''Amorica'' (stylized as ''amorica.'') is the third studio album by U.S. rock band The Black Crowes. Spawned from the band's unreleased ''Tall'' album sessions, ''Amorica'' was released on November 1, 1994, on American Recordings. ''Amorica'' reached gold status in the United States, shipping 500,000 copies. The album cover notably featured a close-up photo of the pelvic region of a woman wearing a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

flag bikini bottom with

pubic hair Pubic hair (or pubes , ) is terminal hair, terminal body hair that is found in the sex organ, genital area and pubic region of adolescent and adult humans. The hair is located on and around the sex organs, and sometimes at the top of the inside ...

showing at the top. The photo was taken from the cover of the July 1976 issue of '' Hustler'' 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 in the United States and 23 other ...

and

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

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

cover), which 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, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' 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. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...

'' chose ''Amorica'' as one of "50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994", placing it at 50th place.

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 incl ...

Rich Robinson Richard 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 (singer), Chris Robinson, Rich formed the band in 1984 (originally called ''Mr. ...

– guitar * Marc Ford – guitar * Johnny Colt – bass guitar * Steve Gorman – drums * Eddie Harsch – keyboards Additional personnel * Jimmy Ashhurst –

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

* Eric Bobo –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

* Bruce Kaphan – pedal steel guitar * Andy Sturmer – "assorted musical gifts" Production * Pete Angelus – personal manager * The Black Crowes – producer *

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He 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 Zeppeli ...

– mastering *

Jack Joseph Puig Jack Joseph Puig is an American audio engineer, record 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 Dou ...

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

Charts

Certifications

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