NRBQ
Encyclopedia
NRBQ is an American rock
band founded in 1967. It is known for its live performances, containing a high degree of spontaneity and levity, and blending rock
, pop
, jazz
, blues
and Tin Pan Alley
styles. Its best known line-up is the 1974–1994 quartet of pianist Terry Adams
, bassist Joey Spampinato
, guitarist Al Anderson
, and drummer Tom Ardolino
. 2004 saw the beginning of a several-year long hiatus interrupted only by a few reunion performances, while band members pursued other projects. In 2011, the band returned with keyboardist Adams as the only member from any previous lineup.
The abbreviation
"NRBQ" stands for New Rhythm and Blues Quartet (originally Quintet). The band's music, a rollicking blend of everything from stomping rockabilly
to Beatles-influenced pop
to Thelonious Monk
-inspired jazz
, has attracted fans as diverse as Bob Dylan
, Paul McCartney
, Elvis Costello
, Keith Richards
and Penn and Teller. NRBQ songs have inspired cover versions by Bonnie Raitt
, Los Lobos
, and Dave Edmunds
, among many others. In addition, the group served as the unofficial "house band" for The Simpsons
for the season 10-12 period in which NRBQ fan Mike Scully
was head writer and executive producer. NRBQ allowed several of their songs to be used on The Simpsons
, including "Mayonnaise and Marmalade", written specifically for the show. The band also appeared in animated form as well as on camera during the end credits to perform the show's theme song during the episode "Take My Wife, Sleaze
". The band also recorded a song entitled "Birdman" for an episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast
entitled "Pilot". The group appeared in feature films, including Day of the Dead, Shakes the Clown
, and 28 Days
.
NRBQ's devoted following was stoked by years of legendary live shows. The band never works with a set list
, so fans never knew what songs to expect. In addition to its own compositions, the band performs a broad range of cover material, and has even worked no-refusal audience requests into its act.
However, all of this admiration from peers and fans has never resulted in chart-topping success. The band made only one appearance on the Billboard Hot 100
chart in its nearly 40-year recording career ("Get That Gasoline Blues" reached #70 in 1974.) More than once, NRBQ garnered a major-label record deal, only to be dropped after one or two albums due to poor sales. Over the years, the group played sets while wearing pajamas, hired professional wrestler "Captain" Lou Albano
as its manager (for whom they penned a song in tribute), and exploded Cabbage Patch Dolls on stage.
, coming together from the remnants of several other bands. The original members, close friends in high school, were keyboardist Terry Adams
and guitarist Steve Ferguson.
"Ferguson first hooked up with pianist Terry Adams at Pleasure Ridge Park high school in Louisville, Kentucky
, where the pair formed a group called the Merseybeats (no relation to the Liverpool group who did “I Stand Accused”). When that group broke up, Ferguson and Adams moved to Miami, where they met the remnants of a band called the Seven of Us, singer Frank Gadler, drummer Tom Staley and bassist Joey Spampinato
(originally known by the stage name of Jody St. Nicholas), and formed NRBQ in 1967. Ferguson played on the group’s self-titled debut and its collaboration with Carl Perkins, Boppin’ the Blues. He left the group in 1970, replaced by Big Al Anderson. The group relocated to the northeastern U.S., living for a while in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and gaining attention in local clubs and performing at the Fillmore East
. NRBQ was signed to Columbia Records
in 1969, and released its self-titled debut album the same year. The record featured cover version
s of everyone from Eddie Cochran
to Sun Ra
, along with a number of similarly wide-ranging original songs. The following year, the group collaborated with rockabilly
legend Carl Perkins
on an album titled Boppin' The Blues."
However, before NRBQ could finish its third album, Columbia dropped the group. Over the next three years, the band experienced personnel shifts, with the departure of Ferguson (replaced for one year by Ken Sheehan), Gadler, and Staley, and the arrival of two new members: guitarist/singer Al Anderson
formerly of The Wildweeds, known for the Connecticut
and Massachusetts
regional hit No Good To Cry, and drummer Tom Ardolino
. The Adams/Spampinato/Anderson/Ardolino quartet stayed together longer than any other incarnation of the band (20 years, from 1974 until 1994), and was often augmented by the Whole Wheat Horns. In 1994 Anderson departed the group to become an award-winning Nashville songwriter for many country-western acts. He was replaced in NRBQ by Joey Spampinato
's younger brother, Johnny Spampinato, who was (and still is) a member of power-pop band The Incredible Casuals
.
