Home Read Albums Of The Week: Black Crowes | Southern Harmony & Musical Companion...

Albums Of The Week: Black Crowes | Southern Harmony & Musical Companion Deluxe Edition

The Southern rockers' sophomore set is expanded with outtakes & live recordings.

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “World-renowned rock band The Black Crowes have released the box set of their chart-topping sophomore album The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion. The album, which entered the Billboard album chart at No. 1 upon release in 1992, was named after a post-Civil War southern hymnal and is home to some of the band’s biggest hits, including Remedy, Sting Me and Thorn In My Pride, which were No. 1 on the Billboard Main Stream Rock Airplay chart for a combined total of 21 weeks.

Says Chris Robinson: “We’ve always thought that the music on Southern Harmony and Musical Companion was made of a certain magic that was in the air for us in 1992. This special box set represents all the ingredients of the spell we were under.” Adds Rich Robinson: “I always felt that Southern Harmony was us coming into our own as a band and creating our sound. We made the record in eight days. Every song was one or two takes. No more than that. It was a snapshot of a band possessing all of its powers, and it still resonates with me to this day.”

The Robinson brothers, alongside producer George Drakoulias, revisited the archives for the instant classic album and created a special Super Deluxe Edition featuring unreleased studio recordings, rare B-sides, a live performance from Houston on Feb. 6, 1993, and a newly remastered album from the original 1/4″ production master. Highlights for the forthcoming boxset include 14 unreleased recordings, including a new mix of the Memphis soul classic song 99 Pounds, originally by Ann Peebles and written by Don Bryant, and a previously unreleased studio recording of Miserable.

Photo by Mark Seliger.

At the end of the Southern Harmony and Musical Companion sessions in early 1992, the band performed live on the famed Southern Tracks Studio floor in Atlanta on Jan. 4, 1992. The session was captured by a film crew and, true to Black Crowes form, turned into a party. These never-before-released until now, live, studio recordings, feature five songs, including their cover of Ry Cooder’s Boomer’s Story. Also included in the Super Deluxe Edition is Southern Harmony Live, featuring all the tracks off the album, performed live in Houston on Feb. 6, 1993. This legendary and much-bootlegged show has now been mixed from the 24-track tapes and is available alongside the original album, which has been remastered from the 1/4″ production master.

Southern Harmony & Musical Companion Vinyl Version

LP1: The Southern Harmony & Musical Companion
Sting Me (Side A)
Remedy (Side A)
Thorn In My Pride (Side A)
Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye (Side A)
Sometimes Salvation (Side A)
Hotel Illness (Side B)
Black Moon Creeping (Side B)
No Speak No Slave (Side B)
My Morning Song (Side B)
Time Will Tell (Side B)

LP2: More Companions: Unreleased, Outtakes and B-Sides
99 Pounds (Side C)
Miserable (Side C)
Rainy Day Women No 12 & 35 (Side C)
Boomer’s Story (Side C)
Darling of The Underground Press (Side C)
Sting Me (Slow) (Side D)
Bad Luck Blue Eyes, Goodbye (Side D)
Sometimes Salvation (Side D)
Black Moon Creeping (Side D)

LP3: Southern Harmony Live: Feb. 6, 1993 (Houston, TX)
No Speak No Slave (Side A)
Sting Me (Side A)
My Morning Song (Side A)
Jam (Side B)
Thorn in My Pride (Side B)

LP4: Southern Harmony Live: Feb. 6, 1993 (Houston, TX)
Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye (Side C)
Black Moon Creeping (Side C)
Hotel Illness (Side C)
Sometimes Salvation (Side D)
Remedy (Side D)