The curse of “Mr. Jones” and the hatred of the Counting Crows

“We all wanna be big stars (…) when everybody loves me I wanna be just about as happy as I can be”, sang the Counting Crows, in “Mr. Jones”: it was 1993 and their debut album “August and everything after” went on to sell 7 million copies. But it also ended up being something of a curse for the band and leader Adam Durtiz. In recent days, a documentary on the history of the band was broadcast on HBO, focused precisely on the fulfillment of that prophecy: they became mega stars, but also one of the most hated bands of the time. The documentary, produced by Bill Simmons of The Ringer, should be available for streaming in Italy in 2026 on HBO Max, the new streaming platform that will debut on January 13th.

“Have You Seen Me Lately”, as it is titled, tells the reasons for the controversial fame of the band, characterized by a classic sound, rooted in Dylan and Van Morrison, explicitly mentioned in that song: “I wanna be Bob Dylan”, sang Duritz. But that declaration of intent towards fame, together with Duritz’s “emotional” and confessional approach was diametrically opposed to the detached and reluctant attitude of grunge. It was that dimension that made the band unbearable to a good part of the critics and the press and to the “purists” of rock, who perceived them as an arrogant one-hit wonder. It must also be said that this hatred was much more American than European, where this approach is felt much less – but in America, it is said in the documentary, people went to concerts just to hear “Mr. Jones” and the Counting Crows began to play it acoustically and together with “So you want to be a rock ‘n’ roll star” by the Byrds.

The story features the band’s frontman and mastermind, Adam Duritz – who at the time was very recognizable for his dreadlocks and became a very visible celebrity. To escape the pressure, for a time he moved from San Francisco to Hollywood, frequenting the Viper Club – where he also became a bartender. There he began to frequent the star system of cinema and TV and ended up having romantic relationships with actresses such as Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox, star of “Friends”. All this made him the subject of gossip and fierce criticism, of reviews that focused more on his love life than on his songs. Another piece in the hatred of a part of the public and media.

Interviewed by Rockol a few years ago, Duritz told us about that period:

What burned me was never the pressure. We have always been independent: in the 90s we signed with Geffen because they gave us complete control and we maintained it afterwards. But the process of relating to the industry exhausts and bores me, I love my job, but I don’t like other people’s opinions, whether good or bad, about what I do. It’s a process that ends up making you understand that what you do at a certain point no longer belongs to you. I’m shy and not always comfortable with these parts of rock ‘n’ roll.

All this also aggravated his health problems, a psychiatric pathology from which he had been suffering for some time but which was only accurately diagnosed in that period. At the time, however, it was taboo for a rock star to admit mental health problems.

Duritz and Chris Martin’s dreadlocks

Among the people called to act as “talking heads”, interviewed to talk about the band, there is also Chris Martin, who talks about how Duritz and the Counting Crows were role models for him as a child, making him feel entitled to write emotional and personal songs. Martin also tells a half-joking anecdote: in the section where Duritz talks about his famous dreadlocks and how they helped give him an identity as a kid, the Coldplay singer says: “I bought a dreadlock and planted it, hoping to grow a little Adam.” Ironically, Coldplay have become stars – even bigger than the Crows – but even more hated and divisive, for the same flaws attributed to their colleagues: emotional songs, declared ambition, and a frontman who frequents Hollywood stardom.

For the record, Duritz cut off his dreadlocks in 2018 – they were actually more likely a wig for some time – at the suggestion of his partner. When we interviewed him a few years ago, he told us:

One morning I got up, brushed my face and teeth, and simply shaved my head. My girlfriend was still sleeping and I scared the shit out of her. But it was liberating. For days I saw people talking about my hair, but maybe I should have expected it.

The compilation

A compilation entitled “Have You Seen Me Lately” was also taken from the documentary, like the single that preceded the second album, “Recovering the Satellites”. The documentary recounts the tormented process of the second album – which ended up selling “only” two million copies – compared to the 7 of the debut album “August and Everything After” – but consolidated the band as one of the most solid realities of American classic rock.

The band has had ups and downs, especially in terms of their record, but continues to play regularly in America and Europe: they played in Italy last October (review here) and will return next summer: they will play in Rome on June 14th.