Essential NRBQ suggestions?

[j-raj]

I was listening to NPR this morning and they interviewed Al Anderson of the New Rhythm & Blues Quartet.



I was wondering what would be some albums I should get.

[stretchcat]

Hey Jai,

I've got "At Yankee Stadium" and "God Bless Us All". They are great CDs from a great band. Also, check out "On In A Million" on DVD with Terry Adams driving a remote control car on stage during the show.

[j-raj]

thanks a bunch Ben! I'm going to look those up. The only tunes I have of theirs are on various practice CD's from past cover band gigs.

Hey thanks again for the DVD's and the bootleg!

Oh I've chatted with JPM and we're going to try and work something out with our schedules! Thanks again,

[nysbob]

Pretty much all of their records have some good tunes on them. Don't overlook their earlier stuff - I have a reissue of Scraps &Workshop on vinyl from the pre-Al Anderson days that is terrific. Yankee Stadium is probably their overall strongest record...Grooves in Orbit is not to be missed either. I saw the band with Al about 5 or 6 times - the last time he was absolutely on fire. I mean right up there in Beck & Hendrix land.

[brianrost]

j-raj,

Al left NRBQ a long time ago!!! He was replaced in the mid 90s by Johnny Spampinato, brother of bassisst Joey Spampinato.

nysbob,

Al played on both Scraps and Workshop...Scraps was his debut with the band (they had recorded 2 LPs before that).

If you want a good first CD of the Al Anderson era lineup, get "Uncommon Denominators" a compilation that came out in 1986.

[j-raj]

brian,

Yeah, during that NPR interview they just spoke of the recent song writing efforts that Al has been involved with for the last few years. So, half of the segment was spent on him and the other half was on NRBQ.

Thanks y'all for suggestions...

[nysbob]

Originally Posted by brianrost

j-raj,

Al left NRBQ a long time ago!!! He was replaced in the mid 90s by Johnny Spampinato, brother of bassisst Joey Spampinato.

nysbob,

Al played on both Scraps and Workshop...Scraps was his debut with the band (they had recorded 2 LPs before that).

If you want a good first CD of the Al Anderson era lineup, get "Uncommon Denominators" a compilation that came out in 1986.

Thanks for settin' me straight! It's great stuff.

I still love those guys, but just it's not the same without Al.

[fretlessrock]

All good recommendations so far. Great to see others who know of the Q.

Some of the best NRBQ never made it to CD. "All Hopped Up" was great, probably released on Red Rooster. Amazing album. The 2-cd retrospective, Peek-A-Boo, is really good and has lots of Al-era material. I saw them a bunch when Al was in the band and I pretty much got to watch them devolve into a sideshow for a bit. When that bad was on you just never wanted the gig to end. Definitely listen to the awesome rootsy playing of Joey Spampinato, and don't be surprised if Terry Adams becomes part of your lexicon. You had a lot of bands that reach back to the Elvis tradition, where Terry channels Jerry Lee. The man can play stuff on a clav that will curl yer hair.

It is really good to see Al's new album getting some publicity. He has a real gift for songwriting, and some of his early stuff with the Wildweeds was proof of that. Long story behind that band but basically they straddled the singles era and LP era and had bad taste in managers. Otherwise they were brilliant.

One thing about NRBQ is that they are a very hard band to pigeon hole. They mixed rockers, ballads, pop, and cornball songs like very few bands can.

[klaatu]

Yes, the Wildweeds stir up some good memories. I grew up in Enfield, CT where we had a venue called the Teen Center and saw the Wildweeds many times. Little did we know that Al Anderson would become a member of the well known NRBQ. The Wildweeds main tune was No Good To Cry.