Just six songs into their set at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on Friday, April 12, The Black Crowes were joined by the Rolling Stones‘ Ronnie Wood who joined the band for a rendition of his 1971 Faces hit “Stay With Me.”
Chris Robinson introduced Wood early in the set, following the band’s new song “Cross Your Fingers,” from their ninth album, Happiness Bastards, as a man who “doesn’t need an introduction but he’s going to get one.”
The Black Crowes haven’t performed “Stay With Me” live since 1990 had have previously covered several Faces songs, including “Glad and Sorry” and “You’re So Rude” with late Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan during their concert in Austin in 2010.
Written by Wood and fellow Faces co-founder Rod Stewart, “Stay With Me” was released on the band’s third album A Nod’s as Good as a Wink… To a Blind Horse, which went to No. 2 on the UK chart and reached No. 6 on the Billboard 200. “Stay With Me” was also the band’s biggest hit in the U.S., hitting the Top 20 of the Hot 100 chart at No. 17 and peaking at No. 6 in the UK.
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[RELATED: Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood “Struggling” With First New Faces Album in 50 Years]
Faces released their debut album First Step in 1970, followed by Long Player and A Nod Is As Good As a Wink… to a Blind Horse in 1971, and Ooh La La in 1973 before breaking up in 1975. Bassist Ronnie Lane died in 1997 at age 51, and McLagan followed in 2014 at age 69. In 2021, the surviving members of The Faces, Wood, Stewart, and drummer Kenney Jones revealed that they had recorded 14 new songs and had plans to tour.
The band reunited several times throughout the decades, including a brief reunion tour from 2010 through 2011, and other shows through 2020. In 2015, the band performed at a charity event in 2015, and closed the Brit Awards in 2020 with their 1971 hit “Stay With Me.”
[RELATED: Digital Cover Story: The Black Crowes are the ‘Happiness Bastards’]
Though Crowes’ brothers Chris and Rich Robinson have had their differences throughout the years, the siblings reunited in 2020 for the 30th anniversary of The Black Crowes’ 1990 debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, and later regrouped to work on Happiness Bastards.
“I have a studio in my house, so I started recording songs and music and sending it to Chris [in L.A.], and he would write stuff and send it back,” said Rich, who is based in Nashville, in a recent interview with American Songwriter. “We had this bedrock of a bunch of songs that we could start with. The songs always dictate what the record’s going to be, typically. It’s almost like a jigsaw puzzle. You throw everything on the table. Certain things fit, certain things don’t, and then that’s just kind of how it happens.”
Currently on their Happiness Bastards Tour, the North American leg of the tour kicked off on April 2 at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and will wrap up on May 7 with a concert at The Met in Philadelphia.
[Get Tickets to The Black Crowes’ Happiness Bastards Tour at StubHub]
The European portion of the tour will start on May 14 in Manchester, U.K., and run through June 9 in Mérida, Spain along with the band’s appearance at Sweden Rock Festival, June 5-8 in Sôlvesborg, Sweden.
Wood is also set to hit the road with The Rolling Stones The Stones, who released their first album of new material in nearly 20 years with Hackney Diamonds in 2023. The Stones’ tour kicks off on April 28 in Houston, Texas, and runs through July 17 in Santa Clara, California.
[Get Tickets to The Rolling Stones on StubHub]
Photos: Courtesy of The Black Crowes / R&CPMK
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