Chris Robinson on the stories behind the Black Crowes' biggest songs

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Set us as preferred Lots of broken-up bands reconvene for a tour, as the Black Crowes did in 2019, half a decade after brothers Chris and Rich Robinson dissolved the Southern rock group they’d formed in Atlanta in the mid-1980s.Some even stay together long enough to make a new record, as the Crowes managed to do with 2024’s well-received “Happiness Bastards.” What’s relatively rare in music is for a reunited band to quickly follow up a comeback album with a second one.

Yet that’s what the Robinsons did this year when they dropped “A Pound of Feathers,” the Crowes’ 10th studio LP, behind which they’ll touch down Monday night at the Hollywood Bowl.Ahead of the show, Chris Robinson, 59, called from the road to tell the stories behind five of the band’s songs.The Black Crowes broke out with a frisky cover of this Otis Redding tune just as hair metal was giving way to grunge.

A hit on MTV, the song drove sales of the band’s debut, “Shake Your Money Maker,” to sales of more than 5 million copies.There are some songs of Otis’ that I couldn’t do justice.

As a 21-year-old kid starting my career — well, we didn’t even know we were gonna have careers — but what am I gonna sing? “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”? “Hard to Handle,” it’s cheeky, it’s lighthearted.And I loved the break: “Pretty little thing, let me light your candle…” So I took it to George Drakoulias, our producer, and I said, “I think we could do this.” George is the one who turned it into “Walk This Way” — he put it in the same rhythmic space.

Otis’ version swings, but we really couldn’t swing at the time.So “Hard to Handle” wasn’t something you were playing live early on?No, we brought it in for the record.Being from Georgia and Otis being from Georgia, it was important to us that people knew...