Everybody Say Yeah! New Box Set Marks 50 Years of NRBQ
The New Rhythm and Blues Quartet (NRBQ) is turning 50 this year, and Omnivore Recordings is throwing the party! High Noon: A 50-Year Retrospective features 106 eclectic songs over 5 CDs including fan favorites such as the 1974 hit “Get That Gasoline Blues,” plus rarities, concert tracks, and previously unreleased recordings from the band’s varied line-ups over the years!
Since its founding in Louisville, Kentucky in 1966, NRBQ has touched on rock, jazz, blues, pop, and Americana. The band has recorded over 30 diverse albums for labels including Columbia, Kama Sutra, Mercury, and Rounder, and has collaborated with artists ranging from Skeeter Davis to Carl Perkins and even wrestler “Captain” Lou Albano! Further underscoring the group’s multi-generational appeal, NRBQ’s music has been covered by artists including Bonnie Raitt, Dave Edmunds, She and Him, Steve Earle, Los Lobos, and Widespread Panic. They’ve recorded songs for The Simpsons and Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and have appeared on a record celebrating Spongebob Squarepants. It’s no wonder that their fans range from Rolling Stone Keith Richards to the writer of “Like a Rolling Stone,” Bob Dylan!
NRBQ’s live shows have developed a reputation for being completely unpredictable as the band on its own catalogue (including “Me And The Boys,” “RC Cola And A Moon Pie,” “Wacky Tobacky,” “Ridin’ In My Car,” “12 Bar Blues” and “Christmas Wish”) as well as innumerable cover versions and new material. High Noon boasts over fifteen live cuts among its varied selections. The five discs are organized in chronological fashion, with each one drawing on a different period of time in the band’s storied history.
Sole remaining founding member Terry Adams worked closely with Omnivore on the box set and was instrumental in locating rare and lost material. He told Billboard, “It’s made to convey the spirit of the band. We had a lot of fun putting it together, and in doing so we had to go back to the beginning. It has enabled me to come into direct contact with the original intent…I can feel the spirit of every year of the 50. I’ve never heard the stuff sound so good.” The trade paper has premiered one of the previously-unissued cuts, “It’s Not Too Late.” Adams wrote the song in 1971 and recorded it with producer Eddie Kramer at New York’s Electric Lady Studios during sessions for 1972’s Scraps and its follow-up album, Workshop.
Every track on High Noon: A 50-Year Retrospective has been freshly remastered, while the deluxe package boasts extensive booklet notes and previously unseen photos. While Omnivore is unable to release the box set digitally due to licensing restrictions, the label has curated High Noon: Highlights and Rarities from 50 Years, which contains six tracks not on the physical box.
NRBQ has long had a dedicated cult following, but High Noon should go a long way in introducing their singular brand of all-encompassing musical merriment to an even wider audience. You can peruse the track listing below!
NRBQ, High Noon: A 50-Year Retrospective (Omnivore, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Disc One: Everybody Say Yeah! (2005-2016)
- Love In Outer Space
- Never Cop Out (Live)
- Waitin’ On My Sweetie Pie
- Ruby, My Dear
- I’d Like To Know
- Boozoo And Leona (Live)
- I’m Alone
- Can’t Wait To Kiss You
- Everybody Say Yeah!
- In Every Dream
- Here I Am
- The Animal Life
- Getting To Know You
- Talk
- Snowfall (Live)
- Keep This Love Goin’
- Fightin’ Back
- Let Go (Live)
- Dutchess County Jail Terry Adams & Steve Ferguson
Disc Two: Ain’t It All Right (1966-1970)
- Ain’t It All Right
- Rocket Number 9
- Tina
- I Say Gooday Goodnite
- Down In My Heart
- Have You Heard
- Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard
- Get On The Right Track Baby (Live)
- You Move So Fast (Live)
- Flat Foot Flewzy
- You Got Me Goin’
- On The Farm
- You Can’t Hide
- Step Aside (Live)
- Benellie
- I Feel Good (Live)
- Fergie’s Prayer
- C’mon Everybody
- Stomp
- Stay With We
- Heartbreaker (1966 Home Recording)
- The Waiting Song The Seven Of Us
- We Are Brothers (Live)
Disc Three: Do You Feel It? (1971-1978)
- That’s Neat, That’s Nice
- Green Lights
- Help Me Somebody
- Only You
- This Old House
- Ridin’ In My Car
- Things To You
- Do You Feel It
- Howard Johnson’s Got His Ho-Jo Workin’
- Electric Train
- Magnet
- Honey Hush (Live)
- Get That Gasoline Blues (Unedited Single Version)
- It’s Not Too Late
- It Feels Good
- Still In School
- Be My Woman Tonight (Live)
- RC Cola And A Moon Pie (Single Version)
- Get Rhythm
- You And I And George (Live)
- It’s Not So Hard
Disc Four: Me And The Boys (1977-1990)
- Captain Lou – with Lou Albano
- Me And The Boys
- Talk To Me
- I Love Her, She Loves Me
- Smackaroo (Instrumental)
- This Love Is True
- Feel You Around Me
- Crazy Like A Fox (Live)
- Rain At The Drive-In
- S’posin’ (Live)
- Wacky Tobacky
- The One And Only
- How Can I Make You Love Me
- I Got A Rocket In My Pocket (Live)
- Boy’s Life
- Never Take The Place Of You
- Want You To Feel Good Too
- I Want You Bad
- She Got The House (Live)
- 12 Bar Blues
- My Girlfriend’s Pretty
- Christmas Wish
Disc Five: Puddin’ Truck (1989-2004)
- Little Floater
- Sail On Sail On
- Next Stop Brattleboro
- What You Mean To Me
- If I Don’t Have You
- One Big Parking Lot
- Love Came To Me
- Dummy
- Terry Got A Muffin
- It’s St. Patrick’s Day
- 21-50 To Headquarters
- Do The Primal Thing
- Goodbye
- Puddin’ Truck
- Ain’t No Horse
- Blame It On The World
- Imaginary Radio
- Always Safety First
- Advice For Teenagers
- Paris (Live)
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The rarities and the remastering makes this a very interesting box for me even though I own quite a few vinyls already. A most special quintet which shows I had the privilege to experience a couple of times. They hit the music totaly on the volley.