On April 30 and May 1 of 2004, the group celebrated its 35th anniversary with concerts at the Calvin Theater in Northampton, Massachusetts
. The shows featured every former and current member of the band, as Ferguson, Gadler, Staley, Sheehan and Anderson came back for a NRBQ reunion.
In June 2006, Adams and Ferguson released the album Louisville Sluggers (with Ardolino on drums, Pete Toigo on bass and other supporting musicians), and this album's lineup performed some live shows in the U.S. and Japan as "The Terry Adams - Steve Ferguson Quartet" and "Rock & Roll Summit Meeting."
Also in September 2006 came the release of a SpongeBob SquarePants
album, The Best Day Ever, which included backing music by all four NRBQ members, as well as Al Anderson. The album, a collection of '60s-influenced pop/rock produced by Andy Paley
, and co-written by Paley and the voice of SpongeBob, Tom Kenny, also included such musical luminaries as Brian Wilson
, Tommy Ramone
, James Burton
, Flaco Jiménez
and Philadelphia DJ Jerry "The Geator" Blavat.
In November 2007, Terry Adams formed The Terry Adams Rock & Roll Quartet with Scott Ligon on guitar and vocals, Pete Donnelly (of The Figgs) on bass and Conrad Choucroun on drums.
In March 2011, Terry Adams posted an open letter to fans announcing that with the release of the upcoming album Keep This Love Goin', this lineup would take on the NRBQ name. He also explained that while he did have tendinitis, the real reason for the hiatus was his treatment for cancer.
, original NRBQ drummer Tom Staley and the band's former road manager Klem Klimek on saxophone.
Steve Ferguson died of cancer on October 7, 2009.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band founded in 1967. It is known for its live performances, containing a high degree of spontaneity and levity, and blending rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
styles. Its best known line-up is the 1974–1994 quartet of pianist Terry Adams
Terry Adams (musician)
Terry Adams is an American pianist/composer and a founding member of the musical group NRBQ , known for decades of extensive touring, energetic and humorous live shows, and wide-ranging musical repertoire, including rock, blues, country, pop, and jazz...
, bassist Joey Spampinato
Joey Spampinato
Joey Spampinato was a founding member and bass player of NRBQ. He was also one of the band's lead singers and chief songwriters. Before NRBQ he played in several bands, including The Seven of Us, which in 1967 while in Miami, Florida, met another band, The Merseybeats USA. The bands merged to form...
, guitarist Al Anderson
Al Anderson (NRBQ)
Alan Gordon "Al" Anderson is an American guitarist, singer, and songwiter. Between 1971 and the early 1990s, he was the lead guitarist in the rock band NRBQ, also releasing several solo albums. He also played electric guitar on Jonathan Edwards' 1973 album Have a Good Time for Me...
, and drummer Tom Ardolino
Tom Ardolino
Tom Ardolino is a rock drummer best known as a member of NRBQ. Ardolino was initially a fan of the band, and began corresponding and trading tapes with keyboardist and co-founder Terry Adams. On one occasion, original NRBQ drummer Tom Staley did not feel up to returning for an encore, so Adams...
. 2004 saw the beginning of a several-year long hiatus interrupted only by a few reunion performances, while band members pursued other projects. In 2011, the band returned with keyboardist Adams as the only member from any previous lineup.
The abbreviation
Abbreviation
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase...
"NRBQ" stands for New Rhythm and Blues Quartet (originally Quintet). The band's music, a rollicking blend of everything from stomping rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
to Beatles-influenced pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
to Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
-inspired jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, has attracted fans as diverse as Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
and Penn and Teller. NRBQ songs have inspired cover versions by Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
, Los Lobos
Los Lobos
Los Lobos are a multiple Grammy Award–winning American Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños.-History:The...
, and Dave Edmunds
Dave Edmunds
David 'Dave' Edmunds is a Welsh singer, guitarist and record producer. Although he is primarily associated with Pub rock and New Wave, and had numerous hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has always been towards 1950s style rock and roll.-Early bands:As a teenager Edmunds first...
