Ahhh, Amorica… how you have vexed me for many a year, time and time again.

OK, fessing up from the get go on a few items before I dive into this post:

1. I’ve been a Black Crowes fan since the debut;
2. The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion is hands down THE best Black Crowes album (and darn near better than any other release in the 90s by anyone); and….
3. I like Amorica………….. matter of fact, I like it a lot and it’s definitely in my top five from the Crowes canon (arguably top three)……………. but…………

So there you go… the magic word…. “but”. Merriam Webster defines “but” in many ways:

1. “Except for the fact”
2. “On the contrary”
3. “With the exception of”
4. “Notwithstanding”
5. “Yet”
6. “On the other hand”

Why the “but”? Let’s explore, and let’s go back to when Amorica was first released back in 1994…

Mid 90s were an interesting yet exciting time in music… grunge had taken America by storm, hair metal was pretty much on the way out by this time (with some exceptions), rap and country were becoming more and more prominent musically and culturally, and “jam bands” (essentially bands with more free form expression, often featuring lengthy solo pieces as part of the live experience) were starting to make a lot of noise. The Black Crowes debut Shake Your Moneymaker was more of a throwback at the beginning of the decade, leaning more classic rock in vibe a la the Rolling Stones and The Faces but with hints of late 60s soul from vocalist Chris Robinson. I instantly fell in love with the band, loved the debut single “Jealous Again”, bought the CD, loved the songs, caught the band in concert on a club show and as an opening act for Aerosmith, and not long after picked up their second disc Southern Harmony and enjoyed the disc on first listen. However, there was some growth here that took a little bit to register… the addition of female backup singers and new blood in the band (new guitarist Marc Ford and keyboardist Eddie Harsch) moved the needle away from copyists (which I disagreed with wholeheartedly) to something a bit more fresh yet still very familiar. And boy, once the album registered after multiple listens I was HOOKED (and I’m still very hooked 30+ years later).

As for Amorica I still don’t recall my first exposure to the CD… it may have been the “A Conspiracy” video, it may have been that song on the radio, or it may have been me just knowing that the release was in the stores and I was going to pick it up on Day One (I used to work in a record store, so I was well tuned in on due dates in the pre-Internet era). But once I did purchase it and threw it in the CD player and listened, my first reaction was… disappointment. I really liked the intro song “Gone”, “A Conspiracy” was OK (to me a step down from previous singles), and then each additional song left me with a bit of a sinking feeling. I’m pretty sure I hit the “Next” button after listening to maybe a minute of each of the next few songs with little to grab me with only two real exceptions on first listen: “Nonfiction” was love from the get go, a dreamy acoustic beauty from the start featuring sly lyrics from Robinson building nicely to a strong chorus and some absolutely fantastic musicianship; and the monumentally uplifting “Descending”, a song which is an all time top ten from the band (and really from anyone for that matter) and one of those where I’ve hit the “repeat” button to hear multiple times in a row (maybe Old Weird Ed’s finest hour…)

At any rate, after repeated plays of the disc more songs started to stand out… “Cursed Diamond” takes a bit of a sleepy build, vocally lulling you into a spell for about a minute until the whole band comes in hard and the song builds to an even stronger, jammy crescendo led by Robinson’s foreceful roar (certainly one of his all time best vocals); and the elegant “Wiser Time”, which picks things up a little from the intro and settles into a nice languid pace and features a sublime, soulful chorus. And let’s not forget my initial thumbs up to “Gone”, the intro tune, featured some semi-funky textures and solid chunky riffs, which was the perfect choice to lead things off and hearkened a bit back to the prior album’s meatier moments. Which gets me to what I think has always been my problem with this release… where is the heft? Where are those additional dynamics, those massive highs and lows? Not necessarily within the songs themselves as there are various moods and tempo changes (and often done masterfully) but if always felt to me that the album settled into a comfortable cruise control and never strayed too far north or south of that, just flowing like a beautifully lazy river on a warm sunny day. No threats, no danger, just… safe. Great in its own way and all… but… (there’s that word again)…

