NRBQ

NRBQ (the New Rhythm and Blues Quartet) have amassed a fanatical cult following over more than two decades of recording and touring with their incredibly versatile eclecticism; their music might veer from country to rockabilly to pop to bar-band R&B to blues to free jazz, all in the same album. The group's wacky, sometimes corny sense of humor and in-concert unpredictability (the band sometimes vows to play whatever song audience members request) have endeared them to fans, even if some find them a bit precious. The band was formed in Miami in 1967 by keyboardist Terry Adams, guitarist Steve Ferguson (both former members of the Louisville, Kentucky band Mersey Beats USA), singer Frank Gadler, drummer Tom Staley, and bassist/singer Joey Spampinato. After moving to New Jersey and playing clubs, NRBQ attracted immediate attention with their wide-ranging musicianship and were signed to Columbia. On their 1969 self-titled debut, the band covered rockabilly and Sun Ra on one record and pulled it off; not surprisingly, rave reviews followed. NRBQ followed it with Boppin' the Blues, a collaboration with rockabilly singer Carl Perkins; it too received critical praise, but Columbia was unhappy with the group's sales and dropped it. Ferguson left the group and was replaced by former Wildweeds guitarist Al Anderson; Gadler left in 1972, and in 1974, drummer Tom Ardolino replaced Staley. This lineup carried on through 1994, recording albums for labels including Kama Sutra, Rounder, and Mercury (At Yankee Stadium), as well as their own Red Rooster. NRBQ and its members have worked with Skeeter Davis (1985's She Sings, They Play), John Sebastian, jazz artist Carla Bley, and even unofficial manager and wrestling star Captain Lou Albano, who appeared on 1986's Lou and the Q. Joey Spampinato appeared in the Chuck Berry film Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll as a member of the backing band. In 1989, the band got another one-album major-label deal with Virgin, which resulted in Wild Weekend, their first album to make the charts since the debut record. Al Anderson joined a Nashville publishing house in 1991 and had songs recorded by several major country artists, including Alabama, Carlene Carter, and Ricky Van Shelton. After recording Message for the Mess Age, the group's 1994 album for Forward Records, Anderson left NRBQ for a solo career. He was replaced months later by Spampinato's brother Johnny. After a handful of live efforts including 1997's Tokyo: Recorded Live at on Air West Tokyo and 1998's You Gotta Be Loose: Recorded Live in U.S.A., the group resurfaced in 1999 with a self-titled studio release.