Adam Duritz Knows You Hate Him, Takes Meds That Make Him Fat
After watching Adam hating himself all over a sweet apartment in Counting Crows new video the other day, all we could think was dude needs to get over himself like ten years ago. That's probably the answer to the question posed by the new Rolling Stone piece "Why Can't Adam Duritz Get Any Respect?" But still, the interview by Brian Hiatt is a good read. We learn that Duritz is 43, and lets a pretty Berkeley grad named Emily live in his gigantic NYC apartment. He's not fucking her. In fact, he hasn't slept with most of the pretty ladies you think he has (only one of the two Friends he dated, for example). His dreadlocks are fake. Anti-psychotic meds have made him fat. He had an acid flashback that lasted all of 1986. Emo bands aren't afraid to admit they like Counting Crows. Adam Duritz knows you think Counting Crows suck. But, he says, he's really a nice person.
Read it here.
Posted at 11:48 AM
Tags: Counting Crows
I'm sure Adam's a real sweetheart, but that doesn't make me loathe his band's music any less.
Posted by: grayflannelsuit at March 25, 2008 12:30 PM | ReplyScore = 3
did they do that song about putting up a parking lot? if so, im not much of a fan either. if not...well, i dunno
Posted by: cold war kid at March 25, 2008 12:38 PM | ReplyScore = 0
Can't you just post the Duritz back tattoo and move on?
Posted by: Joe at March 25, 2008 12:38 PM | ReplyScore = -1
fake dreads, emo band love, roommate hanger-on?
what a steaming stanky cup of doucheness
voice of doucheritz pollutes my earholes
Posted by: gimme at March 25, 2008 1:09 PM | ReplyScore = -3
Those "antipsychotic" drugs are hardcore tranquilizers that eventually give you permanent brain damage. I hope Duritz keeps taking his medication.
Posted by: steve at March 25, 2008 1:25 PM | ReplyScore = -7
I don't know if I like the way the interview was written. It was a sort of sympathy-piece more than anything. Like...check out this sack of shit..what a loser. But he seems like a decent guy, and I quite like the band's music.
But Stereogum, don't give us a whole fucking run-through of an interview and then give us a link so we can read over it all again. Leave us with a few surprises at least. It's like saying "Hey, here's a nice apple pie I baked just for you.....by the way, I've already licked it all over".
Posted by: Stephen at March 25, 2008 1:29 PM | ReplyScore = 4
I've met a lot of younger people in my area who follow the mainstream "emo"/"indie rock"/whatever trend, and a lot of them listen to the Gin Blossoms or Counting Crows. They think that they've discovered some hip retro band from the 90s... but they're too young to remember when those bands first came out. I was a teenager in the early 90s, and those bands were considered to be a laughing stock. Counting Crows got glowing reviews from those cornballs at Rolling Stone, but what the fuck do THEY know? Anyway, this makes me wonder which shitty bands from the early 21st century are going to be rediscovered by teenagers in 5 years. Is it going to be all the rage for pseudo-hipsters to name drop Papa Roach and Saliva?
Posted by: steve at March 25, 2008 1:58 PM | ReplyScore = 1
"I've met a lot of younger people in my area who follow the mainstream "emo"/"indie rock"/whatever trend, and a lot of them listen to the Gin Blossoms or Counting Crows. They think that they've discovered some hip retro band from the 90s... but they're too young to remember when those bands first came out."
A.) Why are you hanging out with people that young?
B.) Why do you care about their tastes in music?
C.) Why does anyone care what you think?
ps - unless your a teacher around younger students all day, you should be arrested.
Posted by: qiqi at March 25, 2008 2:08 PM | ReplyScore = 1
Why does anyone care what *you* think?
Posted by: Huph in reply to qiqi's comment at March 25, 2008 2:12 PM | ReplyScore = 0
steve, they'll be name-dropping vampire weekend and morningwood
Posted by: m at March 25, 2008 2:11 PM | ReplyScore = 0
ha ha... i was thinking the same thing.
I will say I do fear a Papa Roach renaissance. That much is true.
Posted by: fatso at March 25, 2008 2:13 PM | ReplyScore = 1
If the Crows had disappeared after Satellites, they would have mountains of cred.
BUt they stuck around and made music for Meg Ryan movies that dont exist and burned it all up.
"Hangin Around" indeed.
