Counting Crows

Counting Crows is an American rock band from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of rhythm guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bassist Millard Powers, and lead guitarist Dan Vickrey. Past members include the drummers Steve Bowman and Ben Mize, and bassist Matt Malley.
Counting Crows gained popularity following the release of their first album, August and Everything After. With the breakthrough hit single "Mr. Jones", the album sold more than seven million copies in the United States. The band received two Grammy Awards nominations in 1994, one for "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" and one for "Best New Artist". The follow-up album, Recovering the Satellites, reached number one on the US Billboard 200 album chart and reached number one in several other countries. All but one of their subsequent albums reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200 list.
Their hit singles include the aforementioned "Mr. Jones" as well as "Rain King", "A Long December", "Hanginaround", and a cover version of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi". Counting Crows received a 2004 Academy Award nomination for the single "Accidentally in Love", which was included in the film Shrek 2. The band has sold more than 20 million albums and is known for its dynamic live performances. Billboard has also ranked the band as the 8th greatest Adult Alternative Artist of all time.
The band released the album Somewhere Under Wonderland in 2014. They released a four-song EP in 2021 titled Butter Miracle, Suite One. This was expanded into Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets!, a full-length album with five additional songs at the start, in May 2025.

Origin of band name

The band name is derived from "One for Sorrow", a British divination nursery rhyme about the superstitious counting of magpies, which are members of the crow family. Singer Adam Duritz heard the rhyme in the film Signs of Life, which starred his close friend, actress Mary-Louise Parker.
Here is one modern version of the rhyme:
The rhyme is featured in the song "A Murder of One" on the band's debut album, August and Everything After.

History

1990s

1991–1992: Formation and early years

Adam Duritz, former member of the San Francisco Bay Area band the Himalayans, and producer/guitarist David Bryson formed Counting Crows in San Francisco in 1991. They began as an acoustic duo, playing gigs in and around Berkeley and San Francisco. Another friend, guitarist David Immerglück, played with them from time to time, though he was not an official member of the group, and experimented with other musicians in the area. As the emerging band recorded some demos, and as other musicians joined the duo to make a full band, Immerglück recorded with the band on some of the songs for its first album. He declined to join the band at the time, because of his membership in two other locally popular bands, Monks of Doom and Camper Van Beethoven. By 1993, the band had grown to a stable lineup of Duritz as vocalist, occasional pianist, and primary songwriter, Bryson on guitar, Matt Malley playing bass guitar, Charlie Gillingham on keyboards, and Steve Bowman as drummer, and the band was a regular in the Bay Area scene.
When Gary Gersh of Geffen Records heard the band's demo tape, he was "blown away". A bidding war between nine different record labels broke out in February 1992. In April, the band—which, by that time, included other members—"signed a deal with Gersh and Geffen believed to be so lucrative that industry wags dubbed them Accounting Crows". On January 16, 1993, the band, still relatively unknown, filled in for Van Morrison at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, and was introduced by an enthusiastic Robbie Robertson. At the ceremony, they played a cover of Van Morrison's "Caravan".
Before signing to Geffen, the band recorded demo versions of a number of songs, known as the 'Flying Demos'. These later surfaced among the Counting Crows fanbase. Tracks include "Rain King", "Omaha", "Anna Begins", "Einstein on the Beach ", "Shallow Days", "Love and Addiction", "Mr. Jones", "Round Here", "40 Years", "Margery Dreams of Horses", "Bulldog", "Lightning", and "We're Only Love".

1993–1994: ''August and Everything After'' and popular success

The band's debut album, August and Everything After, was released in September 1993. The album's first single, "Mr. Jones", refers to Marty Jones and Kenney Dale Johnson. It describes the desire of working musicians to make it big and the fantasies they entertain about what fame might bring. Duritz sang the song in fun, enjoying the fantasy; he did not realize that just months later, in December 1993, MTV would begin playing the video for the song. "Mr. Jones" was a breakthrough hit, drawing massive radio play and launching the band into stardom. In 2018, the Chicago Sun-Times described August and Everything After as follows:

"August And Everything After" the Bay Area septet with its hippie-inspired, roots-rock-infiltrating hits "Mr. Jones", "Round Here", and "Rain King",. Counting Crows eschewed the trend, happily wearing their time-stamped influences like Van Morrison and The Band on their patchwork sleeves, and found an audience who agreed with them. That first album went on to become a seven-times-platinum success in the U.S. alone, at the time the fastest-selling record since Nirvana's Nevermind.

