Black Crowes Top Five Songs

What can be said about a band that has the staying power of the cockroach and the appeal of a blue-eyed little girl sitting on the front porch of middle America eating a vanilla ice-cream drenched piece of apple pie? As far as the homey smiling little girl reference goes and the warm fuzzy it gives you, the beauty ends with the bands name: The Black Crowes.

Chris Robinson has been everything from a High Times Magazine Musician of the Year to the arm candy of one Ms. Kate Hudson. But one thing's for sure, the Brothers Robinson, who make up the rhythm section of the Crowes, know how to tie on some good, down home, American Southern Rock. I'd say they'd picked up the torch where Lynard Skynard left off, but the Crowes exceeded that honor with their first album, Shake Your Money Maker.

So to narrow down a top-twenty, fifteen, or ten from a catalogue of more songs than this writer can count, I picked my top five for various reasons. I included old standards and some of their newer stuff. But one thing's for certain: regardless of the studio tracks any one will chose for the Crowes best hits, nothing beats seeing them up close and live.

Wiser Time --Amorica

Wiser Time has one of those grooves that just bleeds Southern Rock. It's slow with the melodic twang of gospel hymns lurking behind the rising to driving to quiet guitar in the background. As the G, C, and D chords sneak into your cranium, you can't help but to close your eyes and sway your head to the beat. Wiser Time is the perfect song for sitting on the front porch swing with mosquitoes zapping on a blue light and you trying to wrap an arm around a new lover.

She Talks to Angels -- Shake Your Money Maker

For a band known for their driving guitar and nitro-laced rhythms, She Talks to Angels, from their first album has reached almost anthem status. From the opening acoustic picking to the sorrowful whine of Robinson on the chorus, She Talks to Angels reminds us all of that little girl back in high school who was self-tortured and alway unhappy. She probably wore black too. But somewhere in Robinson's crooning, he offers her some hope. But what we see is a master lyricist giving birth to a confident and effervescent talent. Robinson shows us here there are greater things to come from the Crowes.

Remedy -- The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion

This was the first single from The Crowes sophomore effort, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. Remedy picks up where Twice as Hard from Shake Your Money Maker started to move the band. The background vocals and tight rhythm section fused Detroit R&B with good old Southern Rock. You can't listen to the organ and dueling guitar without looking for an outlet for the controlled anger Remedy calls up in the soul. But then, isn't that the point? We're looking for a remedy for this driving groove.

Then She Said My Name -- By Your Side

Stevie Ray Vaughn and the boys from Skynard'd be proud. Then She Said My Name is quintessential Black Crowes, and it is the culmination of all their musical talents and influences wrapped in one song. Here they wrap us around their fingers as the lady in the lyrics does to the wayward songwriter. Then She Said My Name is the jewel of By Your Side and should be included in all discussions of the Crowes best works. It epitomizes their sound.

Seeing Things -- Shake Your Money Maker

Seeing Things highlights the vocal talents of Robinson. Seeing Things also represents one of the most overlooked songs in the Crowes catalogue. Vocally pugnacious and artistically seasoned, Seeing Things is the song you turn on when you coax that little vixen from the front porch into the steamy confines of your love nest. This is a song built for loving and will not disappoint. It calls for some slow dancing under Georgia starlight or at the foot of the bed before falling into it.