Posted by: renaldo at March 25, 2008 2:15 PM | ReplyScore = -2
too true renaldo, too true
Posted by: buns in reply to renaldo's comment at March 25, 2008 6:10 PM | ReplyScore = 0
A friend of mine had to work with Adam on a project and said he was really unpleasant to deal with...maybe he was off his meds that day or in the midst of his acid flashback! I have to second what Grayflannelsuit said the article may paint him as being a cool guy with a sense of humor but I still think the Counting Crows suck! And Cold War Kid that parking lot song is a cover of a really good Joni Mitchell song that Adam and Vanessa Carlton butchered!
Posted by: Grimmone at March 25, 2008 2:18 PM | ReplyScore = -1
Whatever ya'll. I used to be in Junior High. I knew all the words to August and Everything After for a while there. Oh shit, what did I just admit? I should go listen to Can while hanging myself for my indiscression.
Posted by: Chris at March 25, 2008 2:28 PM | ReplyScore = 3
Adam, your hair is silly any you choose to wear it. This is why noone likes you.
Posted by: dannygutters at March 25, 2008 2:36 PM | ReplyScore = -1
are you serious?
Posted by: ben in reply to dannygutters's comment at March 25, 2008 2:52 PM | ReplyScore = 0
Why are you hanging out with people that young?
For illicit underage sex.... DUH!
Posted by: steve at March 25, 2008 2:55 PM | ReplyScore = 4
I wasn't too young when Crows and Gin Blossoms were big (although in the UK they were never "big" anyway). All I know is I got into them in my mid teens because I liked the music. It wasn't to fit into some niche group. And those bands are still a hell of a lot more respectable than what the majority of kids are listening to these days.
And Huph, I think it's funny how you disputed qiqi's comment. It's as if you're giving peodophiles your full support.
Posted by: Stephen at March 25, 2008 3:39 PM | ReplyScore = -2
No. You're just an idiot who "no not read so well."
You're the one with the apparent pedophile obsession.
Posted by: Huph in reply to Stephen's comment at March 28, 2008 3:10 PM | ReplyScore = -1
Man o' man, the whole article is just sad. Like the Counting Crowes or not, this is just a story of a pathetic guy who needs to just fade into nothingness. I can't believe I cared enough to read the article.
Posted by: Gig at March 25, 2008 4:00 PM | ReplyScore = -3
I completely agree Stephen.
Just because high school girls like a band does not mean they suck (although it may be a good indicator). I get so tired of this indie music trend to hate everything that sells a lot of records. August is a classic and both Satellites and American Girls are good albums which should be judged by the music, not by who listens to them or what soundtracks the songs appeared on.
Posted by: Charlie at March 25, 2008 4:14 PM | ReplyScore = 7
August IS a classic. Anna Begins and Murder of One are incredible songs and shouldn't be forgotten about. In fact, Recovering the Satellites is great, and This Desert Life is also very good.
I'm glad Stereogum is keeping up on Counting Crows--they wrote some great songs. It's one thing to bash Adam Duritz (it's hard to defend that Rolling Stone article) but unless you know August beyond Mr. Jones and Round Here, you should probably save your comments.
Posted by: cmac in reply to Charlie's comment at March 25, 2008 9:33 PM | ReplyScore = 6
> unless you know August beyond Mr. Jones and Round Here, you should probably save your comments
Well I guess that album must take one hell of a turn for the better after the singles...yick.
Posted by: clydicus in reply to cmac's comment at March 26, 2008 3:17 PM | ReplyScore = -2
Oops. I said 'american girls' but I meant 'hard candy.' Whatever, you know what I mean.
Posted by: Charlie at March 25, 2008 4:24 PM | ReplyScore = 0
August is far from a classic..... Long December, and Round here are okay, but I don't think they are any better than Dancing Nancies or Satellite.....
Classic 90's records are Crooken Rain, I See A Darkness, Loveless, 69 Love Songs, etc...
So if those records are classics.... The Counting Crows can't even be close to classic......
Posted by: aiden at March 25, 2008 5:32 PM | ReplyScore = -2
I agree with Stephen's comments...Gin Blossoms and CC's were big right around the time I started paying attention to music (5th grade, probably 1994?) and being naive, I thought they were great because, well, I liked the music and didn't have some sort of hipster mentality way back in 5th grade. All I knew is that I got made fun of for listening to them because they weren't Seal or whatever rap group was big in 1994. I was in college before I realized that Gin Blossoms were apparently really uncool. I had no idea. So basically, you're damned if you like GB or CC by either side of the musical spectrum, in my experience.
