By Your Side (CD - 1999)

Additional personnel: Dirty Dozen Brass Band (horns); Zoe Thrall (flute); Curtis King, Cindy Mizelle, Tawatha Agee, Brenda White King, Vanees Thomas (background vocals).

Recorded at Avatar Studios, New York, New York.

The Black Crowes: Chris Robinson, Steve Gorman, Sven Pipien, Eddie Harsch, Rich Robinson.

Additional personnel: Zoe Thrall (flute); Dirty Dozen (horns); Cindy Mizelle, Brenda White-King, Vanees Thomas, Curtis King, Tawatha Agee (background vocals).

In the three years since their last album, the Black Crowes either lost or fired band members, got sued, switched labels and saw marriages break-up. Rather than be cowered by these obstacles, the band regrouped and put out an album bristling with energy and soaked in sturdy riffs and passionate singing. With the Crowes reduced to a quintet for the recording of BY YOUR SIDE, Rich Robinson played all lead and rhythm guitar for the first time and particularly shone on the sassy funk of "Heavy" and the slide-happy "Kicking My Heart Around." The female back-up singers, fat guitar tone and Chris Robinson's raspy singing turned the title track into the kind of solid rock & roll that Rod Stewart used to churn out effortlessly early in his career.

Although the wah-wah drenched "HorseHead" is a heavy stomper of a song, the Crowes got wistful on "Welcome To The Goodtimes" and churned out Curtis Mayfield-flavored soul with "Go Tell The Congregation." Keyboardist Eddie Harsch remained the band's unsung hero as his liberal doses of Hammond organ and electric piano seasoned songs such as the rollicking "Then She Said My Name" and the psychedelic-flavored sanctity of "Virtue And Vice." minimize