NRBQ

NRBQ began in late 1965 as a rehearsal band in the Shively, Kentucky, home of brothers Terry and Donn Adams, and they appeared on stage for the first time in 1966. By August, the NRBQ was Adams (keyboards), Ferguson (guitar), Spampinato (bass) and Frank Gadler (vocals) from The Seven of Us, and Tom Staley (drums). In December 1968, they began recording with Eddie Kramer at the Record Plant and by early 1969 were signed to a two-record deal with Columbia Records. Their self-titled debut album was released that year, with songs by both Eddie Cochran and Sun Ra, and a number of similarly wide-ranging originals. The following year, the group collaborated with rockabilly legend Carl Perkins on an album titled ''Boppin' the Blues. and drummer Tom Ardolino. The Adams / Spampinato / Anderson / Ardolino quartet stayed together longer than any other incarnation of the band (20 years, from 1974 until 1994), Rolling Stone'''s Sam Freedman noted that the NRBQ played a compressed 30-minute club show. He also reported that both Mike Mills and Peter Buck of R.E.M. watched each of the NRBQ's opening sets during their portion of the tour from the edge of the stage "as if to endorse NRBQ for their fans". In 1994 Anderson departed the group. He would become an award-winning Nashville songwriter for many country and western acts. He was replaced in NRBQ by Joey Spampinato's younger brother, Johnny Spampinato, who was (and still is) a member of power-pop band The Incredible Casuals. On April 30 and May 1, 2004, the group celebrated its 35th anniversary with concerts at the Calvin Theater in Northampton, Massachusetts. The shows featured every former and current member of the band, as Ferguson, Gadler, Staley, Sheehan and Anderson returned for an NRBQ reunion. ==Hiatus and return==

After the Halloween engagement at Shank Hall in Milwaukee in 2004, NRBQ went on hiatus. Adams had developed stage 4 throat cancer. During this time, Ardolino and the Spampinato brothers started playing shows as a trio, under the name "Baby Macaroni" and as the "Spampinato Bros.". After a number of months, Adams recovered and toured with former drummer Staley and Japanese rockabilly group the Hot Shots. In May 2012, the group released a live album, We Travel the Spaceways, on Clang! records. Tom Ardolino died on January 6, 2012, following a long illness. ==Reunion shows==

On April 27 and 28 of 2007, NRBQ gave a pair of "38th Anniversary" performances in Northampton, Massachusetts, the first public NRBQ shows since 2004. Both Anderson and Johnny Spampinato appeared in the line-up, along with "Whole Wheat Horns" Donn Adams and Jim Bob Hoke, and guest appearances by John Sebastian, original NRBQ drummer Staley, and the band's former road manager Klem Klimek on saxophone. Gadler, former lead vocalist, also appeared. ==Style and influence==

The band's music is a blend of styles from rockabilly to Beatles-influenced pop to Thelonious Monk-inspired jazz. Their song "Get That Gasoline Blues" (on Kama Sutra) reached No. 70 in 1974 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Over the years, the group played sets while wearing pajamas, hired professional wrestling manager "Captain" Lou Albano as the band's manager (for whom they penned a song in tribute), and exploded Cabbage Patch Dolls on stage. ==Members==

Current line-up • Terry Adams – vocals, keyboards (1966–2004, 2007, 2011–present); occasional live drums (1974–2004, 2016–present) • Scott Ligon – vocals, guitar (2011–present) • Casey McDonough – vocals, bass (2012–present) • Jake Edwards – drums (2025–present) Former members • Steve Ferguson – vocals, guitar (1966–1970, 1973–1974; guest 2004; died 2009) • Joey Spampinato – vocals, bass (1967–2004, 2007) • Tom Staley – drums (1968–1974; guest 2004, 2007) • Frank Gadler – lead vocals (1967–1972; guest 2004, 2007) • Joe Gallivan – drums (1968) • Ken Sheehan – guitar (1970; guest 2004) • Al Anderson – vocals, guitar (1971–1994, 2007; guest 2004) • Tom Ardolino – vocals, drums (1974–2004, 2007; guest 2011; died 2012) • Johnny Spampinato – vocals, guitar (1994–2004, 2007) • Conrad Choucroun – drums (2011–2013) • Pete Donnelly – vocals, bass (2011–2012) • Joe Camarillo – drums (2013; died 2021) • Bobby Lloyd Hicks – drums (2013–2015; died 2017) • John Perrin - drums (2015–2025) Timeline ==Discography==