, among many others. In addition, the group served as the unofficial "house band" for The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
for the season 10-12 period in which NRBQ fan Mike Scully
Mike Scully
Mike Scully is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom The Simpsons from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, Massachusetts and long had an interest in writing. He was an underachiever at school...
was head writer and executive producer. NRBQ allowed several of their songs to be used on The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, including "Mayonnaise and Marmalade", written specifically for the show. The band also appeared in animated form as well as on camera during the end credits to perform the show's theme song during the episode "Take My Wife, Sleaze
Take My Wife, Sleaze
"Take My Wife, Sleaze" is the eighth episode of the eleventh season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 28, 1999. In the episode, Homer wins a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and starts his own biker gang, naming it...
". The band also recorded a song entitled "Birdman" for an episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Space Ghost Coast to Coast is an American animated parody talk show hosted by the 60s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. The show premiered on April 15, 1994 on Cartoon Network...
entitled "Pilot". The group appeared in feature films, including Day of the Dead, Shakes the Clown
Shakes the Clown
Shakes the Clown is a 1992 American movie directed and written by Bobcat Goldthwait, who performs the title role. It also features Julie Brown, Blake Clark, Paul Dooley, Kathy Griffin, Florence Henderson, Tom Kenny, Adam Sandler, Scott Herriott, LaWanda Page, Jack Gallagher, and a cameo by Robin...
, and 28 Days
28 Days (film)
28 Days is a 2000 American drama film directed by Betty Thomas. Sandra Bullock plays Gwen Cummings, a newspaper columnist obliged to enter rehabilitation for alcoholism. The film costars Viggo Mortensen, Dominic West, Elizabeth Perkins, Steve Buscemi and Diane Ladd.-Plot:Gwen Cummings borrows the...
.
NRBQ's devoted following was stoked by years of legendary live shows. The band never works with a set list
Set list
A set list, or setlist, is a document that lists the songs that a band or musical artist intends to play, or has played, during a specific concert performance...
, so fans never knew what songs to expect. In addition to its own compositions, the band performs a broad range of cover material, and has even worked no-refusal audience requests into its act.
However, all of this admiration from peers and fans has never resulted in chart-topping success. The band made only one appearance on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart in its nearly 40-year recording career ("Get That Gasoline Blues" reached #70 in 1974.) More than once, NRBQ garnered a major-label record deal, only to be dropped after one or two albums due to poor sales. Over the years, the group played sets while wearing pajamas, hired professional wrestler "Captain" Lou Albano
Lou Albano
Louis Vincent "Captain Lou" Albano was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1969, then he became a manager, until 1995....
as its manager (for whom they penned a song in tribute), and exploded Cabbage Patch Dolls on stage.
History
NRBQ formed in 1967 in Miami, FloridaMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, coming together from the remnants of several other bands. The original members, close friends in high school, were keyboardist Terry Adams
Terry Adams (musician)
Terry Adams is an American pianist/composer and a founding member of the musical group NRBQ , known for decades of extensive touring, energetic and humorous live shows, and wide-ranging musical repertoire, including rock, blues, country, pop, and jazz...
and guitarist Steve Ferguson.
"Ferguson first hooked up with pianist Terry Adams at Pleasure Ridge Park high school in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, where the pair formed a group called the Merseybeats (no relation to the Liverpool group who did “I Stand Accused”). When that group broke up, Ferguson and Adams moved to Miami, where they met the remnants of a band called the Seven of Us, singer Frank Gadler, drummer Tom Staley and bassist Joey Spampinato
Joey Spampinato
Joey Spampinato was a founding member and bass player of NRBQ. He was also one of the band's lead singers and chief songwriters. Before NRBQ he played in several bands, including The Seven of Us, which in 1967 while in Miami, Florida, met another band, The Merseybeats USA. The bands merged to form...
(originally known by the stage name of Jody St. Nicholas), and formed NRBQ in 1967. Ferguson played on the group’s self-titled debut and its collaboration with Carl Perkins, Boppin’ the Blues. He left the group in 1970, replaced by Big Al Anderson. The group relocated to the northeastern U.S., living for a while in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and gaining attention in local clubs and performing at the Fillmore East
Fillmore East
The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. It was open from 1968 to 1971, and featured some of the biggest acts in rock music at the time...
