Whew... It took several days, but I've read the entire thread now and man have I learned a lot! First, I'll add my own discovery story if that's kosher for a 13 year old thread. I always felt like I was embarrassingly late to the party, having known of them but never taken the plunge until a drummer (who could sound just like Tommy - we even did a few Q songs during my little time at the mic) I was in a blues band with in the late 80's kept raving about them. He even had a recommended first dose, and it was Peek-A-Boo, still one of my favorite collections of music by anyone. The sequencing, the sound, the liner notes, all so great, but the music itself was the true revelation. I grew up on the Beatles (raised by hippies - didn't even have to buy records, they just appeared!), and from there went deep into blues/jazz/soul/rock and roll and their histories as I learned to play. How could I have overlooked NRBQ?!? It was like discovering a new Beatles... so many records, live shows, etc. to ingest. I eventually got all the audio, but was only ever able to see them live once, unfortunately not a great show. I think there must have been some hijinks with the venue and/or the cash, because they left after a very brief first set (maybe 45 minutes?). It was weird and disappointing. I was able to see the dressing room, and it looked like they left in a hurry... half a pizza in a box, drinks on tables, etc. I really wanted to be able to say I'd experienced what so many have at live Q shows, but even the "first set" was not up to what I expected. Al seemed very grumpy and there wasn't a lot of fun being had. Let's just say that I haven't let that less than perfect show color my still intense love of this band! There are simply too many great songs, so well preserved for posterity. I listen to them more regularly than anyone else, and even "discover" overlooked songs ("Start It Over" had eluded my ears for decades!). My other obsessively favorite band is XTC, later stuff mainly. Anything Beatle-ish is fine with me and I think of the Q as the Rubber Soul/Revolver thing with a big twist of Monk, while XTC covers the later period fabs but with a healthy dash of harmonic strangeness (some of the weirdest chords you'll ever hear in a "pop" song). Anyway, I wanted to thank the OP for beginning this now 34 page thread, and everyone who has participated, especially John DeAngelis and others with deep knowledge that have filled in the history gaps for me over the past days of reading. I had no idea about the Slim Harpo stuff, and so many other details that only add to the mysterious yet working class allure of one of the greatest rock and roll bands that ever was!
Saw them live twice. Once at a small club in Greensboro, NC. Once at an outdoor festival in Columbus, Ohio. The Greensboro performance was the best live show I’ve ever seen. Both were in the Big Al years.
I am loving it bigly! New cover design with extra photos, plus extra tracks and sounding better than ever. And it was already an excellent album! Thanks for asking.
Also being from Connecticut I was exposed to NRBQ early and I actually saw Al Anderson live with his pre NRBQ band the Wildweeds in the mid 60’s. I think I have most of their releases I might be missing one or two they sold on their website. What can I say great musicians, great tunes, great live act. One of those bands you know are great but are underrated so it is almost a cult thing…only difference is a lot of famous musicians are also part of the cult. NRBQ, Little Feat, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band all never got their proper due.
Today I found a Maxell XL II 90 cassette labelled NRBQ Live 7/16/92 in a box in my garage. I was at the show (at/on the Santa Monica Pier) which was recorded by folks at Pasadena City College and broadcast (somewhat edited) the next day or so on KPCC. I had a friend record the broadcast since he lived closer to Pasadena and got better radio reception. Is this show "out there" anywhere? Does anybody know if any tape of the show survived? I'd like to get my cassette transferred to CD/digital if possible. It was a great show and one of, if not the, best rock and roll show I've ever been to...
i was at one of the last Big Al shows, at least one after he gave notice. After the show Big Al sat on one end of the bar and Terry and Joey at the other. I suspected something was up.
I remember that he'd written the country ballad "Better Word for Love," which is a very good song but not at all typical NRBQ. The others all left the stage when he performed it, the only time I'd seen anything like that happen. (They did put it on their last album with Al).
I think the last show I saw with Al was at Tramps for NYE in the early 90s. They were pretty loose even for this band. I shouted out out a few requests and they did several. We took a bus back to the hotel as we couldn't get a cab. One of my favorite NYEs.
Along the same lines…whenever Little Feat would play A Day at the Dog Races, Lowell would exit- stage left.
