Blackberry Smoke's top albums and songs ... ranked!

The band's 'Shake, Rattle and Roll' tour hit Central Illinois, so here's some rankings and a recap of their Peoria show

Blackberry Smoke performing at the Peoria Civic Center.

In celebration of my first Blackberry Smoke show of 2025, I took a shot at some rankings. These are, of course, subject to change at a later date.

Blackberry Smoke has eight studio albums. The Whippoorwill is in a class by itself — one of the best I’ve ever heard from any band. But the rest are fairly similar in quality. Very few songs are “bad,” but some albums have more “average” songs than others.

Here’s how I rank Blackberry Smoke’s eight full-length studio albums:

8. Bad Luck Ain’t No Crime (2004) — Charlie Starr’s voice has a rougher sound on the band’s first album, and they’re still figuring out what their style is.

7. Like An Arrow (2016) — If this is one of your worst albums, you know you’re a high-quality band. Lots of good songs, but doesn’t hit some of the highs the others do.

6. Be Right Here (2024) — The last album that will feature Brit Turner doesn’t break any new ground but features heartfelt tunes top to bottom.

5. You Hear Georgia (2021) — A couple misses, but it starts strong and sounds great throughout.

4. Find a Light (2018) — Very strong first half contains two of the band’s all-time classics in “Run Away from It All” and “Medicate My Mind.”

3. Holding All the Roses (2015) — Doesn’t quite reach the heights of its predecessor, The Whippoorwill, but it’s still one of their best with 12 memorable tracks.

2. Little Piece of Dixie (2009) — Five years after their debut, Blackberry Smoke found their sound. This album announced who the band was and established themes they continue to explore. It also gave them two live anthems: “Good One Comin’ On” and “Up in Smoke.”

1. The Whippoorwill (2012) — 13 great songs. The depth of the lyrics and intensity of the songs go to places the band has never gone again. Also, it sounds fantastic and still makes up much of the band’s live set.

Ranking the top 20 songs

20. Azalea — Gorgeous, touching song about being a parent.

19. Let Me Help You (Find the Door) — Great title and super catchy.

18. Leave a Scar — A theme in a lot of their songs is living life to its fullest, and this is a great example.

17. Little Bit Crazy — This is just a band having a lot of fun. Love the back-and-forth with The Black Betties.

16. Lucky Seven — Love the bridge: “Ain’t no plaaaaans to tuuurn around!”

15. All Over the Road — This is must-listen on a late night on the way home from a show.

14. Sleeping Dogs — One of Blackberry Smoke’s funniest songs takes on another dimension live.

13. Up in Smoke — Unapologetic song about being in a kickass rock band: “Everywhere we go, everywhere we been. Leave a trail of ashes and a trail of sin.”

12. You Hear Georgia — Charlie is pissed, and there’s a country-tinged Black Crowes vibe to it.

11. Rock and Roll Again — Just a simple, rock ‘n’ roll love song that really kicks ass.

10. Live it Up — Another in the “live every moment like it’s your last” genre, it contains the classic line: “It’s a hell of a thing to break your back just to make another man rich.”

9. The Whippoorwill — A song about Charlie’s grandma, this is an emotional powerhouse. “You sewed my years together like a patchwork quilt. Your bougainvillea’s bloomed … it’ll never wilt.”

8. One Horse Town — There aren’t too many better songs about the realities of small town life.

7. Medicate My Mind — Ideal acoustic guitar tone and a memorable chorus.

6. Restless — “Out here searching, for something, what it is I don’t know. Might have to find it under my headstone.”

5. Pretty Little Lie — Paul Jackson shines on harmonies, and there isn’t a better ending to a song than, “You a damn lie!”

4. Good One Comin’ On — No song describes the feeling of being young, dumb and on the verge of a weekend better than this.

3. Six Ways to Sunday — The tongue-in-cheek blasphemy (especially the bridge) might be my favorite set of lyrics in the band’s catalog. Those first crunchy guitar notes with the honky-tonk piano coming in set the tone for a great song and album. It’s the song that hooked me.

2. Run Away From it All — The guitar tone is perfect and the parts leading into the chorus and coming out of the solo are well-worn on my air guitar. “Squeezin’ every drop out of what’s left of my time” is classic Blackberry Smoke.

1. Ain’t Much Left of Me — When you hit a certain age and have gone through your fair share, “I’ve been rained on, rode hard and put up wet, barely held together by a few old threads” hits like a ton of bricks. But I’m still holding on, too.

Honorable mention: Crimson Moon, Dig A Hole, Free On the Wing, I’ve Got This Song, Let It Burn, Like an Arrow, Like I Am, No Way Back to Eden, Prayer for the Little Man, Up the Road, Watcha Know Good, Waiting for the Thunder, What Comes Naturally, Who Invented the Wheel

NOTE: Do you agree with my rankings or am I way off? Please comment below or on social media — I can take the heat!

Shawn and I immediately after Blackberry Smoke’s set at the Peoria Civic Center on Friday, March 7.

Getting Smoked in Peoria

When Blackberry Smoke announced their current tour and the closest stop was the Peoria Civic Center, my first thought was … I might skip this one.

After all, I’d seen Blackberry Smoke five times — six if you count a Charlie Starr acoustic show — in less than two years. And the Peoria Civic Center? I hadn’t seen anything there other than the boys high school state basketball tournament since the early 1990s.

