hurt his back but we got to do the live album which was great.”

The Black Crowes, often touted as 'the Most Rock'n'Roll Band in the World’, have sold 15 million albums since their 1990 debut Shake Your Money Maker. Their second album the ambitiously titled Southern Harmony And Music Companion hit number one in the US reaching number two in the UK putting them on a par with like-minded rockers Guns N' Roses and Aerosmith. Despite their origins Gorman refutes the notion that The Black Crowes are just another Southern rock act with redneck appeal

"We never saw that whole Southern connection," he says. "None of us sat around listening to The Allman Brothers Live at Fillmore and if we did we be saying how the fuck did they do that! The first time I listened to Lynyrd Skynyrd was in 1992. I think they're a great band but it wasn't where we were coming from. If you want to look at a Southern band that we were all into in the early days it was probably REM when they were touring the small clubs around the South."

Now based in New York the Crowes new album Lions, produced by Don Was, was recorded in an old Yiddish musical theatre on Manhattan's lower East Side. "It's an environment that suited us well," Gorman says. "There was no receptionist and there wasn't some other band's gold records up on the wall. It just felt like our own world for the time we were there. Don [Was] has always been a fan of the band. If he brought anything to us it was more of ourselves. It was just 'let's make the record'. He knew what buttons to push and I don't mean technical buttons. We were recording on the fire escape and in the bathroom. I used one mike hanging over the drums. It just felt a better way to record and I think it comes out in the album.”

Lions is out now on V2 Records.