Bad Thing

The Zoo Crew's got Cry of Love's "Bad Thing" from the Brother album spinning right now for all you Zoo Freaks, and this one still packs that raw, roadhouse punch that made the Raleigh, North Carolina outfit stand out in the early nineties. Written by vocalist Kelly Holland, guitarist Audley Freed, and producer John Custer, the track rides a tight groove with Freed's tasty guitar work cutting through Holland's soulful, sandpaper delivery. Pepper Keenan of Corrosion of Conformity dropped in some tremolo guitar that adds an extra layer of grit, while the whole band chipped in on the hand claps that give the song its live, sweaty energy. Recorded down at the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama, the sessions for the entire Brother album wrapped in about four weeks, capturing that bare-bones Southern rock feel the guys had been chasing since they stepped away from the cover-band circuit. "Bad Thing" climbed to number two on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and even hit number sixty on the UK singles chart, proving that classic hard rock still had a place on the airwaves even as other sounds were taking over. It was the kind of song that stretched out nicely in the live sets, letting the band dig into those extended jams they loved when they were out there opening for the big acts.

Brother itself moved over two hundred thousand copies and set the band up for a year and a half of hard touring that included stops with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad Company, ZZ Top, Robert Plant, and Aerosmith. Holland once talked about how the band was an easy mark for critics because they weren't inventing something brand new; they were just playing the music that moved them, pulling from soul, Delta blues, Motown, and the seventies rock they grew up on. He came from North Carolina's Blue Ridge mountains and had put in time sweeping chimneys and making pizzas before the music took over. The name Cry of Love itself came from Jimi Hendrix's posthumous album, a nod that fit their blues-rooted approach even if it later got them labeled a retro act by some writers. Holland said the band drew from the same era as some of their contemporaries but from different kitchens, and he was careful not to slag anybody else while making the point that there was room for everyone.

Getting the band started took some real persistence. Audley Freed, bassist Robert Kearns, and drummer Jason Patterson had been grinding it out on the North Carolina club and fraternity circuit, Freed and Kearns with the legendary cover outfit Sidewinder and Patterson with a later version of the seventies rockers Nantucket. In 1989 they decided to leave the covers behind and start writing originals in Raleigh. Their first singer was Pee Wee Watson, a veteran of Nantucket and its offshoot PKM, but by November 1991 they finally landed on Kelly Holland, who had been their first choice all along. Holland only became available after he chose not to follow his previous band out to Los Angeles. They began cutting demos with friend and producer John Custer, working around other sessions in short bursts that sometimes lasted only a few hours before a long break. Pepper Keenan was rehearsing with Corrosion of Conformity right next door and took one of those unfinished tapes on the road under strict orders not to play it for anyone. Word got around anyway. A friend later played the rough demo for a Columbia A&R representative at a New York party; the tape went into a car stereo, and the next thing the band knew they were told to get a lawyer and negotiate a deal. They signed in August 1992 and were in Muscle Shoals by the start of November, with Brother hitting the streets the following May.

Holland later said it took him a long time to accept that this was really happening. He had been in another band that almost got signed and then got yanked around by labels, so he had built up a defense mechanism and was wary of getting his hopes up again. Once the record was out and the tour kicked in, the four of them locked into a sound that felt natural because they shared those same roots. Freed's guitar style, tight and full of Southern and bluesy edges, drove the songs while the rhythm section kept everything locked in. After the long run supporting Brother, Holland stepped away, saying the constant road life had taken its toll, and the band brought in Robert Mason for a second album before calling it quits in an amicable split in 1997. Holland passed in 2014 after battling a serious abdominal infection, leaving behind that distinctive voice that powered tracks like this one. Freed went on to join the Black Crowes for a stretch that included sharing stages with Jimmy Page, and he later played with Sheryl Crow and a long list of other artists, carrying that same guitar approach forward through the years.

For Zoo Freaks who dig the deep cuts and the stories behind the spins, "Bad Thing" from Brother is pure album-rock gold, the kind of thing that keeps the freeform spirit alive here at THE ZOO. The band may not be out there touring anymore, but the music still rolls on, and fans keep the flame going through groups like the Cry Of Love Appreciation Society on Facebook where folks share memories of those albums and the live shows. It is the kind of rock and roll that feels like it was built for the open road and the late-night radio dial, no flash, just the real thing that still sounds right when the Zoo Crew drops the needle on it.