. NRBQ was signed to Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in 1969, and released its self-titled debut album the same year. The record featured cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s of everyone from Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran , was an American rock and roll pioneer who in his brief career had a small but lasting influence on rock music through his guitar playing. Cochran's rockabilly songs, such as "C'mon Everybody", "Somethin' Else", and "Summertime Blues", captured teenage frustration and desire in the...
to Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
, along with a number of similarly wide-ranging original songs. The following year, the group collaborated with rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
legend Carl Perkins
Carl Perkins
Carl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
on an album titled Boppin' The Blues."
However, before NRBQ could finish its third album, Columbia dropped the group. Over the next three years, the band experienced personnel shifts, with the departure of Ferguson (replaced for one year by Ken Sheehan), Gadler, and Staley, and the arrival of two new members: guitarist/singer Al Anderson
Al Anderson (NRBQ)
Alan Gordon "Al" Anderson is an American guitarist, singer, and songwiter. Between 1971 and the early 1990s, he was the lead guitarist in the rock band NRBQ, also releasing several solo albums. He also played electric guitar on Jonathan Edwards' 1973 album Have a Good Time for Me...
formerly of The Wildweeds, known for the Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
and Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
regional hit No Good To Cry, and drummer Tom Ardolino
Tom Ardolino
Tom Ardolino is a rock drummer best known as a member of NRBQ. Ardolino was initially a fan of the band, and began corresponding and trading tapes with keyboardist and co-founder Terry Adams. On one occasion, original NRBQ drummer Tom Staley did not feel up to returning for an encore, so Adams...
. The Adams/Spampinato/Anderson/Ardolino quartet stayed together longer than any other incarnation of the band (20 years, from 1974 until 1994), and was often augmented by the Whole Wheat Horns. In 1994 Anderson departed the group to become an award-winning Nashville songwriter for many country-western acts. He was replaced in NRBQ by Joey Spampinato
Joey Spampinato
Joey Spampinato was a founding member and bass player of NRBQ. He was also one of the band's lead singers and chief songwriters. Before NRBQ he played in several bands, including The Seven of Us, which in 1967 while in Miami, Florida, met another band, The Merseybeats USA. The bands merged to form...
's younger brother, Johnny Spampinato, who was (and still is) a member of power-pop band The Incredible Casuals
The Incredible Casuals
The Incredible Casuals is an American rock band based in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. They were formed in 1981 by bassist and songwriter Chandler Travis, guitarist Steve Shook, drummer Vince Valium and guitarist Johnny Spampinato, brother of NRBQ's Joey Spampinato. The band has been described as "The...
.
On April 30 and May 1 of 2004, the group celebrated its 35th anniversary with concerts at the Calvin Theater in Northampton, Massachusetts
Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...
. The shows featured every former and current member of the band, as Ferguson, Gadler, Staley, Sheehan and Anderson came back for a NRBQ reunion.
Hiatus and return
Near the end of 2004, NRBQ went on hiatus. Adams had developed stage 4 throat cancer. During this time, Ardolino and the Spampinato brothers started playing shows as a trio, under the name Baby Macaroni. After a number of months, Adams would recover well enough to tour with former drummer Staley and Japanese rockabilly group the Hot Shots.In June 2006, Adams and Ferguson released the album Louisville Sluggers (with Ardolino on drums, Pete Toigo on bass and other supporting musicians), and this album's lineup performed some live shows in the U.S. and Japan as "The Terry Adams - Steve Ferguson Quartet" and "Rock & Roll Summit Meeting."
Also in September 2006 came the release of a SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. Much of the series centers on the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of "Bikini Bottom"...
album, The Best Day Ever, which included backing music by all four NRBQ members, as well as Al Anderson. The album, a collection of '60s-influenced pop/rock produced by Andy Paley
Andy Paley
Andy Paley is a noted record producer and musician who has been active since the late 1960s. His work includes stints as a producer for such noted musicians as Madonna, the Ramones, Jonathan Richman, Debbie Harry, Brian Wilson and Jerry Lee Lewis....
, and co-written by Paley and the voice of SpongeBob, Tom Kenny, also included such musical luminaries as Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
, Tommy Ramone
Tommy Ramone
Tommy Ramone, also known as Thomas Erdelyi , is a Hungarian American record producer and musician...
, James Burton
James Burton
James Burton is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 , Burton has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame...
, Flaco Jiménez
Flaco Jiménez
Leonardo "Flaco" Jiménez is a Tejano music accordionist from San Antonio, Texas. Jiménez's father, Santiago Jiménez Sr. was a pioneer of conjunto music. He began performing with his father at age seven and recording at age fifteen, as a member of Los Caporales...
and Philadelphia DJ Jerry "The Geator" Blavat.