With "Mr. Jones" propelling the band forward, and with positive reviews from Rolling Stone and other publications, it was decided that the band could use a second guitarist, and Dan Vickrey, another Bay Area musician was offered the role as lead guitarist, singing backing vocals. The band toured extensively in 1993 and 1994, both as headliners and in supporting roles with other artists, including the Rolling Stones, Cracker, the Cranberries, Suede, Bob Dylan, Los Lobos, Jellyfish, and Midnight Oil. In 1994, the band appeared on Saturday Night Live and Late Show with David Letterman. The album sold seven million copies in the U.S. The band received two Grammy nominations in 1994; one for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal and one for Best New Artist.
Success took a toll on Counting Crows; Duritz suffered a widely reported nervous breakdown, which was not his first. Towards the end of 1994, Bowman was fired from the band. He was replaced on drums by Ben Mize.

1995–1998: ''Recovering the Satellites'' and double live album

The band played only two gigs in 1995. This allowed Duritz to write a set of songs that became the band's second album, Recovering the Satellites. Released October 15, 1996, it was heavier than August and Everything After. A response to the sudden fame that "Mr. Jones" had brought, it contains lyrics such as "These days I feel like I'm fading away / Like sometimes when I hear myself on the radio" and "Gonna get back to basics / Guess I'll start it up again". Dealing with the theme of Duritz's unease with his newfound fame, the album was described as "a concept album of sorts about trying to pick up the pieces of a family, a social life and a psyche shattered by fame". This album contained the single "A Long December", which was a number one hit in Canada and a Top 10 hit in the United States.
On July 2, 1997, Counting Crows started off a co-headlining tour with the Wallflowers that continued to September. The tour included opening acts by Bettie Serveert, Engine 88, Gigolo Aunts and That Dog, with each opening band touring for three-weeks. After nine months of near-constant touring in support of the album, Duritz developed nodules on his vocal cords in July 1997, leading to the cancellation of a number of gigs. After taking time off to recover, the band toured for the rest of 1997, concluding with a MTV show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. This concert was released as half of a double live album, Across a Wire: Live in New York City. The other disc was a recording of a predominantly acoustic set from the band's appearance on the VH1 Storytellers show.

1999–2001: ''This Desert Life'' and extensive touring

In 1999, Counting Crows performed at Woodstock 99. Later that same year, the band released This Desert Life, sales of which were propelled by the success of "Hanginaround" and "Colorblind", which was also featured in the movie Cruel Intentions. Supporting the album, the band embarked on a co-headlining tour with alternative rock band Live. Counting Crows closed nearly every show. Before this album and subsequent tour, the band invited session player and long-time friend David Immerglück to join the band as a permanent member. Immerglück had played on every Counting Crows album as a sideman, but early on had declined a permanent position. This time, however, Immerglück agreed. He plays a variety of instruments with the band, including acoustic, electric and pedal steel guitars, slide guitar and mandolin, as well as backing vocals.

2000s

2002–2003: ''Hard Candy'' and greatest hits album

On July 9, 2002, the band released its fourth studio album, Hard Candy. The album included a cover of Joni Mitchell's song "Big Yellow Taxi". Vanessa Carlton contributed backing vocals to the single edit of the track, which appeared on the soundtrack for Two Weeks Notice and was re-released on future Hard Candy albums. The original version, without vocals by Carlton, appeared on the first album release as a hidden track. Hard Candy received better reviews than the previous efforts, with "radio friendly" songs, like "American Girls", and contains a more upbeat feel and tempo. The band toured with the Dutch band, Bløf. A song, "Holiday in Spain", came together as a result of the camaraderie between the two groups: it is sung partly as a dual language duet, and partly as a musical "round", with both lead singers singing in differing languages at the end of the song.
Midway through the Hard Candy tour, drummer Mize amicably left the band to spend more time with his family and pursue his own musical interests. After Mize completed the American leg of the tour, he was replaced by Jim Bogios, formerly a drummer with Ben Folds and Sheryl Crow. Jim attributes leaving Sheryl Crow for Counting Crows to becoming a band member and having more creative input. Following the Hard Candy tour, longtime bassist Malley left the band after growing weary of touring, and to attend to his duties as a new father. He was replaced by Millard Powers.
Counting Crows released the greatest hits album Films About Ghosts in November 2003.