I am now -- thanks for the tip. I had heard them on "Nuggets," but never made the CT connection. We'll let NRBQ's debut ride for today, and give everyone a chance to chime in. "Boppin' The Blues" is up next this weekend.
My thoughts on NRBQs 1969 Self-Titled Debut On Columbia Records For me, NRBQ's debut is a very unique and eclectic album that has a personality that is hard for me to put my finger on -- it defies categorization. For me, the seeds of what NRBQ would evolve in to are represented, but the pre Al Anderson group is a very different type of group and stands separate and alone. Obviously, the fact that 3/5ths of the group changed is a major factor. Ferguson, Gadler, and Staley all had unique individual musical voices. When they left the group, they were not really "replaced" in the sense that the new players that came in copped their feel. Another difference for me, is that the sweeter pop side that Joey Spampinato later made more prominent is all but absent on the debut record. For lack of a better description, the record has a really hippie, homey, communal, rural sound to me. To me it doesn't really sound like a 60s record in relation to the contemporary sounds of the time, but the vibe is definitely very 60s. C'mon Everybody is an absolutely crackin' and energized burst of pure rock. Every time I hear it I have to clap along. Coming after C'mon Everybody, the Sun Ra cover of Rocket Number 9 really makes a statement about their musical diversity. Terry Adams seems very proud of their version, and that Sun Ra personally chose NRBQ to pass the song on to to introduce his music to the rock world. Again, Terry proudly tells of playing Rocket Number 9 at rock shows in Florida, and getting the whole crowd to sing along to what is, at its core, and avant-garde jazz song. This is my fave Sun Ra cover ever -- great energy and group interplay. Kentucky Slop Song, C'mon If You're Comin', I Didn't Know Myself, Fergie's Prayer, Hymn Number 5 all have that herbal, lysergic, spirited, contemplative 60s vibe that I referred to earlier. After this record, it seems to me that they left these types of songs behind. Joey Spampinato's You Can't Hide is notable, not only because it is a total rockin' kick a** song, but because it is the one song on the record that sounds like the NRBQ of later years, and could have shown up and been logical on any of their other later records. The version I have on LP sounds pretty poor to my ears. It has a really dull and squashed tone -- really thin with not much dynamic range. It is the only copy I have heard, so I am not sure if I just have a bad copy, or if it's just how the record sounds. The remastered versions of these songs sound infinitely better on the "Stay With We" CD compilation. I really wish that Sony or Sundazed would reissue this album on CD and LP.
I've never been too thrilled with the mastering of the first album, but whaddaya gonna do? And the first pressing of the lp that was done at one of Columbia's plants was misaligned, resulting in the absence of some instruments and vocals throughout Side One.
P.S. I realized I missed hitting on the excellent song "Ida" (aka Ida Lupino) from the 1st NRBQ album. This beautiful, tender, and delicate instrumental Carla Bley song is outfitted with lyrics (!) from Terry Adams. What an inspired and audacious move! For reference, please check out my favorite version of this song, from Paul Bley's album Turning Point with John Gilmore on tenor sax, released on the Improvising Artists label. Like I said before, I want to take the thread slow and give people time to listen and post, but it feels like everyone's ready to move on, so I'll move on to album number two. We'll hover here for the weekend, so if you have any more thoughts on the pre-NRBQ material or debut let 'em roll. I'd really love to hear some other thoughts on the Wildweeds and Q debut.
