'Shake Your Money Maker'

A very underrated record. A very, very solid record.

And one of the best debut albums of all time? Maybe not, but it has to be in the talks.

I often like to compared one love of my life (music, films, books) to the other love of my life (sports). In sports, there are Halls of Fame for every major sport and, hell, every minor sport.

A building that commemorates the advancements and legends of that sport.

For the major Halls, there's certain criteria that's generally regarded as being the baseline for acceptance. For example, in professional baseball, 500 home runs or 300 wins typically will get you into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Many players, however, tend to fall somewhere in the middle -- the gray purgatory where some good careers go unnoticed and other good careers get an eventual nod from the Hall of Fame voters, typically writers.

Would the Black Crowes make the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame?

Their debut was as good as any in the history of rock and roll. Shake Your Money Maker had five singles and about 10 really, really good songs. It made money, had a number of radio hits and is ultimately so accessible on just about every level at a time (1991-92) when rock music was largely unpopular.

Nirvana and the Seattle scene was about to explode. The Los Angeles metal scene was dying. No one was doing what the Black Crowes were doing. Basic rock/blues/R&B. Chris Robinson was a good lead singer -- kind of the skinny, poor man's Mick Jagger with swagger full of piss and vinegar.

Rich Robinson was a great guitarist. Unafraid to pull off a bluesy, raunchy solo.

All of this laid down over a blanket of bass and organ/piano. Unlike anything that was popular at that moment and probably not popular since Lynyrd Skynyrd. And Lynyrd Skynyrd wishes they would've made an album like Shake Your Money Maker.

The Black Crowes would never quite find that success again. In fact, they never did. Amorica was good. Everything else waned.

But for a brief moment, no rock band shined brighter than the Black Crowes. Still, probably not enough credentials for the Hall of Fame. The Bill Walton of rock bands.