Black Crowes Recommendations

Always liked the Black Crowes but have never really delved into their catalogue. Plan on making myself a Spotify playlist. If anyone has any recommendations it would be great!

 

IMO Warpaint and Amorica are great LPs
Pick any songs of these LPs

 

I'm a Mark Ford fan when it comes to the Crowes. Amorica and Southern Harmony are must haves, IMO.

 

I'm not really a fan, but there are some eternal classics on Amorica. "Descending" and "Wiser Time" for me.

 

I think you should listen to Southern Harmony and Musical Companion in its entirety. It's my favorite Crowes album by far.

 

Throw the first four albums (Shake Your Moneymaker, Southern Harmony & Musical Companion, Amorica, & Three Snakes and One Charm) into a playlist & shuffle. There are arguably only a few songs you'll want to skip, and it's the Crowes in a nutshell. If you're into what you hear anywhere in there, then check out By Your Side & Lions in a playlist, and Warpaint & Before the Frost...Until the Freeze in another. Divides up the eras nicely, and you can explore what you like best.

 

Everything.
Each album offers it's own unique signature.
A damn shame Chris and Rich can't get it together. A phenomenal band and great live.

 

I second this emotion. Amorica is their crowning achievement in my view, but it will take a few listens to really sink in. I enjoy just about all of their catalog, but Amorica and The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion are, by far, their two best albums as I see it. The latter is a bit more accessible than the former, although not quite as consistently superb.

 

You can listen to their full albums here:

black crowes full album - YouTube

 

Amorica.

 

Amorica, southern harmony and before the frost

 

to me all of the bands albums are a must hear

 

This is the correct answer. Don't bother with a playlist. Listen to the first 4. All of them are terrific. They define the Black Crowes. If you dig it, proceed to the rest of the catalog. There are good tunes on all of the rest of the albums, but none are nearly as satisfying as the first 4.

 

The first 3 - all killer. It went slightly pear shaped, for me, after that.

 

Amorica is dirge-y and insufferable

 

Love all of their studio albums (including Lost Crowes) to varying degrees, and wouldn't want to be without any of them.

 

Southern Harmony is their classic imo - unbeatable.

 

The first 2 albums are the best.

 

Southern Harmony is their best record, IMO. The first record has 'the hits,' but the second is really when the band found their confidence and groove after being on the road for a long period of time. I'd go with Amorica next, then By Your Side, a controversial but underrated slab of focused, high-energy rock n' roll that a lot of fans unfairly overlook.

There's also a compilation of their 1990-99 singles that should still be on streaming services that is a pretty solid overview of their best decade, it's as good a place to start as any.

I'd skip the reunion-era albums until you've gone through everything from the 90's. Opinions differ, but I find the songwriting pretty unremarkable and the rock n' roll quotient minimal.

 

Indeed they were great live. Saw them several times at the Beacon in NYC (I want to say '96?). I also saw them when I was living in the UK, once at Wembley and another time when they did an acoustic set in a small bar venue. I can't recall the name of the venue nor the year but I'd guess late 90s/early 2000s. Not all members of the band where there that day, but it was such a fun show up close and personal like that. Anyone remember that gig?

 

100% agree!

 

Either of these maybe?

22 February 1997
Garage - Early Show
London, England [UK]

She Talks To Angels
Torn And Frayed
Better When You're Not Alone
Spider In The Sugar Bowl Blues -> Jam ->
Nonfiction
Bring On, Bring On
Good Friday
Oh Sister
Thunderstorm 6:54 PM
Share The Ride (traditional blues style-1st & only)
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Jealous Again
- encore -
Hot Burrito #1
Hot Burrito #2

22 February 1997
Garage - Late Show
London, England [UK]

Remedy
Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye
Darling Of The Underground Press
Ballad In Urgency ->
Wiser Time
Cursed Diamond
He Was A Friend Of Mine
Descending
Willin'
Downtown Money Waster
How Much For Your Wings? -> Space Jam ->
Hard To Handle
- encore -
She
Girl From North Country

• All-Acoustic performances

 

That's it! I would have seen the early show. I remember them doing 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down'. Wonderful!

 

Wow. I would never associate those two words with Amorica. It's a lot of things, but not those! What we've come to accept as "Tall" is unfocused, strangely recorded, and self-indulgent (I still love it), but Amorica is a hard-edged, focused distillation of all that band was capable of at that time.

Here's why I'd recommend checking out all eras of Crowes:
I was watching the Koln 11/92 show that was professionally filmed for European TV broadcast. It's on YouTube, and it's a great document of Southern Harmony Crowes at the peak of their popularity. But it also struck me that at that time, these guys were nowhere as near proficient at their respective instruments as they would be later on. They rocked, they jammed, it's great, but 2005 shows for instance are better played, if not as much fun. It's almost as if the early Crowes wrote songs so good, they couldn't even play them yet. Therefore, when you check out the whole ride, you get the whole picture, which is worth taking in. I bet people who only like the first few would really enjoy the last few albums if they gave them a chance.

 

Go for these:

Southern Harmony And Musical Companion (1992) - with Marc Ford

amorica (1994) - with Marc Ford

Three Snakes And One Charm (1996) - with Marc Ford

Band (1997) released on the 2CD set Lost Crowes (archival release) - with Marc Ford

Shake Your Money Maker (1990)

The rest of the albums, By Your Side; Lions; Warpaint; After The Frost/Before The Freeze all have their moments here and there but they are spotty and weak compared to the titles above.

The years of 1992 - 1997 were the best in terms of songwriting and musicianship that hasn't been equaled in recorded album output by this band since then. What a band they were in those years! In my opinion they were the best then.

This 1992-1997 found the band with Marc Ford (guitar) and Eddie Harsch (keys) augmenting the band nicely together. Marc left in 1997 and came back briefly in 2005-06 to melt faces once again and Eddie stayed on until his departure in 2006.

Then in 1999 - 2000 it got a little interesting with the Crowes backing Jimmy Page for some Page/Crowes shows. The band sounded great playing Zeppelin! By this time Marc Ford had been replaced by Audley Freed. Audley was great but it wasn't the same without Marc Ford.

Get yourself some live shows from the 1992 - 1997 years too. www.liveblackrowes.com is also a good resource in collecting shows from 1996 - 2001 (though every show isn't available).

It was a great band and special too during those Marc Ford years.