But then two things happened:

1. I was feeling the bite of winter and had seen very few shows the last few months.

2. Warren Haynes played at the Civic Center theater in February — I saw the show with concert buddies Shawn and Jason from the “State of Amorica” podcast. It was a great-sounding show with convenient parking, restaurants, and hotels nearby. I brought up to Shawn that Blackberry Smoke was playing there, and he was interested.

That’s all it took. It was Shawn’s first proper Blackberry Smoke show, which was fun to witness. Even though the band always plays several of the same songs, they never phone it in, and there are enough surprises to keep things fresh.

A look at the crowd behind Shawn and me at the Civic Center theater.

Charlie Starr was less talkative than on other nights, though he did do a quick Richard Pryor impression for the Peoria crowd and revealed why band member Paul Jackson was never a youth wrestler — he didn’t want to do naked weigh-ins: “I can just weigh myself at home naked and tell you how much I weigh. How about that?” Starr said, speaking for Jackson.

From the time I parked the car in downtown Peoria, I saw Blackberry Smoke fans walking on the sidewalks, and the Pere Marquette bar where I met Shawn was full of BBS fans. The theater was packed, and the crowd stood for the entire 2-hour Blackberry Smoke portion of the show.

While Blackberry Smoke still isn’t part of the mainstream music conversation, they’ve shown what relentless touring and a strong social media presence — including a Facebook fan page (BLACKBERRY SMOKE Brothers & Sisters OFFICIAL FAN CLUB) with more than 102,000 members worldwide — can do.

Here are some show highlights:

The original Blackberry Smoke song

I knew “Sanctified Woman” was on both the band’s first two albums and that the versions weren’t the same, but I never knew why … until this show.

Starr introduced “Sanctified Woman” as “the first Blackberry Smoke song that ever was.” After the song, he explained that while recording their second album, Little Piece of Dixie, producer Dann Huff said, “Why don’t y’all record that ‘Sanctified Woman’ song?” Starr told him, “Why would we do that? We already did that. It’s on our first album?” And Huff told him, “I’ve got news for you: Nobody heard your first album.” The band played some “womp, womp” sounds, and Starr said, “We did it, and now there are two versions to choose from.”

(The worst experience I ever had at a Blackberry Smoke show was at the Murat Theater in Indianapolis. A guy yelled “Sanctified Woman” between songs for the entire show, growing more impatient and threatening as it went on. He should’ve just waited for this tour.)

Cover fever

The current “Shake, Rattle and Roll” tour has included, most nights, a cover song in addition to the covers the band always mixes into “Sleeping Dogs” and “Ain’t Much Left of Me.”

In Peoria, we got Black Sabbath’s “Children of the Grave” — it was the second time the band had performed the song. Neither Shawn nor I are Black Sabbath aficionados, but both immediately recognized it as a Black Sabbath song and it was fun to see the band show off their metal chops.

For the interludes, in “Sleeping Dogs,” it was “Midnight Special,” and for “Ain’t Much Left of Me,” it was “When the Levee Breaks,” which is my favorite Led Zeppelin song — that bumped the show up a few notches for me.

Show posters!

On this tour, Blackberry Smoke’s merch stand — in addition to a large selection of T-shirts, vinyl, CDs, keychains, etc. — features a show-specific poster at every venue. It’s 11x17, includes the name of the city and venue, is made of plastic with a holographic finish (lenticular?), and costs only $15!! No band I follow is better at merch than Blackberry Smoke — I love that they’re carrying on the tradition started by original drummer and Merch Mountain founder Brit Turner, who died in 2024.

Hey Blackberry!

I’ve only been seriously listening to Blackberry Smoke for a little more than two years, but this was the sixth time I’ve seen the band — plus a Charlie Starr solo show featuring Benji Shanks during which they performed mostly Blackberry Smoke songs.

Few bands tour as much as Blackberry Smoke, which means I haven’t had to travel out of the Decatur triangle to see them. As long as they keep coming around, I’ll keep adding to this list:

1. Sangamon County Fairgrounds, New Berlin, Ill. (June 15, 2023)

2. The Mill, Terre Haute, Ind. (June 30, 2023)

3. The Castle Theater, Bloomington, Ill. *-Charlie Starr acoustic show with Benji Shanks (Jan. 12, 2024)

4. Old National Centre, Indianapolis (Feb. 22, 2024)

5. The Pageant, St. Louis (April 12, 2024)

6. Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater, Decatur, Ill. (July 7, 2024)

7. Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Ill. (March 7, 2025)

Blackberry Smoke songs I’ve heard most live

Ain't Got the Blues (7), Ain't Much Left of Me (7), One Horse Town (7), Run Away From It All (7), Good One Comin' On (6), Sleeping Dogs (6), Hammer and the Nail (5), Hey Delilah (5), Let It Burn (5), The Whippoorwill (5), Like It Was Yesterday (4), Pretty Little Lie (4), Waiting for the Thunder (4), Azalea (3), Crimson Moon (3), Everybody Knows She's Mine (3), Little Bit Crazy (3), Live It Down (3), Till the Wheels Fall Off (3), Whatcha Know Good (3), You Hear Georgia (3)

More videos

There are tons of great YouTube clips from the show if you’re looking for more complete videos. Jaybird on YouTube has a bunch from the show.

Good One Comin’ On

Live it Down

One Horse Town (crowd participation)

Pretty Little Lie

Run Away From It All

Sleeping Dogs

The Whippoorwill

Til the Wheels Fall Off

Ain’t Much Left of Me

When the Levee Breaks

Opener Cole Chaney was a pleasant surprise.