Audley Freed and Sven Pipien were hired as the new guitarist and bassist, respectively, although Rich Robinson played all the guitar parts on the album.

"[4] Bassist Johnny Colt had been losing interest in the band since the recording of Three Snakes and One Charm; his contributions to that album were minimal, as Rich played bass in his stead on all but one track.

[11] Despite working under a larger label, the band felt they had more freedom and support under Columbia;[12] Chris remarked, "At American, I never knew what a record company did.

[15][16] More songs were introduced in January 1998, including "Red Wine Stains", which eventually became "Go Faster",[17] and an early version of "Virtue and Vice".

"[13] There was also a conscious effort to "simplify the language",[25] which was inspired by Chris's listening to music by Otis Redding, George Jones and Muddy Waters.

Rich also noted that having only one guitarist gives the band "a different dynamic" because it affords Pipien and keyboardist Eddie Harsch "a lot of space".

[27] Four of the songs were holdovers from the Band sessions: "Only a Fool" and "If It Ever Stops Raining" were included on the album (the latter with new chorus lyrics as "By Your Side"), while "Peace Anyway" and "Smile" were released as B-sides.

The two songs were recorded after the tour during a planned session for putting finishing touches on By Your Side, though the decision delayed the album's release from November 17 to January 12.

On the day the album was released, the band appeared at a Tower Records store in Manhattan to sign autographs and give away 1,000 tickets to that night's private show at Irving Plaza.

[45] The Black Crowes returned to the US to perform during pre-game festivities at Joe Robbie Stadium before Super Bowl XXXIII on January 31.

Regarding the songwriting, most reviewers praised The Black Crowes for returning to the straightforwardness of Shake Your Money Maker (1990) following the more adventuresome Amorica (1994) and Three Snakes and One Charm.

[54][56][63] Gemma Tarlach of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel welcomed the album "because it represents a great band's return to what it does best", calling it "45 minutes of good, dirty fun".

[64] Wall of Sound's Russell Hall found that the band's emergence from "the jam-band haze that's infected" their recent work resulted in a "laser-sharp focus".

[62] Mark Falkner of The Florida Times-Union said that beyond the band's mastery of their influences' musical styles, what prevents them "from being just another tribute act is that they have (also) mastered the power, the passion and the fun that made the mix work".

Jim Farber of the Daily News thus described By Your Side as "a copy-of-a-copy-of-a-copy" and marked "Go Faster" a sped-up version of Humble Pie's "Hot 'n' Nasty".

[21] The Times' Nigel Williamson called "HorseHead" "Zeppelinesque" and labeled "By Your Side" "a kicking boogie half way between [the Faces'] 'Cindy Incidentally' and [The Rolling Stones'] 'Tumbling Dice'".

[20] Steve Dougherty of People summed up by commenting, "Purists will wonder why to buy this album when [The Rolling Stones'] 1972 Exile on Main Street or [Rod] Stewart's 1970 Gasoline Alley exist on CD.

Richard Harrington of The Washington Post wrote that "Only a Fool" "conjures '60s-era Stax-Volt passions while Robinson's jubilant vocals evoke Redding's rough-edged insistence" and compared "Diamond Ring" to Al Green's work.

[67] The Dirty Dozen Brass Band's playing on "Welcome to the Goodtimes" was called "infectious" by Wayne Bledsoe of The Knoxville News-Sentinel.

[60] Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised the band's retention of the sonic detail from Amorica,[54] and Jane Stevenson of the Toronto Sun appreciated the "soulful" backing vocals throughout.

[61] Echoing those sentiments was CMJ, which noted the "lazy slide-guitar textures, harmonica moans and choirs of soulful singers", but also stated "Chris Robinson's gritty, cocksure vocals blaze the trail.

The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan called "Go Faster" an amalgam of the band's interests, "including drugs ... nubile wenchhood ... scrapes ... and touring".

[73] The Washington Post's Harrington, however, called Robinson "convincing when he sings [in 'Virtue and Vice'], 'I feel so alive today and that's all I want to say/ I hope it stays this way,' adding, 'If not, I'll be okay'".

[67] The Black Crowes played a few shows in the eastern US in early January before the release of By Your Side, then spent the rest of the month promoting the album via television appearances in the US, Canada and Europe.

[76] A 1963 Fender Esquire guitar belonging to Rich was stolen from the backstage area at DeVos Performance Hall in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on February 16.

The band's management waited six weeks before issuing a press release asking for its return, hoping the guitar would turn up in a local pawnshop.

)[79][80] One of the shows Harsch missed was a charity concert in London at which The Black Crowes played a 45-minute set of Led Zeppelin songs and blues covers with Jimmy Page.