NRBQ
Studio album by NRBQ
Released 1969
Recorded 1969
Genre Rock
Length 37:21
Label Columbia
Producers Frank Scinlaro, NRBQ
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.
The Village VoiceÕs Eckhoff described the bandÕs sound with its longtime lineup: "The Q sound, though achieved with a minimum of electronic gadgetry, can be about as complicated as pop gets. The use of each instrument fits into some iconoclastic tradition, and none of them match." Melding the modern jazz explorations of The-lonious Monk and Sun Ra (whose "Rocket Number 9" the band covered on its debut) with AndersonÕs sometimes countrified, sometimes bluesy leads, Joey Spam-pinatoÕs love of pure-pop songcrait and ArdolinoÕs versatile rhythmic approach, which Eckhoff declared "lands between New Orleans session man Zigaboo Modeliste and a bunch of cardboard boxes falling downstairs," the Q found balance in an off-balance dynamic. The group was often joined by the "Whole Wheat Horns," featuring Donn Adams. On top of this, a sense of surreal mischief and good-time nostalgia colored their lyrics.
Professional ratings
Allmusic 3/5 stars
Robert Christgau A-
Review by John Dougan on allmusic:
The Q's debut is as succinct a summation of what this band was about than perhaps anything they've released since. After opening the record with a storming version of Eddie Cochran's "C'mon Everybody," they take a breath and leap headlong into a raucous version of Sun Ra's "Number 9." Add to that a songwriting collaboration between Terry Adams and jazz composer Carla Bley, and the great guitar playing of Steve Ferguson (really great on "Stomp"), and you've got the makings of a tremendously important record by a furiously eclectic and always wonderful band.
Review by Robert Christgau:
Ever since Mike Jahn called this group the best since the Beatles (something like that) it has been the victim of terrible anti-hype. Four or five of the cuts on this album are really compelling, and while the rest is marred by a kind of cute funkiness, it is original and grows on you. Dig their version of Sun Ra's "Rocket Number 9."
Review by Christopher B. Eddy on Sun Ra Arkive:
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.
LP track listing
Side One
1. "C'mon Everybody" - 3:01
2. "Rocket Number 9" - 3:04
3. "Kentucky Slop Song" - 5:44
4. "Ida" - 1:55
5. "C'mon If You're Comin'" - 2:34
6. "You Can't Hide" - 1:55
7. "I Didn't Know Myself" - 2:17
Side Two
8. "Stomp" - 1:54
9. "Fergie's Prayer" - 2:40
10. "Mama Get Down Those Rock And Roll Shoes" - 2:54
11. "Hymn Number 5" - 1:09
12. "Hey! Baby" - 3:22
13. "Liza Jane" - 1:02
14. "Stay With Me" - 3:50
Performers:
* Jody St. Nicholas - bass, vocals
* G.T. Staley - drums, percussion
* Steve Ferguson - guitar, vocals
* Terry Adams - Keyboards, harmonica, recorder, vocals
* Donn Adams - trombone
* Frank Gadler - vocals, percussion