The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion

For the original tunebook, see Southern Harmony.

The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion is the second studio album by American rock band the Black Crowes, released on May 12, 1992. It was the first album by the band to feature Marc Ford on lead guitar, replacing Jeff Cease, who was fired the year before, and the first to feature keyboardist Eddie Harsch. The album's name derives from the full name of the Southern Harmony, an influential 1835 hymnal compiled by William Walker.

The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion
Studio album by The Black Crowes
Released	May 12, 1992
Recorded	1991–1992
Genre	Blues rock[1]
Length	50:33
Label	Def American
Producer	George Drakoulias The Black Crowes
The Black Crowes chronology
Shake Your Money Maker (1990) The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (1992) Amorica (1994)
Singles from The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion
"Remedy" Released: April 20, 1992 "Thorn in My Pride" Released: 1992 "Sting Me" Released: September 7, 1992 "Hotel Illness" Released: 1992

Release

It was a record for an album to feature four album rock number-one hits (previously set by Tom Petty in 1989, with three).^[2] The album itself reached the top spot of the Billboard 200 album chart, propelled by the success of these singles.

A box set featuring the remixed album along with previously unreleased songs and live tracks was released in late 2023.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[4]
Kerrang!	5/5[5]
Mojo	[6]
NME	9/10[7]
PopMatters	8/10[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
Select	5/5[10]
Uncut	9/10[11]
The Village Voice	B−[12]

In 2005, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion was ranked number 477 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.^[13]

In 2006, the album was ranked number 100 on Guitar World magazine's list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time.^[14]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Sting Me"		4:39
2.	"Remedy"		5:22
3.	"Thorn in My Pride"		6:03
4.	"Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye"		6:28
5.	"Sometimes Salvation"		4:44
6.	"Hotel Illness"		3:59
7.	"Black Moon Creeping"		4:54
8.	"No Speak No Slave"		4:01
9.	"My Morning Song"		6:15
10.	"Time Will Tell"	Bob Marley	4:08

All tracks are written by Chris Robinson & Rich Robinson, except where noted.

Bonus tracks (1998 reissue)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Sting Me" (Slow)		5:48
12.	"99 lbs."	Don Bryant	4:18

Japanese bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Shake 'Em On Down" (Live)	Bukka White	4:08

Personnel

The Black Crowes

• Chris Robinson – vocals, percussion, blues harp, guitar
• Rich Robinson – guitar
• Marc Ford – guitar
• Johnny Colt – bass guitar
• Steve Gorman – drums
• Eddie Harsch – keyboards

Additional musicians

• Chris Trujillo – congas^[15]
• Barbara Mitchell and Taj Harmon (now Taj Artis) – choir^[16]

Production

• Pete Angelus – personal manager
• The Black Crowes – producer
• George Drakoulias – producer
• Janet Levinson – art direction
• Brendan O'Brien – engineer, mixing
• Chris Robinson – art direction
• Mark Seliger – photography
• Howie Weinberg – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1992) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[17] 6 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[18] 39 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[19] 2 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[20] 17 Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[21] 14 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[22] 30 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[23] 4 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[24] 9 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[25] 17 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 17 UK Albums (OCC)[27] 2 US Billboard 200[28] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1992) Position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[29] 52 US Billboard 200[30] 41 Chart (1993) Position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[31] 100

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[32]	Gold	35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[33]	Platinum	100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[34]	Gold	7,500^
United States (RIAA)[35]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.