Counting Crows is a rock band originating from Berkeley, California. The group gained popularity in 1994 following the release of its debut album August and Everything After, which featured the hit single "Mr. Jones". The band's influences include Van Morrison, R.E.M., Mike & The Mechanics, Nirvana, Bob Dylan, and The Band.
They received a 2004 Academy Award nomination for the song "Accidentally in Love" due to its inclusion in the film Shrek 2. According to the official band website, Counting Crows has sold over 20 million records worldwide. Singer Adam Duritz (former member of the Bay Area band The Himalayans) and guitarist Dave Bryson formed Counting Crows in San Francisco in 1991. As well as his experience in The Himalayans, Duritz had contributed to recordings by the Bay Area group Sordid Humor ("Barbarossa"), although he was never a member. Counting Crows began as an acoustic duo, playing gigs in and around Berkeley and San Francisco. Another friend, guitarist David Immerglück played with them from time to time, though he was not an official member of the group, experimenting with other musicians in the area. As the emerging band recorded some demos, and later, as other musicians joined the duo to make a full band, Immerglück recorded with the others on some of the songs on their first album. He declined joining the band at the time, because of his membership in two other locally popular bands; Monks of Doom and Camper Van Beethoven. By 1993, the band had grown to a stable lineup of Duritz as vocalist, occasional pianist and primary songwriter, Bryson on guitar, Matt Malley playing bass guitar, Charlie Gillingham on keyboards and Steve Bowman, as drummer, and the band were regulars in the Bay Area scene. The same year, the band signed to Geffen Records. By January 16, 1993, the band, still relatively unknown, filled in for Van Morrison at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, and was introduced by an enthusiastic Robbie Robertson. They remain the only unknowns ever to play the ceremony.
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