Ex-THE BLACK CROWES Drummer On His Memoir: 'I Chose To Write The Book Very Much From My Personal Perspective'

Former THE BLACK CROWES drummer Steve Gorman spoke to "FOX 17 Rock And Review" about his book, "Hard To Handle: The Life And Death Of The Black Crowes - A Memoir", which was published in September by Da Capo Press. The book was recently described by Rolling Stone magazine as "one of the most jaw-droppingly entertaining rock books in years, painting the recently reunited Chris and Rich Robinson as constantly at war, and tragically intent on destroying their own band's potential."

Said Gorman: "I chose to write the book very much from my personal perspective. It is honest. I didn't see any reason to write it if I wasn't gonna really speak my mind and tell my story.

"A rock and roll band is just a context of this story between all these people; it's how I always looked at it," he continued. "I didn't write the rock and roll version of 'The Sopranos', but that's a family show; they just happen to be in the mob. And this is a story about friendship and loyalty and betrayal and addiction and codependency and a lot of elements that, really, I think anybody can relate to in their own life. I mean, along the way, we do play shows with Jimmy Page; I mean, that's kind of cool. And along the way, we do make records that I'm still forever proud of. But, ultimately, it's all about the connections that were made and then lost along the years."

In "Hard To Handle", Gorman writes that being in a band with Chris Robinson "was like sharing a house with an arsonist. Every waking moment was spent putting out potential fires that threatened to burn up the rest of us." He also says that the singer acts "like a cult leader," that he "failed as both a hippie and a capitalist" and that he is "the angriest person I've ever known."

As for Rich Robinson, Gorman says the guitarist "lived his entire life in Chris's shadow. He wasn't happy there, but he couldn't imagine anything else."

Gorman recently said that he was not surprised to see Chris and Rich Robinson teaming up with new musicians to perform THE BLACK CROWES' entire debut album, "Shake Your Money Maker", on a 30th-anniversary tour in 2020.

THE BLACK CROWES launched the reunion with a concert on November 11 at New York City's Bowery Ballroom and took the stage again on November 14 at Los Angeles's Troubadour club. The official tour kicks off properly on June 17 at Austin's Austin360 Amphitheater in Austin wraps on September 19 at the Forum in L.A. Joining the brothers will be a all new lineup of THE CROWES featuring EARTHLESS guitarist Isaiah Mitchell, former TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND bassist Tim Lefebvre along with ONCE AND FUTURE BAND members Joel Robinow on keyboards and Raj Ojha on drums.

When THE BLACK CROWES announced their split in 2014, Rich issued a statement saying that he loved his brother and respected his talent but that "his present demand that I must give up my equal share of the band and that our drummer for 28 years and original partner, Steve Gorman, relinquish 100 percent of his share … is not something I could agree to."

Photo courtesy of Westwood One