Counting Crows August and Everything After Review
A few days ago, I was thumbing through youtube and listening to random stuff that popped up, sometimes that’s the best thing to do when I’m not really looking to listen to something intently. However, I came across a recent Rick Beato interview with Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows. I couldn’t help but watch and, in that interview, I found beauty, fun and the story of an album that I deeply admire and have a great kinship with – August & Everything After. So, let’s flashback on that album and that time in my life.
In 1993 I was in the tenth grade, I should’ve been graduating but fucking up is something that I’ve always excelled at above all else. This was also the year that my drug usage would spiral out of control and that monkey would be on my back for the next several years and if not for my older brother, I wouldn’t have made it out of the tenth grade (He busted my ass and paid for summer school when I flunked the grade due to cutting class, not caring and oh yeah the drugs…) Story of my life – I’m the King of Shitfuck Mountain, but my brother was always there to get me out of it, somehow, some way. My wife whom was I dating at the time deserves some accolades too, between her and my older brother, I’m still standing today…
Now that I’ve painted a gritty picture of what 1993 looked like from my point of view, let’s talk about one of the most important albums of that year for me and still possibly one of the most important albums to me period. Counting Crows – August & Everything After… I’ve never been a big Pop guy or trend follower, specifically when it comes to my music whether listening or playing it. I like and prefer it out of the way, unique and I want it to fucking mean something. The 90’s were a terrible time for most of all music, I don’t give a damned what anyone says, if you think differently, you’re entitled to that opinion, but odds are we ain’t friends and we damned sure can’t see eye to eye on much. The 90’s to me were a time for redirection and getting turned back onto Rockabilly, Americana, Alt. Country and Indy type stuff. I just couldn’t fucking stand Grunge, I didn’t get it at all, the music was slack as fuck, the production was iffy and it lacked saying anything. The flashy guitar parts and great vocals from the 80's were traded in for dudes that didn’t bathe, they wore shitty clothes, mumbled nonsensical lyrics and looked down at their shoes and people ate it up… NOT ME, HELL NO! I looked for the offbeat stuff and the year before I’d gotten turned onto the band Cracker who were Folk Punk/Alt. Country or something along those lines. I’m sure there’s a better term nowadays, but it was folky, and it had a Punk edge, and it turned me on hard, it spoke to the Hillbilly in me and the music was tough enough to make me feel some kinda way. It was my love for Cracker that sent me searching for bands that fell into that vibe and that’s when I found the Counting Crows. I believe a lot of folks considered and still consider the band to be Alternative Rock. I’m not sure what it’s an Alternative too, really? They’re a Rock band with a flair for throwback vibes from the 70’s and a bit of Rhythm/Blues and Americana tossed in for seasoning.
The Crows first single “Mr. Jones” was an instant hit on the radio and the kids were eating up, I fell head over hills with the song long enough to purchase the album. The chorus was cool, and the lyrics were neat, but the musical feel of the tune was what really got me. It had a hillbilly swing without being too country-fried to turn me off. I also really loved the clean guitar approach in the riff and the production was simplistic and coming out of the 80’s music scene, it was powerful as hell. The drugs I was on also had me in my feelings too – I wanted to hang with that guy, do some drugs and chase those chics that he was singing about. The next single “Round Here” was the song that pushed the band over the edge of infamy, but to me it was just the first track on the album, as I’d had the release before it was released as a single. There’s a brilliant riff that starts the song off and if you’re paying attention, this specific riff never really stops, it goes on for almost the entire song and it just feels fucking great. But let’s talk about some real feel good – the lyrics hit like a bag of hammers specifically to a young teen who was on the brink of disaster, always one step from the edge. The lyrics in this track were a snapshot of what it was like living in my own skin. Vocalist, Duritz was writing lyrics and speaking my life through the P.O.V. of a troubled young girl who was trying to make her own way… “She has trouble acting normal when she’s nervous”. Or let’s go one better “Then she looks up at the building. says she's thinking of jumping, she says she's tired of life, she must be tired of something”. I was fucking there, I just couldn’t get my shit together, but this track spoke so deeply to me. Of course, there was another single off the album “Rain King” which is another one of those folky Alt. Country digs that just rips and swings, but it didn’t speak to me as much as the tracks I’ve mentioned. I could be wrong, but I believe these were the singles off the album and if that’s where you stopped because you didn’t pick the album up, that’s where you dropped the ball… It’s the deep cuts on this album that really solidify its place in music history.
