''Amorica'' (stylized as ''amorica.'') is the third studio album by American rock band

The Black Crowes The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. Their discography includes eight studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer Geo ...

. Spawned from the band's unreleased, incompleted, scrapped ''Tall'' album, ''Amorica'' was released November 1, 1994, on American Recordings and reissued in the UK in 1998 with two bonus tracks. ''Amorica'' reached gold status in the United States, shipping 500,000 copies. The record cover notably featured a close-up photo of the pelvic region of a woman wearing a United States flag

thong The thong is a garment generally used as either underwear or in some countries, as a swimsuit. It may also be worn for traditional ceremonies or competitions. Viewed from the front, the thong typically resembles a bikini bottom, but at the b ...

with

pubic hair Pubic hair is terminal body hair that is found in the genital area of adolescent and adult humans. The hair is located on and around the sex organs and sometimes at the top of the inside of the thighs. In the pubic region around the pubis bon ...

showing at the top of the thong. The cover photo was taken from the cover of the July 1976 issue of ''

Hustler Hustler or hustlers may also refer to: Professions * Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a: ** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks ** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs ** Male prostitute ** Pimp ** Business man, more gener ...

'' magazine. The album with this cover was subsequently banned from chain stores like

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

and

Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...

, resulting in the cover being censored with a solid black background, displaying only the thong. Other songs recorded during the ''Amorica'' sessions were "Feathers", "Tied Up and Swallowed" and "Chevrolet" (a

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

cover). These tracks were later released as B-sides, bonus tracks or on compilation albums.

Reception

"The Crowes haven't ceased their cocky pillaging of the universal jukebox – echoes of the Stones and Led Zep abound," wrote ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' Paul Evans, who awarded the album three and a half stars. "But in joining the mix with offbeat kicks ( Latino rhythms, wah-wah guitar, strange vocal treatments), they sound remarkably fresh." In July 2014, ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

'' chose ''Amorica'' as one of "50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994".

Track listing

Personnel

The Black Crowes * Chris Robinson – vocals,

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

Rich Robinson Richard Spencer Robinson (born May 24, 1969) is an American musician and founding member of the rock and roll band the Black Crowes. Along with older brother Chris Robinson, Rich formed the band in 1984 (originally called ''Mr. Crowes Garden'' ...

– guitar *

Marc Ford Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

– guitar *

Johnny Colt Johnny Colt (born Charles Brandt; May 1, 1966) is an American bass guitar player who formerly played with the southern rock bands Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Black Crowes. Music career From 1989 he was the original bassist for The Black Crowes which ...

– bass guitar *

Steve Gorman Steve Gorman (born August 17, 1965) is an American musician and sports talk radio host. Gorman is best known as the former drummer of the American rock and roll band The Black Crowes He spent time as the drummer for British rock band Stereophoni ...

– drums *

Eddie Harsch Eddie Harsch (born Edward Hawrysch; May 27, 1957 – November 4, 2016) was a Canadian keyboardist and member of Detroit-based jam band Bulldog. Previous to that he was The Black Crowes' keyboardist from 1991 to 2006. Harsch was replaced on k ...

– keyboards Additional personnel * Jimmy Ashhurst –

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

* Eric Bobo –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

* Bruce Kaphan –

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

Andy Sturmer Marvin Andrew Sturmer (born March 11, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and composer who co-founded the rock band Jellyfish in 1989. He was the group's lead vocalist, drummer, and primary songwriter. Following their break-up in 1 ...

– "assorted musical gifts" Production *

Pete Angelus Pete Angelus is an artist manager who has worked in the music business since 1975. During his career, he has worked with Van Halen, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Slash, Hall & Oates and has managed The Black Crowes The Black Crowes are an Amer ...

– personal manager * The Black Crowes – producer *

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

– mastering *

Jack Joseph Puig Jack Joseph Puig is an American audio engineer, A&R executive, and record producer. He has worked with Tonic, Hole, Jellyfish, The Black Crowes, John Mayer, Weezer, Fiona Apple, Roger Hodgson, Taxiride, Green Day, Counting Crows, No Doubt, Klaxo ...

– producer, engineer, mixer * Jeff Sheehan – assistant engineer

Charts

References

External links

In-depth article on ''Amorica''
{{Authority control 1994 albums American Recordings (record label) albums The Black Crowes albums Obscenity controversies in music