Posted by: Eric at March 25, 2008 5:36 PM | ReplyScore = 1
I was in 7th grade when the Counting Crows got big, and I think the Gin Blossoms big hits were from the same year. The funny thing is, I kinda liked their singles at the time because I had just started paying attention to music. Once I started getting into Nirvana and the more authentic bands later that year, it became obvious that neither band had anything to do with "alternative" music. Anyway, I brought them up because it's amazing to me that bands who originally had zero cred are becoming retroactively cool. It's like they've taken advantage of a new audience who don't remember the band's original failed grab for credibility.
Posted by: steve in reply to Eric's comment at March 25, 2008 8:45 PM | ReplyScore = -1
his dreadlocks are fake? i am feeling the same feeling when i discovered santa wasn't real
Posted by: killabot at March 26, 2008 7:31 AM | ReplyScore = 0
I love Duritz, and the Counting Crows and I'm not afraid to say so. Loud. If someone's hipster image or music snobness prevents them from appreciating great songwriting, then screw them. It's their loss.
Posted by: guyha at March 26, 2008 10:35 AM | ReplyScore = 5
Why is that hating CC automatically makes one a hipster? Can't I appreciate good songwriting and think they're musical pablum?
Posted by: grayflannelsuit in reply to guyha's comment at March 26, 2008 4:35 PM | ReplyScore = 1
THANK YOU GREYFLANNEL SUIT!! Just cause I don't like the Counting Crows doesn't automatically mean I'm a hipster!
Posted by: Grimmone in reply to grayflannelsuit's comment at March 31, 2008 3:38 PM | ReplyScore = 0
I can see how it can be really easy to hate Counting Crows. I used to hate them more than any other band (except for Candlebox). Then I heard Duritz sing with Nancy Griffith, and everything changed for me.
Recovering the Satellites is just a fantastic album. It always reminds me of a great New Years Eve in what seems like many years ago. We listened to that album on the drive to Jones Beach, and everything was perfect.
Wait, his dreads are fake? I am feeling the same as when I discovered Springsteen's sweat was fake.
Posted by: Kurt C. at March 26, 2008 10:36 AM | ReplyScore = 1
I understand that some people genuinely don't like the Counting Crows or the Gin Blossoms, and that's fine. But I feel like some of the distain is just self-aware hipster crap.
I'm not saying that either band was ever great (and the Counting Crows really went south after "Recovering The Satellites"), but I think that their cred problems stem from two things:
1. Your sister liked them. So did the captain of the football team. As hipsters and audiophiles, we're an elitist bunch who runs from most things embraced by the masses.
2. They made pop-oriented music that wasn't [a.] dance/electronic ("D.A.N.C.E."), [b.] camp (Rufus Wainwright) or [c.] embraced as ironic ("I'm a hipster but I listen to Rhianna. Get it?").
Adam Duritz is probably a pathetic douche, but "August and Everything After" and "Recovering the Satellites" (and most Gin Blossom singles) were great. Sure, they weren't Pavement or My Bloody Valentine (not that they were trying to be), but they weren't Eve 6 or the Offspring either.
Posted by: Tyler at March 26, 2008 1:46 PM | ReplyScore = 8
God you hipsters are such uptight assholes. Seriously, anyone on here who doesn't think that RTS or August are classic albums has their heads up their asses. You can bitch all day and all night about Adam's fake dreads or how great Vampire Weekend is, but at the end of the day it doesn't even matter.
Listen to those two albums (and NO I'm NOT talking about Mr. Jones/Round Here/Long December) and then tell me you still think it's shit music.
Tyler nailed this thing already - pretentious indie kids just can't stand the fact that someone ELSE might like the band you're listening too. It's okay if the other indie kids listen to it, but no one else is allowed, right? God, get off your fucking high horses. You're missing out on a LOT of great music just because someone else MIGHT like it.
Posted by: craiye at March 26, 2008 2:02 PM | ReplyScore = 2
Too funny, I am going to see the Hold Steady play tomorrow night at Emo's, seriously cant wait for Stay Positive...
Now the funny part, the Hold Steady and Counting Crows are playing a show together in Europe...
Slam CC and Adam all you want, not defending anything after this Desert Life but the song Cowboys off Saturday Nights Sunday Morning...Tapes and Tapes, Death Cab, Bright Eyes, etc etc would kill to have a song that good...
Posted by: rocknrollchad at March 26, 2008 2:16 PM | ReplyScore = 2
This whole tiresome "indie cred" thing is silly -- a way for mopey, insecure kids (and scared college kids away from home for the first time) to sneer at everyone else. In a few years (or maybe, in some cases, a few weeks), all the pretensions will be gone and there'll just be the music left, and if it's any good, it'll stick around. Live long enough and you'll see that half the fondly remembered "golden oldies" are adored by the very people who wouldn't have been caught dead listening to them when they first came out.