Personally, I’m a fan of music that speaks my soul, I want to relate to it, I want it to talk to me with every listen, but more than that I want it to speak for me when I don’t have the words. Several songs on this album nailed this for me during this time in my life. They spoke of love, confusion, longing, winning and losing and ultimately the need to be somebody. I married the young lady that stars in the track “Anna Begins”, no it wasn’t written directly about her, but it may as well have been, specifically in this era of our relationship. My mind was wrecked on drugs, and I was really lost but my girl was the shining light in my life and the one reason I had to get right. And she was SO hard to hold, it wasn’t because she was wild, it was because she was unsure of life, and she didn’t know if the love between us was real, and I didn’t help her because I was fucking up at every turn. She wanted to be certain that every move she made was the correct one, she wanted to be right, she still does even after all these years. This track was her bio for me and even now when I listen to it, it gives me chills and makes me weepy. The lyric “Her kindness bangs a gong; it’s moving me along” explains my life with her perfectly. The music on this track is perfect too, the swing groove is huge, and the drums are up front, and, in your face, it just makes you feel it even more. The track “Sullivan Street” is like a ballad of sorts, but with a twist, it kind of moves along like a Billy Joel track vibe wise, but again, it’s the lyrics and the feel of the song that mean so much. This one hit me hard due to the current home life I was living, I wasn’t wanted in my home, I’d been thrown out a few years prior and then I was thrown out of the other place I was at, so my folks took me back in, but I still wasn’t wanted. And that wasn’t hidden to me, I was reminded of it often, it was excruciating to be there. Somehow, I managed to stay long enough to get myself graduated and get the fuck out. The only way I can explain how I did it was because of the drugs; they made me numb to the hell that I was in. This song was a source of strength, and it made me look forward to feeling something other than anxiety and grief. “Raining In Baltimore” is a legit Piano ballad that also perfectly described the life I was living too. The drugs, the so-called friends and the enemies that I was living with physically and the enemy that stared back at me in the mirror every day, that I absolutely couldn’t get away from. “I really needed a raincoat” for sure! And now we come to the end of the album, never mind that I haven’t mentioned a few other tracks that meant a great deal. HA! The last track “A Murder of One” is a smoking ass tune that sends the band out on a legit high. It’s a perfect blend of Americana mixed with Alt. Country and just damned good Rock N’ Roll. The drum beat here is probably one of my most overused grooves when it comes to my own drumming. I lifted it, and it blended in so well with the shuffling techniques that I’d been using for years in my playing that I just couldn’t help but add it to my bag of tricks. I still use it today and I make ZERO apologies for it.
I realize that this has been more of a babbling experience than a flashback review, but this is one of those albums that really defines a part of my life – the lost years, when I didn’t have a hope, a care and I didn’t give a fuck if the sun came up. But there was something so promising and giving about the album, the music, the lyrics and the feelings represented throughout. It’s a part of who I am as a person, it's woven deep inside of me and this album never fails to make me smile and normally once I get on it, I stay on it for a few weeks, it still feels good. It’s like a pair of old worn-out jeans or shoes, lots of wear has been had and miles and miles of life have been lived in it. To the outside world I’m a Metalhead and I’ll die that way but The Counting Crows album, August & Everything After deserves a round of applause as it helped me through the darkest of times. It’s the quintessential perfect album and it’s good for any occasion. The album has been properly pressed to vinyl and the vinyl edition is exquisite, the production and arrangements ring out like bells. This was an album meant to be cherished by fans all over the world for many years. I’m here at 32 years with the album and it’s still a sincere favorite of mine. If you’ve never heard it, take a moment and have a listen. If you have heard it, pull it out again and have another listen. It deserves it, you deserve it.