NRBQ Boppin’ the Blues (With Carl Perkins) (Columbia) NRBQ Boppin’ the Blues (With Carl Perkins) (Columbia) Recorded Aug 1969 - Oct 1969. Released 1970. 2 pressings: LP CS 9981 CD CK 9981 Sounds excellent according to Mike Dow: http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=81498&highlight=nrbq http://badcatrecords.com/BadCat/NRBQ.htm Given their willingness to try virtually anything in the musical realm, a collaboration with Carl Perkins really wasn't all that odd. Released in 1970, "Boppin' the Blues" featured a mixture of Perkins originals and NRBQ numbers, with a Little Richard classic thrown in for good measure. Track Listing Side 1: 1.) All Mama's Children (Johnny Cash / Carl Perkins) 2.) Turn Around (Carl Perkins) 3.) Tina (Jody St. Nicholas) 4.) Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard (Terry Adams) 5.) Sure To Fall (Cantrell, Claunch, Claunch, Perkins) 6.) Flat Foot Flewzy (Steve Ferguson) Side 2: 1.) Sorry Charlie (Carl Perkins) 2.) Step Aside (Emerson, Ferguson, Lake) 3.) Rip It Up (Blackwell, Marascalco) 4.) Allergic To Love (Carl Perkins) 5.) On the Farm (Terry Adams) 6,) Boppin' the Blues (Griffin, Perkins) 7.) Just Coastin' (Carl Perkins) http://www.allmusic.com/album/boppin-the-blues-r15063
There is some GREAT material on this record -- like Tina, Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard, and Flat Foot Flewzy -- and I think Q are starting to find their groove in the studio. However, I have to be honest and say that I struggle with this record. While I totally respect and honor Carl Perkins, for me the Perkins material diffuses the NRBQ material. It feels a bit disjointed to me, with all due respect. From what I can see, Columbia did NRBQ absolutely no favors with the way they treated them and released their product. The potential 3rd album had a lot of promise that the band could never fulfill, since Columbia asked them to record with Carl Perkins, Perkins left and never finished the album, NRBQ started and didn't get to complete their third album, and Columbia frankensteined the 2 incomplete sessions together. Has anyone ever taken Boppin' The Blues and the Stay With We comp and its unreleased material and tried to comp together a truer second album without all of the Perkins material? I guess I should give it a try! I know this was on CD at one time, and I'm not sure if it was a US release or an import, but either was it is OOP now. Like the first album I wish we could a deluxe re-release on CD and LP, or at the very least a bare-bones CD release. Anyone know anything about any potential Sony Legacy plans for the Q catalog or why it ended up the way it did with everything OOP?
I've got the Columbia CD of BOPPIN' THE BLUES and it sounds great to me. BTW, I'd kinda forgotten about Joey's temporary identity crisis or whatever it was when he traded in his name (Joey Spampinato) for another (Jody St. Nicholas). Pretty funny choice.
1968-1970 Stay With We: The Best Of NRBQ 1968-1970 Stay With We: The Best Of NRBQ Columbia Legacy CK 52432 (OOP as of 3/13/11) Vic Anesini: Remastering, Remixing. This compilation is made up of material recorded and released on NRBQ's first two released albums, "NRBQ" and "Boppin' The Blues," and also features a single mix, remixes, and unreleased material for the first two records. Sound quality is uniformly excellent compared to the original vinyl releases. Title Composer Time 1 C'mon Everybody [Single Version/Mono] (Recorded 19690714) Capehart, Cochran 2:40 2 I Say Gooday Goodnite (Recorded 19691009 Previously Unreleased) Ferguson 1:27 3 Flat Foot Flewszy (Recorded 19690822) Ferguson, Ferguson 4:42 4 Have You Heard Adams (Recorded 19690822 Previously Unreleased) 1:42 5 Rocket Number Nine (Recorded 196812 for Debut Album) Ra 3:04 6 I Didn't Know Myself (Recorded 196812 for Debut Album) Ferguson 2:14 7 Mama Get Down Those Rock & Roll Shoes (Recorded 196812 for Debut Album) Adams 2:37 8 Kentucky Slop Song (Recorded 196812 for Debut Album) Adams 5:38 9 Tina (Recorded 19690822) St. Nicholas 1:21 10 Step Aside (Recorded 19691006) Ferguson 1:16 11 You Got Me Goin' (Recorded 19700406 Previously Unreleased) Sanders 2:32 12 Dogwood Winter (Recorded 19691106 Previously Unreleased) Ferguson 1:30 13 Time & Place (Recorded 19690813 Previously Unreleased) Dixon, Dixon 4:32 14 Stomp [Original Version] (Recorded 196812 for Debut Album Previously Unreleased) Ferguson 1:56 15 Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard (Recorded 19691007) Adams 1:38 16 Open All the Windows (Recorded 19691106 Previously Unreleased) Adams 0:46 17 Fergie's Prayer (Recorded 196812 for Debut Album) Ferguson 2:35 18 You Can't Hide (Recorded 196812 for Debut Album) St. Nicholas 1:52 19 Hey! Baby (Recorded 196812 for Debut Album) Cale, Channel, Cobb 3:19 20 Tragic Magic [Original Version] (Recorded 19691106 Previously Unreleased) Adams, Wood 2:18 21 Ain't It All Right (Recorded 197007) Adams, Ferguson 2:23 22 Stay With We (Recorded 196812 for Debut Album) Adams 3:38 23 C'mon Everybody [LP Version] (Recorded 196812 for Debut Album) Capehart, Cochran 3:05 24 Down in My Heart (With King Curtis) (Recorded 19690822) Public Domain 2:52 http://www.allmusic.com/album/stay-with-we-the-best-of-nrbq-r170326 Review by Lindsay Planer The first incarnation of the New Rhythm & Blues Quintet recorded a pair of highly original and underrated albums during their all too brief stint with Columbia Records in 1968-1969. These include a self-titled release as well as Boppin' the Blues, which was a collaborative effort with rockabilly legend Carl Perkins. Highlights from those recordings, as well as a few previously unissued nuggets, make their CD debut on this single-disc anthology. Although primarily known as a four-piece band, NRBQ actually began as a quintet playing a formidable blend of roots rock and obscure jazz covers, as well as an abundance of highly inventive originals. This musical cornucopia has remained at the heart of the "the 'Q" for well over three decades. Face it, this is a band that covered a song by the Chipmunks. NRBQ's first two albums reflected a sonically rich and multi-textured palette by establishing the bandmembers as top-shelf interpreters of early rock favorites, such as their pungent and otherwise rousing version of Eddie Cochran's "C'mon Everybody" and a funky loose rendition of Bruce Channel's 1962 chart-topper, "Hey! Baby." The influence of space jazz master Sun Ra -- especially on Terry Adams(keyboard/vocals/harmonica) -- became a running motif in their live performances, although "Rocket Number Nine" was one of the few Ra numbers they ever recorded. The original material -- mostly from the pen(s) of Adams and/or Steve Ferguson (guitar/vocal) -- is in many ways more vibrant and well executed, with an additional urgency seemingly absent from NRBQ's cover songs. These range from quirky rock & roll rave-ups such as "I Say Gooday Goodnite," "Kentucky Slop Song," and the surreal Three Stooges paean "Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard" to the serene and remarkably sensitive "Fergie's Prayer" and "I Didn't Know Myself." Two of the best tracks on this compilation are the previously unreleased original instrumentals "Dogwood Winter" and "Tragic Magic" -- the latter of which would turn up on NRBQ's third long-player, Scraps, after the band was unceremoniously dumped by Columbia.
I've been getting into the group just over the past year (finally), so this thread is well timed. I'll be learning a lot.
I bought the Carl Perkins/NRBQ first because I was really getting into the RNR revival at the time. Found a cut out of the first one a little later...I've loved everything they've done. I'll have to search for some Wildweeds though! BTW listening to At Yankee Stadium right now!
that stinks! does anyone know how to identify the flawed pressing? any defining characteristics to look for on the label or run out groove? My copy (not flawed) has a red 70s era Columbia label with yellow/gold type in a circle around the edge of the label. The run off groove is stamped: Columbia NY XSM150253 1G. On ebay I see 2 other versions: a copy that has the spindle hole within Columbia logo, and a copy with 60s era red Columbia label with white type. sparkydog, what's your bad copy look like? thanks!
I picked up a nice copy a few years ago, but have yet to play it. Today will be the day, but the Stay with Me CD will have to finish first!
I first heard of NRBQ in around 1969 in Miami. Local radio station would play "C'mon Everybody" some. I think they were living down there then...?
I love Boppin' The Blues! I've got a really beat up sleeve on my vinyl, just like my copy of Scraps, but it's really stained and horrible. The music is fantastic though, the guitar on 'All Momma's Childrenk' is mind-blowingly good, the whole album rocks AND rolls, it's just fantastic.