In November 2007, Terry Adams formed The Terry Adams Rock & Roll Quartet with Scott Ligon on guitar and vocals, Pete Donnelly (of The Figgs) on bass and Conrad Choucroun on drums.
In March 2011, Terry Adams posted an open letter to fans announcing that with the release of the upcoming album Keep This Love Goin', this lineup would take on the NRBQ name. He also explained that while he did have tendinitis, the real reason for the hiatus was his treatment for cancer.
Reunion shows
On April 27 and 28th of 2007, NRBQ gave a pair of "38th Anniversary" performances in Northampton, Massachusetts, the first public NRBQ shows since 2004. Both Al Anderson and Johnny Spampinato appeared in the lineup, along with "Whole Wheat Horns" Donn Adams and Jim Bob Hoke, and unannounced guest appearances by John SebastianJohn Sebastian
John Benson Sebastian Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000...
, original NRBQ drummer Tom Staley and the band's former road manager Klem Klimek on saxophone.
Steve Ferguson died of cancer on October 7, 2009.
Discography
- NRBQ (Columbia) 1969
- Boppin’ the Blues (w/Carl PerkinsCarl PerkinsCarl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
) (Columbia) 1970 - ScrapsScraps (album)Scraps is an album by the rock band NRBQ, released in 1972 by Kama Sutra Records, which later released their next album, "Workshop." It was not originally released on Rounder. It is the group's first album with guitarist/vocalist Al Anderson, who would remain with the band for over twenty years....
(Kama Sutra) 1972 - Workshop (Kama Sutra) 1973
- All Hopped Up (Red Rooster) 1977
- At Yankee StadiumAt Yankee StadiumAt Yankee Stadium is the sixth studio album from NRBQ, released in 1978 on Mercury Records. In keeping with the band's well-known sense of humor, the album's title is itself a bit of a joke. While it would appear the album is a live concert recording performed at the stadium, it is not; the album...
(Mercury) 1978 - Kick Me Hard (Red Rooster/Rounder) 1979
- Tiddlywinks (Rounder/Red Rooster) 1980
- Grooves in Orbit (Bearsville) 1983
- Tapdancin' BatsTapdancin' BatsTapdancin' Bats is the name of a 1984 album by the band NRBQ.The album is composed of completely archival material. The reason for this is that at the time of production, NRBQ were signed onto Bearsville Records and the label's owner, Albert Grossman, didn't want NRBQ to record any more albums and...
(Rounder/Red Rooster) 1984 - She Sings, They Play (w/Skeeter DavisSkeeter DavisMary Frances Penick , better known as Skeeter Davis, was an American country music singer best known for crossover pop music songs of the early 1960s. She started out as part of The Davis Sisters as a teenager in the late 1940s, eventually landing on RCA Records. In the late '50s, she became a solo...
) (Rounder/Red Rooster) 1985 - Lou and the Q (w/"Captain" Lou AlbanoLou AlbanoLouis Vincent "Captain Lou" Albano was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1969, then he became a manager, until 1995....
) (Rounder/Red Rooster) 1986 - RC Cola and a Moon PieMoon pieA moon pie or MoonPie is a pastry which consists of two round graham cracker cookies, with marshmallow filling in the center, dipped in chocolate or other flavors. The traditional pie is about three inches in diameter...
(Rounder/Red Rooster) 1986 - Uncommon Denominators (Rounder-era compilation covering '72 through '84) (Rounder) 1987
- God Bless Us All (live album) (Rounder) 1987
- Diggin’ Uncle Q (live album) (Rounder) 1988
- Kick Me Hard- the Deluxe Edition (reissue, w/8 bonus tracks) (Rounder) 1989
- Wild Weekend (Virgin) 1989
- Peek-A-Boo (multi-label compilation covering '69 through '89) (Rhino) 1990
- Honest Dollar (Live compilation) (Rykodisc) 1992
- Stay with We (compilation of Columbia years, w/unreleased songs) (Columbia/Legacy) 1993
- Message for the Mess Age (Rhino) 1994
- Tokyo (live album) (Rounder) 1996
- You’re Nice People You Are (Rounder) 1997
- Tapdancin' Bats - The Anniversary Edition (reissue, w/4 bonus tracks) (Rounder) 1998
- You Gotta Be Loose (live album) (Rounder) 1998
- Ridin’ in My Car (reissue of All Hopped Up, w/unreleased songs) 1999
- NRBQ (sometimes known as "The Yellow Album") (Rounder) 1999
- Scraps (reissue, remastered, w/3 bonus tracks) (Rounder) 2000
- Scraps Companion (15 tracks from radio show from Memphis in 1972 and 6 Outakes from Scraps sessions) (Edisun) 2000
- Atsa My Band (Edisun) 2002
- Live from Mountain Stage (Live performances from the Mountain StageMountain StageMountain Stage is a two-hour music radio show, first aired in 1983, produced by WV Public Broadcasting and distributed worldwide by National Public Radio and the Voice of America's satellite radio service. Hosted by Larry Groce, the program showcases diverse music, from the traditional to modern...
