Top 10 Black Crowes Songs We Love The Most (2024)

Prev ArticleNext Article

Our Top 10 Black Crowes Songs list looks at a band that defined the spirit of classic rock with a sound that fell somewhere between the Rolling Stones and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The band arrived on the music scene in 1990 with a sound completely contrasting with the emerging dark sounds of the Seattle music scene. While bands like Nirvana were turning on young people to the doom and gloom of teenage angsts, the Black Crowes were attracting an older audience yearning to hold on to the sounds of the Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers, and even The Beatles. The band’s sound was fresh and rebellious in the same way bands from the 1960s and 70s attracted their audiences. Yet, they did not sound like an oldies act because they were releasing excellent songs and great albums with original sounding melodies and arrangements.

The Black Crowes’ first album was released in 1990, entitled Shake Your Money MakerThe album featured brothers Chris Robinson on vocals and Rich Robinson on guitar. The rest of The Black Crowes featured Jeff Cease on guitar, Johnny Colt on bass, and Steve Gorman on drums. Brendan O’Brien was on board for the band’s first album in the engineering chair. Over the next thirty years, Brendan O’Brien would become one of the most essential rock music producers. Sitting in on keyboards on the album while contributing to that southern Georgia sound was the legendary Chuck Leavell of Allman Brothers and Sea Level fame.

The Black Crowes were a very active band in the 1990s. The band followed up their 1990 debut album in 1992 with the record The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. In 1994, they releasedAmorica. Continuing throughout the 1990’s and 2000’s the Black Crowes releasedThree Snakes and One Charmin 1996,By Your Sidein 1999,Lionsin 2001,Warpaintin 2008 and their final albumBefore the Frost…Until the Freezein 2009.

Our Top 10 Black Crowes songs list looks at the band’s catalog over the years while choosing some of our favorite Black Crowes songs. This is simply a subjective list meant to serve as an introduction to the band for music fans who may not know much about the band except for the big hits.

# 10 – Wounded Bird

We open our list of top 10 Black Crowes songs with a track from one of the band’s final albums. Released in 2008, one year before the band broke up, War Paint is defined as a band reaching a new level of maturity. As the band appeared on the Dave Letterman show in full beards, much like The Beatles Let It Be look, fans were ecstatic that the band had released new music after a seven-year absence.

# 9 – Good Morning Captain

The Black Crowes song “Good Morning Captain” was released on the band’s final album, Beforethe Frost…Until the Freeze.The maturity the band displayed on this song and album was frightening. It was such a shame they broke up after the release of this fantastic album in 2009.

# 8 -Wiser Time

The great Black Crowes song “Wiser Time” was released on the Amorica album. This was the song that defined their southern ballad sensibility. This song presented the band’s musical artistry on a new plateau. Listen to that cool ragtime-style piano at the song’s beginning. It’s cool how it merges into those classic Black Crowes guitar riffs. It sounds like the guys are rolling down a mountain while having a really good time on the way down. Easily one of our favorite Black Crowes songs.

# 7 – Sting Me

This great song was released on the band’s second album, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion.It was the album’s opening track, followed by the excellent track “Remedy.” The song was released as the second single from the album. There would be four singles released from the album. The record featured Chris Robinson on vocals, Rich Robinson on guitar, Johnny Colt on bass, Marc Ford on guitar, Steve Gorman on drums, and Eddie Harsch on keyboards.

# 6 – Jealous Again

When The Black Crowes appeared on the scene in 1990, the comparisons to the Rolling Stones were endless. Listen to this track, and you will understand why. The classic song “Jealous Again” was released on the Shake Your Money Maker album. The album was released in 1990. Chris Robinson and Rich Robinson wrote the song. “Jealous Again” reached the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at the number 75 position. The song did much better on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts, reaching the number five position in 1990.

# 5 – Twice as Hard

This was the song on the first album that defined more of an original sound than any of the other tracks on their debut album. The song was released as a single but missed the top 10, stalling at number 11. Nonetheless, the classic Black Crowes song “Twice As Hard” turned many heads when it first appeared on FM radio in 1990.

# 4 – Soul Singing

This one was always a fan favorite. Chris Robinson’s vocal performance on this track defined the man’s talent more than any other vocal performance in his catalog. Only a handful of singers in rock history get as close to the blues as Robinson did on this recording. One of the all-time great Black Crowes songs.

# 3 –She Talks To Angels

Released on the band’s first album. The song hit number one on the pop charts for the band. Making it two number-one singles from the band’s debut album. Boy, these guys lit it up when they first appeared in 1990. The song is based on a girl Chris Robinson knew who was into heroin. The music and the lyrics all sound just so genuine. One can hear the story resonating deeply in Robinson’s memory.

# 2 – Hard To Handle

The Black Crowes song “Hard To Handle” put the band on the map. That opening guitar riff is still to die for. I remember hearing this the first time and wondering wait a second, where did this come from? Not just one of the best Black Crowes recordings but one of the best songs to be released during the decade of the 1990s. While some may think this was a Black Crowes original, the song was actually composed by Otis Redding along with Al Bell and Allen Jones. It was originally released in 1968 on the album The Immortal Otis Redding.

# 1 – Remedy

We close out our list of top 10 Black Crowes songs with the perfect merger of rock and soul. The riffs were killer, and the chorus was classic on the fantastic Black Crowes song “Remedy.” This is the template for all future rock and roll musicians who want to understand how to get it done. Marc Ford and Rich Robinson tear it up on guitar in this smoking tune. I still can’t believe how great this is after all these years. The fact that this was done in 1994 makes it even more special. Play this track if anyone ever tells you there was no excellent rock music after the 1970s.

Photo: By Claude-Étienne Armingaud – Claudé [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], from Wikimedia Commons

article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2024

Prev ArticleNext Article