The Black Crowes Album: “Amorica”

Description :

Black Crowes: Chris Robinson (vocals, harmonica); Rich Robinson, Marc Ford (guitar); Eddie Harsch (keyboards); Johnny Colt (bass); Steve Gorman (drums). Additional personnel: Bruce Kaphan (pedal steel guitar); Jimmy "Two Fingers" Ashurst (mandolin); Eric BoBo (percussion); Andy Sturmer. The alternate version of AMORICA features a slightly different cover. The Black Crowes: Chris Robinson (vocals, harmonica); Rich Robinson, Marc Ford (guitar); Eddie Harsch (keyboards); Johnny Colt (bass); Steve Gorman (drums). Additional personnel includes: Bruce Kaphan (pedal steel guitar); Jimmy "Two Fingers" Ashurst (mandolin); Eric BoBo (percussion). Recorded between May and June 1994. All tracks have been digitally remastered. The Black Crowes: Chris Robinson (vocals, harmonica); Marc Ford, Rich Robinson (guitar); Eddie Harsch (keyboards); Johnny Colt (bass guitar); Steve German (drums). Additional personnel: Andy Sturmer (various instruments); Bruce Kaphan (pedal steel guitar); Jimmy "Two Fingers" Ashurst (mandolin); Eric Bobo (percussion). With their roots firmly planted in the alluvial top soil of '70s blues rock, The Black Crowes are a classic hard rock riff band, where the groove--their weaving of electric guitars/keyboards, with bass-drum dances--is paramount, much as it was for their mentors, Little Feat, The Faces and The Rolling Stones. On AMORICA The Black Crowes stretch out their throbbing grooves and dense retro mixes with taut, wiry bursts of guitar courtesy of Rich Robinson and Marc Ford, over a bumptious latin-inflected rock groove, as on "Gene." Eddie Harsch's rich Hammond B-3 and funky keyboard work adds body to each arrangement, while leather lunged Chris Robinson's vocals are less a melodic focus than an extension on the blues riffing going on underneath. He's a soul shouter in the best tradition of Gregg Allman, Stevie Winwood and Rod Stewart--of white rock singers influenced by the likes of Otis Redding and Ray Charles--as on "High Head Blues." At their best, as on the southern flavored jams of "Wiser Time," and the funky, lascivious "She Gave Good Sunflower," the band evokes a powerful roots rock feel, with plenty of solo space for the guitars to stretch out. But on more laid back fare, such as the down home "Downtown Money" and the poignant "Ballad In Urgency," The Black Crowes' lyrics convey an enigmatic brand of romanticism that is more song-like than many of their arrangements. With their roots firmly planted in the alluvial top soil of '70s blues rock, The Black Crowes are a classic hard rock riff band, where the groove--their weaving of electric guitars/keyboards, with bass-drum dances--is paramount, much as it was for their mentors, Little Feat, The Faces and The Rolling Stones. On AMORICA The Black Crowes stretch out their throbbing grooves and dense retro mixes with taut, wiry bursts of guitar courtesy of Rich Robinson and Marc Ford, over a bumptious latin-inflected rock groove, as on "Gene." Eddie Harsch's rich Hammond B-3 and funky keyboard work adds body to each arrangement, while leather lunged Chris Robinson's vocals are less a melodic focus than an extension on the blues riffing going on underneath. He's a soul shouter in the best tradition of Gregg Allman, Stevie Winwood and Rod Stewart--of white rock singers influenced by the likes of Otis Redding and Ray Charles--as on "High Head Blues." At their best, as on the southern flavored jams of "Wiser Time," and the funky, lascivious "She Gave Good Sunflower," the band evokes a powerful roots rock feel, with plenty of solo space for the guitars to stretch out. But on more laid back fare, such as the down home "Downtown Money" and the poignant "Ballad In Urgency," The Black Crowes' lyrics convey an enigmatic brand of romanticism that is more song-like than many of their arrangements.