radio show) (Blue Plate) 2002 - Live at the Wax Museum (previously unreleased concert from 1982, with guest John SebastianJohn SebastianJohn Benson Sebastian Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000...
) (Edisun) 2003 - Dummy (Edisun) 2004
- Transmissions (2-disc Japan-only compilation featuring about 40 percent unissued material) (Caraway) 2004
- Froggy's Favorites Vol. 1 (compilation of unreleased live tracks 1979-1999) (Edisun) 2006
- Ludlow Garage 1970 (previously unreleased concert from 1970) (Sundazed) 2006
- Christmas Wish- Deluxe Version (Clang!) 2007
- Keep This Love Goin (Clang!) 2011
NRBQ songs covered by other artists
- Ridin' In My Car - She & HimShe & HimShe & Him is an American indie pop duo consisting of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward . The band's first album, Volume One, was released on Merge Records in March 2008...
- Flat Foot Flewzy - Widespread PanicWidespread PanicWidespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring...
- Me & The Boys - Bonnie RaittBonnie RaittBonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
, Dave EdmundsDave EdmundsDavid 'Dave' Edmunds is a Welsh singer, guitarist and record producer. Although he is primarily associated with Pub rock and New Wave, and had numerous hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has always been towards 1950s style rock and roll.-Early bands:As a teenager Edmunds first... - Green Lights - Bonnie RaittBonnie RaittBonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
, Dave EdmundsDave EdmundsDavid 'Dave' Edmunds is a Welsh singer, guitarist and record producer. Although he is primarily associated with Pub rock and New Wave, and had numerous hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has always been towards 1950s style rock and roll.-Early bands:As a teenager Edmunds first... - I Want You Bad - Dan BairdDan BairdDaniel "Dan" John Baird was born in San Diego, California and is an American singer-songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist from the chart-topping 80s rock band The Georgia Satellites. Baird formed The Georgia Satellites in 1980 and left the band...
, Freedy JohnstonFreedy JohnstonFreedy Johnston is a New York City-based singer-songwriter originally from Kinsley, Kansas.Having scored several minor hits since the early 1990s, Johnston's songs are often about troubled loners, and cover topics like heartbreak, alienation and disappointment...
, The Long RydersThe Long RydersThe Long Ryders are an American alternative country and Paisley Underground band, principally active between 1983 and 1987, and which reformed in 2004 to do a reunion tour...
, Dave EdmundsDave EdmundsDavid 'Dave' Edmunds is a Welsh singer, guitarist and record producer. Although he is primarily associated with Pub rock and New Wave, and had numerous hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has always been towards 1950s style rock and roll.-Early bands:As a teenager Edmunds first... - It Comes To Me Naturally - The Fabulous ThunderbirdsThe Fabulous ThunderbirdsThe Fabulous Thunderbirds are an American, Grammy-nominated Blues rock band, formed in 1974.-Career:After performing for several years in the Austin, Texas blues scene, the band won a recording contract with Takoma/Chrysalis Records, and later on signed with Epic Records.Their first two albums,...
- Magnet - Yo La TengoYo La TengoYo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...
- What Can I Say - Yo La TengoYo La TengoYo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...
- Help Me Somebody - Widespread PanicWidespread PanicWidespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring...
External links
- NRBQ homepage
- http://www.scaruffi.com/vol3/nrbq.html
- http://www.terryadams.net/
- http://www.spampinatobrothers.com/
- http://www.bigalanderson.com/ Al Anderson