Counting Crows give fans what they want

The Counting Crows took a look on the Internet and found that more than 250 bootlegs of their music were available. That included ''almost every show on our last tour,'' says singer Adam Duritz, who wasn't happy to learn that some of the bootlegs cost an ungodly $40 each.

So the Counting Crows took action, creating their own ''official bootlegs,'' as it were. They'll release a double CD of live performances Tuesday, consisting of their trimmed-down acoustic gig on VH1's ''Storytellers'' and a full-blast electric show recorded for MTV's ''Live at the 10 Spot'' at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom last November - the last date of their tour.

Best of all, the two CDs are being priced as one. ''It's like $16 or $17,'' Duritz says from his Los Angeles home. ''You get better sound quality and you get two full concerts.''

The Crows, whose song ''Mr. Jones'' remains one of the most influential modern-rock hits of the decade, have nothing against bootlegs per se, unless they're total copies of their records. ''But bootleg concerts? Hey, I have vinyl bootlegs from when I was a kid,'' says Duritz. ''I have Springsteen. I have Petty. I have some really good ones. I've never believed that bootlegs take away from your album sales. They're strictly for fans.''

Which is exactly the intent of the fan-friendly Crows with their new double CD ''Across a Wire - Live In New York.''

''If you're a big Counting Crows follower, you'll probably love it,'' says Duritz. ''If not, chances are you probably won't get it. We're not going to beat anyone over the head to go buy it. And we're barely promoting it at all.''

Both CDs are impressive and show why the Crows, who carved their reputation by touring, have become such a popular band. The ''Storytellers'' CD is a special treat, as the Crows strip down their personalized pop-rock and find new ways to frame songs. They add banjo to ''Catapult'' and a new intro to the Dylanesque ''Mr. Jones,'' which now starts with Duritz intoning the Byrds' ''So You Wanna Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star.''

''You know, if we didn't come up with a completely different version, we didn't do it,'' Duritz says of the band's modus operandi on the ''Storytellers'' CD, which he describes as ''the real keeper of the two.''

Currently, the Crows are off the road (last summer they toured with the Wallflowers in one of the season's most successful double bills), but they're already starting to record their next studio album. Duritz has penned lyrics to seven new songs, while musically, there has been more democratic involvement from the other Crows (guitarists David Bryson and Dan Vickrey, keyboardist Charles Gillingham, bassist Matt Malley, and drummer Ben Mize).

The record is being produced by David Lowery (of Cracker) and should be released by next spring.

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