By the time Hootie & The Blowfish released their debut on Atlantic Records, Cracked back, on July 5, 1994, the band had already been together for more than eight years. Singer Darius Rucker and guitarist Mark Bryan met while attending the University of South Carolina and began performing as a cover band called The Wolf Brothers. They were joined by bassist Dean Felber and drummer Brantley Smith, who was eventually replaced by Jim “Soni” Sonefeld. And Hootie & The Blowfish was born.
During the heyday of the grunge movement, Atlantic Records A&R executive Tim Sommer signed the quartet, which had already built a strong local following for its funky, harmony-filled pop rock songs and Rucker's rich baritone. But the company's expectations for the album were low.
“The only people [at Atlantic] our champions at that time were Tim and [Atlantic’s then-president] Danny Goldberg,” Rucker recalled. “One guy actually said that if they put Cracked back outside, they would be the laughing stock of the music business. Grunge was king and no one was looking for this pop/rock band outside of South Carolina.”
But Cracked back exceeded all expectations — and then some, to put it mildly. Bolstered by the compelling first single, “Hold My Hand,” the album topped the Billboard 200 five times and has been certified 21 times platinum by the RIAA, selling more than 21 million units in the United States. States. The album, named after a lyric from a John Hiatt song, is the highest-certified debut album of all time, according to RIAA data.
Thirty years later, to commemorate his anniversary Cracked backHootie & The Blowfish head out the Summer Camp With Trucks tour on a bill with Collective Soul and Edwin McCain.
Today, Bryan and Rucker fondly remember making the album with producer Don Gehman (REM, John Mellencamp), with whom they still work. their favorite moment at the Grammy Awards in 1996. and where they were when the album first went to No.1.
A promotional photo used in the band's brochures in the early 90s.
Courtesy of Hootie & the Blowfish
You started out as a cover band, The Wolf Brothers. When did you start writing your own songs?
Mark Bryan: We had fun doing the acoustic covers in between, just the two of us. But I think we've always dreamed a little bit bigger, for sure. Then as Hootie, when we were in school, we started writing, but we wouldn't want to share anything with you. (laughs.)
Darius Rucker: We had decided that we wanted to make a change and [do] mostly originals. So when Brantley [Smith] left and me [Jim “Soni” Sonefeld] entering, he made an easy transition. We had written a few songs, but when Soni came, we really started writing.
Soni came up with “Hold My Hand”, right?
Rucker: He played it the day he auditioned for us. He left the room and I said to the other kids, “He's in the band!”
Were there certain songwriters and acts that you looked up to like Radney Foster and REM How did they influence your sound?
Rucker: There's always that country element, and it all comes from Radney Foster and [Bill] Lloyd. That jangly guitar we're using definitely comes from REM [member] Peter Buck's guitar with the jingle. It was rock'n'roll but it wasn't metal. It was something we could do.
Who's an act people would be surprised to know influenced the band?
Rucker: We listened to a lot of rap along with those country songs. Digital Underground and De La Soul and those bands. They influenced us greatly. We still do [Digital Underground’s] “Freaks of Industry”.
Why are the songs on the album credited to all four band members?
Brian: We've split our releases down the middle since the beginning. No one knew whose songs would be hits. Our lawyer was smart and inspired by REM Not only did they inspire us musically, but they inspired us on the business side because they were doing the same thing. That fit the way we were writing together because everyone was bringing stuff.
Despite low expectations, the album took off. When did you realize you had a stroke?
Brian: It was when “Hold My Hand” hit that we realized our sound was connecting. Then there were 'Let Her Cry', 'I Only Want To Be With You' and 'Time'. Many times, it is really difficult for the artist, manager and company to decide what is the right song for the [next] single. The joke with me Cracked back there was never any question. I have never seen anything like it before or since.
Where were you when the album went to No. 1 for the first of five times?
Rucker: We were on the road, and it had moved [up the charts] so long, we've been waiting for it to go No. 1. Then you get that phone call that you're finally the No. 1 record in the country. He was like, “Great. Let's go play a show!' When you have so many naysayers and then you have a No. 1 record, it's a pretty cool feeling. You are not [considered] nice, but you're selling half a million albums a week.
The melodies are so upbeat and hilarious that it was easy to overlook a lot of the darkness or messages in the lyrics. For example, “Drowning” is about racism. Did you feel like people didn't understand what you were saying?
Rucker: One hundred percent. I still don't. “Hold My Hand” was a protest song. This is a song about “Why do we hate each other?” You have “Drowning” and “Not Even the Trees” is such a dark song. “Let Her Cry” is a dark song. I think some people got caught up in “Hold My Hand” and “I Only Want To Be With You” and didn't look deeper than that.
Brian: I think Darius was very obvious with “Drowning”, but that wasn't our intention with a lot of our songs. It was more of this nuanced approach to it, just treating each other right. I think there were other lyrics, here and there, where he was telling you about how he felt as a Black person in America at that time. It would be nice if people saw more of this. And I think from our end, too, with the notoriety that we got, maybe we had a responsibility to write it a little bit more, and I don't know if we ever solved it.
For the 30th anniversary, would you like people to listen to it more deeply?
Rucker: I wish they would, but they won't, and what really matters to us is 23 million records sold [worldwide]. Success is the best revenge. Say whatever you want. Don't put us on the ballot for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We still have one of the top 10 best selling records of all time.
Does the lack of recognition from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame bother you?
Rucker: If we didn't go in, that's okay. But do you really want to tell us we don't even deserve to be on the ballot?
When was the last time you heard Cracked back from start to finish?
Rucker: 1994. I'm not one to listen to records after I put them out. Always. I don't really like hearing myself sing, to be honest with you.
Brian: When we played it in Mexico last April. We played it from start to finish.
A show in Raleigh, NC, during the 2019 Group Cure tour.
Todd & Chris Owyoung
In a shocking upset at the 1996 American Music Awards, Garth Brooks won Favorite Artist. He left the award on the podium, saying he didn't deserve it and said backstage that you did.
Rucker: This is one of the greatest, classiest things I've ever seen. When Garth did that, it told us so much about what we were doing musically. Every time I tell this story and he's around, he says, “Do you know where our prize is, Darius? In the handkerchief!' (laughs.)
The following month, you won Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. What do you remember from that night?
Rucker: We figured they should give us best new artist because we sold so many records. But the second, we thought [TLC’s] “Waterfalls” was going to win it all. KISS, in makeup for the first time since 1979, and Tupac [Shakur] come out to introduce this class. We had just won best new artist and we were rushed back to our seats. We are drunk. We're sitting down and then Tupac says, “Boys, Hootie & The Blowfish.” This was incredible.
So, did “my boys” mean as much as the Grammy?
Rucker: Exactly! And KISS meant so much to all of us.
Brian: I can't physically remember being on stage with KISS and Tupac. It was so much bigger than me that I almost ruled it out. Isn't that crazy? It was so overwhelming that I didn't embrace the moment maybe like I would now.
Thirty years on, what do you think the album's legacy is?
Brian: It seems to have a great impact on people's lives. These stories like [it’s] Their wedding song or they say, “It got me through my father's death,” always comes back to us and never gets old. What a great way to come full circle as a songwriter knowing you've connected with people. As a songwriter and musician, you can't ask for more. It's such a dream come true to have made an album that has connected on such a level with such people.
This story originally appeared in the June 1, 2024, issue Advertising sign.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/hootie-and-the-blowfish-tour-cracked-rear-view-anniversary-interview-1235700013/