Comparisons are a funny yet often unfair thing and I’m just as guilty as the next person. Amorica was a bit removed from Shake Your Moneymaker and more of an extension of Southern Harmony with a twist, yet it left me wanting more. Did I want Southern Harmony Pt. 2? Possibly in my younger years yes, but time often does funny things. That, and learning of what Amorica could have been once I discovered The Lost Crowes disc, found out about “The Tall Sessions”, and have since been educated on the Marie Laveau sessions that have been included in the most excellent Amorica Deluxe Edition boxset that came out in late 2025. Since that release (and even after purchasing The Lost Crowes many years ago) I have run through many “what if?” scenarios in my head, so much so that I had to put fingers to keyboard to type this blog. And why would that be? Because many of these previously unreleased songs that were recorded around the time of the Amorica sessions are arguably better than what ended up on the final product and fall more in line with my preferred dynamics. Hell, maybe going the double disc route would have been for the best. But I digress…

But before we get to a “reimagined Amorica” we need to determine who stays and who goes. I will note that those in the Remove column I do not have a strong dislike for as they are all good but not great. Apologies to those whose favorites I am removing but this is all personal preference- feel free to argue for yours in the comments or against my keepers and what I’m looking to add!

Keepers

• Gone
• Cursed Diamond
• Nonfiction
• Wiser Time
• Descending

Remove

• A Conspiracy
• High Head Blues
• She Gave Good Sunflower
• Ballad In Urgency
• P.25 London
• Downtown Money Waster

Alright, we keep five and we remove six. Do we just add six from the Tall and Marie Leveau sessions? Not so fast, and I will explain but in order to speed up the process I’ll leave it to the article below to give you an idea as to what songs I’ll be choosing from for those unfamiliar (skip on down to my adds to the album)…

Wiser for the Time: The Black Crowes Detail ‘Amorica’ Box Set

The Adds:

Dirty Hair Halo– you may have noticed that I’ve not included any of the more “rock songs” from the original Amorica short of “Gone”… “Halo” certainly makes up for that as it features an elevating guitar pattern, great backing vocals, and a dreamy, psychedelia swirl that adds a bit of tension to the proceedings. Steve Gorman’s double time drum pattern during the verse adds some immediacy and lifts the song, falling back into more of a solid thump during that psychedelic vibe.

Feathers- originally featured on The Lost Crowes and may have been the earliest impetus for this post as I started to realize that the band were sitting on a treasure trove of unreleased gems. I mentioned that the album felt to be more in a nice, middle zone and was not as dynamic as I’d like- to me “Feathers” is a perfect example of what I felt was missing, featuring an almost Robin Trower-esque pulse that stretches into the southern rock zone. Very calm, cool, and understated across the board with some extremely tasty guitar tones. Just a great, great song.

Fear Years- picking up the pace a bit, “Fear Years” hearkens back a little bit to the Southern Harmony album’s heavier tunes… the guitar tones are fat, the leadwork is stellar, the drums are slamming, and the song is just one hulking mass of groove. A song on the opposite side of the dynamic spectrum based on cadence alone, adding a bit of much needed menace to these proceedings.

Exit- maybe a sister song to “Fear Years”, “Exit” pulls back the groove a shade. You still have excellent musicianship and a decent pace yet the reins are pulled back just a tad, with drummer Steve Gorman falling into a sweet pocket and leaving plenty of space for the band to do a bit of extended work. Did I mention guitar work? Yes, this full on jamming showcases how great a tag team Rich Robinson and Marc Ford could be.

Title Song- oh man… Eddie Harsch was such a vital addition to the Crowes. The bright colors and dark shades that he could add to many songs were important soundscapes for the band to weave in and out of, and “Title Song” is a great example. That organ sound just feels right and is the bedrock of this tune and leaves Chris Robinson plenty of space to move from a lighter vocal style to more heavier elements.

Tied Up And Swallowed- ok ok ok, I DID add a sixth and really the add is to balance things out a bit on the dynamic side with a shorter rock song. “Swallowed” hearkens back to Southern Harmony and its hearty punch, almost feeling a bit like “Hotel Illness” via the chorus plus you get those soulful backup vocalists again. It’s a bit more riffy than the other rock oriented tunes on Amorica, a bit more of a stuttering, stumbling groove during the verse and once again featuring Robinson in full throated goodness.

So there you have it… I guess when all is said and done I lean a bit more to the “big rock” side of the Crowes- less hippie, less Grateful Dead/The Band, and more towards the Led Zep/Allman Brothers/Stonesy heavier dynamic side with a great mix of light and shade. Would love to hear your thoughts!