The Black Crowes’ ‘Amorica’ Turns 30 – Celebrating The Controversial Album Where They Soared to Creative Heights

Today, November 1, 2024, is a special day because it marks the 30th anniversary of The Black Crowes’ Amorica album. It was released 30 years ago, can you believe it?!?! Everything about this album is perfect: the songs, the musicianship, the tracklist order, and even the album cover (you can fight me on that one)! It followed-up their very successful sophomore effort, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (1992), which followed up the groundbreaking debut, Shake Your Money Maker (1990). Those three albums alone sound completely different from each other. Shake Your Money Maker is typical rock ‘n’ roll with nods to The Rolling Stones and The Faces, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion expanded the band’s sound to a more complex and southern attire, while Amorica stretched their feathers further by experimenting with different effects and techniques, and becoming a jam band, which did not help them out commercially. But, as time would tell, who the hell cares?!?!

The lineup remained the same from the previous album with Chris Robinson on lead vocals, his brother Rich Robinson on guitars, Marc Ford also on guitars, Steve Gorman on drums, Johnny Colt on bass guitar, and Ed Harsch on keyboards. Released through American Recordings, the album was produced by Jack Joseph Puig. The recording process for Amorica was very messy. The album was supposed to be released under the title, Tall, but the project was scrapped and the band re-recorded the entire thing; the end results became known as Amorica. Songs from the Tall sessions include “A Conspiracy,” “Wiser Time,” “Descending,” “Cursed Diamond,” and “Evil Eye.” The latter would end up on the band’s following album, Three Snakes and One Charm (1996).

Years later, The Black Crowes released the best bits from those sessions, as well as the Band sessions, on a compilation set titled, The Lost Crowes (2006). With minimal lyric changes, and title rewrites here and there, the Amorica songs aren’t that different from their original counterparts. According to the liner notes for The Lost Crowes written by Dennis Cook, more than 30 tunes were recorded during the Tall sessions. 

Again, the songs were hardly changed and in a weird way, they were tweaked to better match the chaotic and noncommercial mess the band was going for. “Gone” has an exotic feel with its Latino rhythms and tasteful percussion instrumentation. “A Conspiracy” sees Rich Robinson rock out with killer wah-wah guitar effects and it’s one of the heaviest tunes they’ve ever done (again, you can fight me on that one)! “High Head Blues” is bizarre, funky, bluesy, and one hell of a good time. Oh, and Chris Robinson plays the triangle for the track. “Nonfiction” is a favorite of mine because of its use of beautiful imagery to tell a tragic tale about a couple that was doomed from the start. Ford and Harsch help bring the story to life with enchanting melodies and instrumentation. 

“P. 25 London” is another favorite of mine because of its weirdness and free spirit. It’s groovy and funky as heck; Ford’s guitar playing hints what he would do on the following album, Three Snakes and One Charm. Plus, Chris Robinson jams out on the harmonica for the track. “Wiser Time” sums up the lonely life of being a musician and constantly on the road. “Downtown Money Waster” is a fun, old-school, laid-back blues number. “Descending” closes the album beautifully, thanks to Harsch’s dreamlike keyboard melodies. It also has a country vibe going on, thanks to Ford’s luscious slide guitar work. 

However, despite how brilliant Amorica is, it never stood a chance against Shake Your Money Maker. Heck, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion couldn’t even top the debut financially. While the latter climbed to the number one spot on the Billboard 200 album chart, it was only certified two-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), selling only 2,000,000 units in the U.S. That’s still great, but it was a major drop from the former, which was certified five-times platinum by the RIAA, selling 5,000,000 units in the U.S. As poor luck would have it, Amorica was only certified gold by the RIAA, selling only 500,000 units in the U.S. That alone solidified the band’s hit days were over. In fact, if you’ve read Gorman’s Hard to Handle: The Life and Death of The Black Crowes (2019) book, this album sank because the music was not the straight-up rock ‘n’ roll that made them successful in the first place and the pubic hair album cover (taken from the July 1976 issue of Hustler magazine) ruined their chances of selling the record at popular retailers like Walmart and Best Buy.

Record sales aside, Amorica marks a period where The Black Crowes were firing on all creative cylinders, soaring to new musical heights, and everyone was on the top of their game. Come on, you gotta give them credit for the shakers, bongos, congas, tambourines, triangles, and other weird tasteful influences they infused on Amorica. Lyrically, the album tackles dark, depressing, and sometimes cynical subject matters (it was the early ‘90s, after all). Rich Robinson said the band was going through hard times while making this record. They poured their heart and soul to create a therapeutic and creative masterpiece that deserves all the love in the world.

They didn’t care about selling stadiums or making hit records. They just wanted to make great art that they were proud of and if they lost some fans along the way, oh well. One of the things I love about The Black Crowes is they never made the same album twice. They always strived to be different and expand their horizons because it’s boring to do the same thing over and over again. Amorica marks their shift away from their commercial heydays, but as a result, they matured and became the band they were meant to be, versus the band critics claimed them to be. They were a band that combined blues, soul, funk, folk, southern rock, and Americana all into one.  

Thankfully, time has been very kind to Amorica and the hardcore fans still eat this record up, especially when the band performs deep cuts live. It’s my second favorite Black Crowes album; first being By Your Side (1999). There’s not a bad track on this record and sonically, it sounds amazing. So for those that think The Black Crowes went downhill after their first two albums, give Amorica another listen with an open perspective. For the fans that already love Amorica for what it is, blast this record as loud as you possibly can!

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Lana