NRBQ: Sundazed Ludlow Garage 1970 Releases Two archive releases by Sundazed Records from a previously unreleased soundboard concert recording from Ludlow Garage in Cincinnati, Ohio on January 24, 1970. Ludlow Garage 1970 was released only on CD, and Interstellar was released only on 10" vinyl. NRBQ Ludlow Garage 1970 Sundazed SC 11082 Released 2006 Previously unreleased concert from 19700124 Ludlow Garage; Cincinnati, OH http://www.sundazed.com/shop/produc...d=815&osCsid=d5a9829ab60c6dd5c0b6d78977033899 NRBQ, the combo that’s been the epitome of eclecticism over the past four decades has finally agreed to unleash its stunning live concert, Ludlow Garage 1970, on compact disc by Sundazed. Sketchy cassettes of this epic engagement have been circulating ever since it occurred, and now the real story can be told, direct from the original soundboard masters! Ludlow Garage 1970 catches the dynamic original lineup of NRBQ — lead singer Frank Gadler, keyboard man Terry Adams, guitarist Steve Ferguson, bassist Jody St. Nicholas (aka Joey Spampinato) and drummer Tom Staley—at the peak of their powers, as they shift gears wildly from their own unique originals, to the interplanetary sounds of New Thing jazz, to frantic covers of Wilson Pickett, Little Richard and others. With special focus on Ferguson’s absolutely astounding six-string technique, here’s the very best material from their legendary 1970 shows at the fabled Cincinnati nightspot, as personally selected by Adams, with the full story recounted in the liner notes by longtime band pal Chandler Travis (Incredible Casuals). It’s no damn wonder NRBQ has been described as nothing less than a band that always wove its own magical musical-tapestry. TRACK LIST: 1. Rocket # 9 / No Identification 2. Flat Foot Flewzy 3. Rip It Up 4. Sitting in the Park 5. Goofus 6. Step Aside 7. I Found a Love 8. Here Comes the Whistleman 9. You Move So Fast 10. Red Planet 11. When It’s Summertime in the Wintertime 12. Fergie’s Prayer 13. Wan-Do 14. So Dance with Me 15. Ida 16. Finger Poppin’ Time 17. Kentucky Slop Song 18. Someday Maybe NRBQ Interstellar Sundazed KS10 01 Kustom Shop 10" vinyl http://www.sundazed.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=637 Destination Out! Brand new from Sundazed's Kustom Shop, it's a mindblowing ten-inch 33 1/3 RPM slab of wax by NRBQ that finds the revered fivesome latching onto the out-there New Thing jazz pioneered by intergalactic heroes Sun Ra & His Arkestra—and riding the music to universes beyond the beyond. Cut live in 1970 at Cincinnati's Ludlow Garage and Clinton Hollow in upstate New York, these revolutionary sounds, says NRBQ mainman Terry Adams "opened up new possibilities in rock 'n' roll. We had a thousand teenagers chanting along with us to 'Rocket #9." That stunning Sun Ra classic and his equally wonderful "Next Stop Mars"—extended experimental workouts that incorporate Adams' stellar originals "Venusian Sunset" and "Approach The Planet"—are guaranteed to send you clear out of this world! TRACK LIST: 1. Rocket #9 (Released on Ludlow Garage 1970) Sun Ra 2. Venusian Sunset (Not released Ludlow Garage 1970) Terry Adams 3. Next Stop Mars (Not released Ludlow Garage 1970) Sun Ra 4. Approach the Planet (Not released Ludlow Garage 1970) Terry Adams
I saw the Iroquois Park concert mentioned on the poster. Do I remember a marching band and dogs all over the place? It was a few years ago...
NRBQ: Interstellar Correction nterstellar Sundazed KS10 01 Kustom Shop 10" vinyl Sides 1 and 2 are from 2 different locations: Side A Recorded 19700124 Ludlow Garage; Cincinnati, OH Side B Recorded 19701011 Polly Farm; Clinton Hollow, NY
BTW, there's a Carl Perkins CD that features a remixed version of "All Mama's Children" and it sounds great! Columbia engineer Pete Weiss did a great job of recording the "Boppin' The Blues" album. Sonically it's a huge improvement over the first NRBQ album. Here's a bit of trivia: When Carl Perkins first walked into the studio to record with NRBQ, the Q were playing an instrumental version of the song "Goofus". Carl told me that after he heard Steve Ferguson playing, he was afraid to take his guitar out of the case!
Scraps, Scraps Companion, and Workshop are coming up next, so pull out your LPs and CD and get reacquainted!
