Amazing Crowns

Amazing (Royal) Crowns
Amazing Royal Crowns outside the J Strickland (makers of Royal Crown pomade) factory in Mississippi
Background information
Origin	Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Genres	Rockabilly, psychobilly, punk rock
Years active	1993–present
Labels	Monolyth Records, Velvel Records, Time Bomb Records
Members	Jason "King" Kendall J.D. Burgess Jack "the Swinger" Hanlon Judd Williams
Past members	Johnny "The Colonel" Maguire Nate "Super 8" Moir" Dana Stewart Ron North Dennis Del Prete

The Amazing Crowns (formerly Amazing Royal Crowns) are a punk rockabilly band that began in Providence, Rhode Island in 1993. The current lineup is composed of vocalist Jason "King" Kendall, bassist Jack "the Swinger" Hanlon, guitarist J.D. Burgess, and drummer Judd Williams.

Career

The Amazing Royal Crowns were formed in April 1993 as The Royal Crowns in Providence RI. The original line-up was Jason Kendall on vocals and maracas, Johnny Maguire on guitar, Jack Hanlon on standup bass and the bands friend Tina on drums. Their debut show was with Dick Dale in Providence RI. The band went through a few different drummers before finding Nate Moir, who then started touring with group.

On a tour stop at the Warped Tour in 1997^[1] the band shared stages with The Royal Crown Revue and it was suggested by singer Eddie Nichols they might want to change their name as it was starting to cause confusion with booking agents due to the bands rising popularity. The band changed their name to the Amazing Royal Crowns, hoping that the added "Amazing" would be enough to clear up any confusion.

The Crowns won the 1997 WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble in Boston and had returned from a nationwide tour when Nate (drummer) left the band. Judd Williams was added to the lineup and they went on to win four^[2] Kahlua Boston Music Awards (Rising Star, Debut Album of the Year, Video of the Year and Outstanding Club Band) in 1998. The band started touring extensively on their own and with other bands such as the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Cramps, Reverend Horton Heat, Tiger Army, Social Distortion and many others.

The band recorded their first 2 singles and full-length album entitled The Amazing Royal Crowns on their own label Kingdom Records. The self-titled album sold so well that they signed with Boston independent label Monolyth Records who then licensed the album to Walter Yetnikoff's newly formed label Velvel Records. Velvel re-released The Amazing Royal Crowns in 1998 with updated packaging and then collapsed in the next year.^[3]

In 1999, as the bands popularity started to surge, they were hit with two major changes. First, During a tour stop in Florida, Johnny Maguire quit the band, Second, they were forced to change their name mid-tour in response to a lawsuit^[4] brought by Los Angeles swing act Royal Crown Revue.^[5][6][7][8]

Now called The Amazing Crowns, The band lineup was cemented with the addition of guitarist J.D Burgess. They toured a bit with JD then got to work recording their follow up full-length record with Joe Gittleman producing. As a sarcastic retort to the Royal Crown Revue lawsuit, they titled this album Royal.^[9] The cover for Royal was an original piece painted by artist and Mekons cofounder Jon Langford. The band signed to Time Bomb Records and Royal was scheduled to be released in June 2000.^[10]

The band released a live offering to fans in March 2000 as a way of thanking them as they waited for Royal be released. The Payback Live album was recorded over 3 nights at the bands yearly hometown festival "The Providence Payback".^[11][12] The shows were sold out, raucous and intense. The Payback Live album showcases the band at their best.

The Crowns disbanded in late 2001 with one last show at Lupos Heartbreak Hotel in Providence RI.

In 2012, The Amazing Royal Crowns agreed to reunite at the request of their longtime tour-mates and friends, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. They were guests of the Bosstones at their annual Hometown Throwdown and played a set to their fans at the House of Blues in Boston, MA New Year's Eve Dec 31, 2012.^[13]

In 2015, The band reunited once again to play a headlining set in Chicago at the Cobra Lounge to honor the life of their old friend and touring partner, Erik "HiFi" Kish of Chicagos Hi Fi and the Roadburners, who had passed in a motorcycle accident.

Reviews

Rolling Stone magazine described their personal style in the following passage:

King and the Swinger saunter into the exalted Middle East nightclub, their gabardine shirtsleeves creased and their coiffures slightly greased. One part retro and three parts cool...^[14]

According to an Allmusic reviewer:

If you can't get enough of retro sounds and styles, the self-titled debut by Rhode Island's Amazing Royal Crowns is for you. Equal parts punk (a la X), rockabilly (Reverend Horton Heat), and swing (Brian Setzer Orchestra), the Crowns successfully capture the excitement of their live act on their debut, undoubtedly due to the fact that it was recorded in only two days. And impressively, not one overdub was used during the debut's recording. The only criticism is that the songs tend to sound similar after a while, but it doesn't spell disaster for the group, since their energetic, party-hearty performances save the day. Highlights include the guitar-fest instrumental "Gretschy" (named after Johnny Maguire's Gretsch guitar), the "dedicated to Johnny Cash" "Rollercoaster," and the opening rocker "Shiverin' In the Corner." Horns are used to great effect on "Do the Devil," while the music included in "Scene of the Crime" is pure Duane Eddy. The Amazing Royal Crowns should have no problem breaking through in the retro-heavy '90s.^[15]

Discography

References

External links

• Amazing Royal Crowns at VH1.com