If Duritz had been a bigger asshole and died early (cf: Morrison, Cobain, etc.), the same snotty little mopes would probably be lighting candles for him. Being a sad dead fuck is cool; growing up and dealing with stuff apparently isn't.
Posted by: Kevin Burton Smith at March 26, 2008 4:07 PM | ReplyScore = 2
I will admit that I am a big weener hipster that listens animal collective, tapes n tapes, etc
however counting crows are an excellent band go through their first three albums and try and find more that 5 or 6 songs that aren't exceptional.
Duritz has an incredible passionate voice, his early lyrics are very good and personal without stooping to the pretentiousness of a bright eyes kind of singer
you can't deny they are good, you might say they suck but inside you will know
Posted by: fuck youguys at March 26, 2008 10:34 PM | ReplyScore = 0
meh i didnt know his dreads were fake, that sucks pretty bad
ive always liked the crows but I feel like they will always be seen as cheesy
i think when they go down in history they'll be equivalent to the eagles or some lame band like that
Posted by: meehhhhhh at March 27, 2008 2:51 AM | ReplyI agree they are talented but they always get shitted on
i think its cause duritz is a fat pussy with fake dreds, a genius one but none the less
Score = 0
You show me a band who can do 5-part harmonies as closely and perfectly as the Eagles can. Yet another band teenage hipsters love to shit over just because your dad loved them. And when it comes to playing live, even today they beat the shit out of these indie clown-acts who spend their days trying to out-weird each other.
Posted by: Stephen in reply to meehhhhhh's comment at March 27, 2008 1:09 PM | ReplyScore = -2
The Beach Boys.
Posted by: grayflannelsuit in reply to Stephen's comment at March 27, 2008 1:55 PM | ReplyScore = 2
Hey, some people don't like the Eagles because they're the definition of bloated, pretentious rock music of the 70's. And then other people don't like them because they grew up in small towns where the only rock station was a classic rock station, and they got tired of hearing "Hotel California" 20 times a day for 20 fucking years!
You hipsters are overstepping your bounds. Hate for bands doesn't always have something to do with some sort of pop perception. It's obvious when people accuse others of liking/disliking something because it's hip, that they're only covering up their own embarassed realization that *THEY* are the ones who are actually constantly being swayed by others' opinions.
Posted by: Huph in reply to Stephen's comment at March 28, 2008 3:22 PM | ReplyScore = 1
He is actually quite nice. Met him at a record store I used to work at. Quiet, easy going, really enthusiastic about music.
Posted by: Juan at March 27, 2008 1:48 PM | ReplyScore = 0
dude... get an education. that "put up a parking lot song" is actually called "Big Yellow Taxi" and it was a Joni Mitchell cover and her version was f'ing fantastic. try listening to some music made before 2000, you might learn a thing or two.
and for the record August and Everything After is a fabulous album, if you can listen to "anna begins" and not feel something then you, sir, are a robot...
Posted by: steve at March 27, 2008 3:49 PM | ReplyScore = -1
yeah maybe, 40 years ago.
Posted by: hovi at March 28, 2008 10:24 AM | ReplyThe Eagles can still hammer them out, despite their age. In fact, their live shows are tighter now than they were back in their prime.
Score = 0
I don't care what anybody says, "Anna Begins" is a beautiful song. So is "Mr. Jones." Really, that whole album is good.
I remember wondering why he had such issues, when it became clear he was writing for acceptance somehow. It was like he had the issues of a teenage girl. He really cares what the public thinks, though he shouldn't. He needs to grow up, obviously, but more than that, he needs to be himself finally. Get rid of those ridiculous dreds for starters.
And I end my $.02 of pop psychology pulled right out of my ass by saying: 1. John Mayer is headed down this same road 2. Adam is still not as douchey as that guy from Smash Mouth.
Posted by: Memememe at March 28, 2008 9:37 PM | ReplyScore = -1
NO ONE is as douchey as that guy from Smash Mouth. He's King Douche.
Posted by: Aaron in reply to Memememe's comment at April 1, 2008 1:20 PM | ReplyScore = 1
The hipsteresq srcastic tone of this aricle made me puke on my computer."We learn that he is 43".How old would a singer from the early 90's be at 2008?The fact that he takes anti-depressents does mean that the art he makes is more real then most of the bands that write about their pain in their mtv crib swimming pools next to their supermodel wives.