"The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion", which followed the Crowes' massively popular debut album, "Shake Your Money Maker," showed some musical and lyrical growth, and showcased new-found guitar whiz Marc Ford. However, it was with "amorica." (If it appears "amorica." on the cover, why do people spell it otherwise?) that The Black Crowes fully realized their potential as a band. The result was the deepest, most soulful, amazing CD the Crowes have ever produced.

However, of course, critics at the time of its release panned it as nonsensical hippy rock, lacking the "fire" of "SYMM". If by "fire" they meant simple hooks and substance-free lyrics, "amorica." certainly lacked fire. The sound on "amorica." ranges back and forth from the trippy ("Gone") to the dark ("Cursed Diamond") to the uplifting ("She Gave Good Sunflower") to the simply beautiful ("Ballad In Urgency/Wiser Time"). The Crowes, on this album, sacrificed catchy hooks for musical diversity and beauty, and the result was lower sales, but a much higher CD-replay value.

Of course, the album didn't really lack fire. In fact, it was their most fiery album to date, in the emotional sense. The album is a flowing emotional journey, from "A Conspiracy"'s tainted love ("Be my conspiracy," a somewhat tongue-in-cheek way of saying that love isn't always great.), to the dark depths of "Cursed Diamond" ("I hate myself, Doesn't everybody hate themselves, I scare myself, Then I tell myself it's all in my mind, So I let the poison go, 'Cause I always know, It will be there for me"), to the plead for love of "She Gave Good Sunflower" ("Be the sun that bursts through my clouds, it's hard enough just livin' on this ground."), to the lessons learned from "Wiser Time" ("Tired but wiser for the time."), to the impending doom of the strangely beautiful "Descending" ("So help me baby, I'm descending again."). "amorica." is an emotional journey, an honest, pure expression of the band's collective soul and where it was in this point in their lives.

If you're looking for "Hard to Handle" and "She Talks to Angels" all over again, look elsewhere. If you're looking for deep, emotionally-impacting, diverse, soul-felt music, "amorica." is your best bet, not only of the Crowes' catalog, but perhaps your best bet, period.

No, it didn't sell millions. No, it didn't have a nice, radio friendly hit exactly. But this album contains some of Chris Robinson's best lyrics... heck, some of the best lyrics EVER put on a rock and roll record! And Chris sings every note, every word with the right amount of sass or soul or lilt or power to get his point across. And the band delivers some of the best music it ever put to tape to help him do that. Drugs would destroy Marc Ford on the next record, but he shines on this one, along with Eddie Harsch's brilliant keyboards (the organ intro on "She Gave Good Sunflower" and the beautiful piano work on "Descending", he can do it all), Steve Gorman's driving drum work (don't kid yourself, he is to this band what Charlie Watts is to the Stones; listen to "Wiser Time": yes, he does that ALL live, too) and Johnny Colt's thundering bass. And the man who does all the rest, the Keith Richards to Chris' Jagger, the criminally under-rated Rich Robinson... lordy, lordy, lordy. What a BAND!

The songs veer a little between here and there. "Gone", "Conspiracy" and "High Head Blues" kick off the album with great sleazy giant guitar driven slabs (with a little Latin backbeat on "Gone" and "High Head"), then lad into the slower "Cursed Diamond" and sad, reflective acourstic "Non Fiction" (better that that "angels" song they play on the radio, both of them) then into the playful "Sunflower", the talk box driven "P.25 London", and the crowning point of the album, "Ballad In Urgency" which slides into "Wiser Time". These two songs are woth the price alone. When CR cranks up for the screaming chorus on "Wiser" ("And on a good day/ I know it's not every day/ We can part the sea/ And on a bad day/ I know it's not every day/ Glory beyond our reach")you WILL find youself shouting yourself hoarse right along with him EVERY TIME. And then the album ends with the playful blues ala Taj Mahal of "Downtown Money Waster" and the shimmeringly beautiful "Descending."

It's not a dark record like Southern Harmony is, but it's not as light as Money Maker... this is the Black Crowes Rocks {Aerosmith} or Exile on Main Street {Stones}. This is the Crowes at their sleazy, gritty best.