Posted by: Loner nyc at March 29, 2008 12:11 AM | ReplyScore = 0
i know one thing for sure - duritz fires band members left and right and after dispensing of the managers who brought cc to success in favor of his asshole idiot a&r guy, things started to slip.
Posted by: L at March 29, 2008 4:40 PM | ReplyScore = 0
THANK YOU GREYFLANNEL SUIT!! Just cause I don't like the Counting Crows doesn't automatically mean I'm a hipster!
Posted by: Grimmone at March 31, 2008 3:38 PM | ReplyScore = 0
Sorry to post twice! I listened to a replay of a Howard Stern show from last week and the Adam and the boys were special guests. And Adam came across as a bit of a douche.
Posted by: Grimmone in reply to Grimmone's comment at April 1, 2008 9:30 AM | ReplyScore = 0
Listen to Mrs. Potter's Lullaby. Tell me its not good.
Posted by: Smoke-Tron at April 1, 2008 5:29 PM | ReplyScore = 0
I know that the premise of this site is that taste in music isn't just cocktail party chatter, but an important part of life for some of us. But I also know that I feel kind of queasy when I read the remarks of folks on this site that seek to establish the poster as the more authentic, sophisticated listener. I mean, where's the fun in going after each other? We're in the minority folks! Most of musicians that we love have surprisingly eclectic tastes. Dirty Projectors love Cyndi Lauper. Ben Gibbard loves Hall and Oates. Radiohead have a thing for Fleetwood Mac. You can make and appreciate adventurous music while still enjoying stuff that isn't as difficult. Right?
Posted by: James at April 1, 2008 5:32 PM | ReplyScore = 2
"his dreadlocks are fake" WTF does that mean? He wears a dreadlock-tupee? If so, how is that mentioned so nonchalantly? A dreadlock-tupee, really?
Posted by: Roos at April 1, 2008 8:20 PM | ReplyScore = 0
Two points:
(1) Why does "This Desert Life" never get any love? Everyone that does stand up for the Crows talks like they dropped off after "Satellites." I think that "Desert Life" was one of their most interesting albums.
(2) I don't understand why people keep talking about "Counting Crows and Gin Blossoms" like they were one in the same. I think to compare those two is a misconception, and is part of the reason the Crows get a bad name -- people think that's what the Crows sound like. Gin Blossoms are a decently fun listen now and then, but the Counting Crows had (and have) a lot more substance.
Posted by: Naes at April 2, 2008 1:50 PM | ReplyScore = 0
It's astounding to me the level of anger conveyed by all anyone that doesn't care for their music. And especially the things pointed at Adam Duritz.
The music doesn't stand at an ironic distance, but wears its confessional nature like a badge of honor.
It's not a style that's going to get a lot of respect in a world of angry, anonymous bloggers--but it's one of the few touchstones we have to that era of Blue, Blood on the Tracks and all the rest of the wonderful stuff from the 70s when musicians tore the angst from their guts and shared it for anyone that wanted to be a part of the shows.
I personally love their music, but you don't have to. But you have to respect it.
They are ambitious--recording each of the five albums in a different manner. They reject the profitable fashion of recording an album whenever the label wants more product and spend years creating something that is complex and has something to say. Albums with an arc as rich as a Russian novel.
You may not care for the music, but you must respect a group that reaches for something great. That is well aware of the grief you'll give them for the weave; For the honesty of the music and does it anyway.
My iTunes has Kanye West, Jackson C Frank, Phillip Glass, Counting Crows, Radiohead, George Strait, Ben Gibbard, Cadence Weapon, Brendan Benson, Jackson Five, Ani DiFranco, Gemma Hayes, Be Your Own Pet and on and on...
Can't you reserve a little room in your hearts, or at least your playlists, for the kind of lines that stay on your lips for a lifetime?
Posted by: ME at April 4, 2008 6:16 AM | ReplyScore = 1
you guys need to get a life. I met this man and he is amazing. He takes antipsychotic drugs because he has differential personality, something he cannot help. He is an AMAZING lyricist if you guys would quit bashing on people you don't know and listen to his music. It was an honor to talk to him. He wears those fake dreads in the picture you have posted, but his hair IS in (less sofisticated) dreadlocks. So if you stopped being an asshole for 2 seconds and worried about your OWN life, you would understand the Crows are one of the best out there.
Posted by: 8693 at April 12, 2008 10:10 AM | ReplyScore = 0
I don't care what anybody says... I like Counting Crows.
Posted by: Linn Gray at April 29, 2008 10:07 PM | ReplyScore = 0