Studio albums • NRBQ (1969) (Columbia) 1969 No. 162 US; rereleased (Omnivore) 2018 • ''Boppin' the Blues'' (w/ Carl Perkins) (Columbia) 1970 • Scraps (Kama Sutra) 1972 • Workshop (Kama Sutra) 1973 • All Hopped Up (Red Rooster) 1977; rereleased (Omnivore) 2018 • At Yankee Stadium (Mercury) 1978 • Kick Me Hard (Rounder/Red Rooster) 1979 • Tiddlywinks (Rounder/Red Rooster) 1980 • Grooves in Orbit (Bearsville) 1983 • ''Tapdancin' Bats'' (Rounder/Red Rooster) 1983 • She Sings, They Play (w/ Skeeter Davis) (Rounder/Red Rooster) 1985 • Lou and the Q (w/ "Captain" Lou Albano) (Rounder/Red Rooster) 1986 • Wild Weekend (Virgin) 1989 No. 198 US • Message for the Mess Age (Rhino) 1994 • ''You're Nice People You Are'' (Rounder) 1997 • Christmas Wish (Rounder) 1997 • NRBQ (sometimes known as "The Yellow Album") (Rounder) 1999 • Atsa My Band (Edisun) 2002 • Dummy (Edisun) 2004 • Keep This Love Goin' (Clang!) 2011 • Brass Tacks (Clang!) 2014 • Happy Talk [5 song EP] (Omnivore) 2017 • April Showers [3 song EP] (Omnivore) 2018 • Dragnet (Omnivore) 2021 • Grooves in Orbit [reissue with bonus tracks] (Omnivore) 2026 Live albums • God Bless Us All (Rounder) 1987 • ''Diggin' Uncle Q'' (Rounder) 1988 • Honest Dollar (Rykodisc) 1992 • Tokyo (Rounder) 1996 • You Gotta Be Loose (Rounder) 1998 • Live from Mountain Stage (Live performances from the Mountain Stage radio show) (Blue Plate) 2002 • Live at the Wax Museum (previously unreleased concert from 1982, with guest John Sebastian) (Edisun) 2003 • ''Froggy's Favorites Vol. 1'' (compilation of unreleased live tracks 1979–1999) (Edisun) 2006 • Ludlow Garage 1970 (previously unreleased concert from 1970) (Sundazed) 2006 • We Travel the Spaceways (Clang!) 2012 • Talk Thelonious (Euclid Records) 2015 • Turn On, Tune In (Omnivore) 2019 • NRBQ at the Ardmore Music Hall 2015 (arQive) 2020 • NRBQ & the Whole Wheat Horns Park West 83 (arQive) 2022 Compilations • RC Cola and a Moon Pie (Rounder/Red Rooster) 1986 • Uncommon Denominators (Rounder-era compilation covering 1972 through 1984) (Rounder) 1987 • Kick Me Hard — The Deluxe Edition (reissue, w/ 8 bonus tracks) (Rounder) 1989 • Peek-A-Boo (multi-label compilation covering 1969 through 1989) (Rhino) 1990 • Stay with We (compilation of Columbia years, w/ unreleased songs) (Columbia/Legacy) 1993 • ''Tapdancin' Bats — The Anniversary Edition'' (reissue, w/ 4 bonus tracks) (Rounder) 1998 • ''Ridin' in My Car (reissue of All Hopped Up'', w/ unreleased songs) (Rounder) 1999 • Scraps (reissue, remastered, w/ 3 bonus tracks) (Rounder) 2000 • Scraps Companion (15 tracks from radio show from Memphis in 1972 and 6 outtakes from Scraps sessions) (Edisun) 2000 • ''Music's Been Good to You'' (18 previously unreleased tracks (studio & live) between 1975 - 2001) (Edison) 2002 • Transmissions (2-disc Japan-only compilation featuring about 40 percent unissued material) (Caraway) 2004 • Christmas Wish — Deluxe Version (Clang!) 2007 • High Noon: A 50-Year Retrospective [106-track 5-CD version] (Omnivore) 2016 • High Noon: A 50-Year Retrospective [17-track digital version] (Omnivore) 2016 • High Noon: A 50-Year Retrospective [26-track 2-LP version] (Omnivore) 2017 • In • Frequencies (Omnivore) 2020 Singles • "Stomp / I Didn't Know Myself" (Columbia) 1969 No. 122 US • "C'mon Everybody / Rocket Number 9" (Columbia) 1969 • "Down In My Heart / Sure To Fall (In Love With You)" (Columbia) 1969 • "All Mama's Children / Step Aside" (with Carl Perkins) (Columbia) 1970 • "Howard Johnson's Got His Ho-Jo Workin' / Only You" (Kama Sutra) 1972 • "Magnet / Do You Feel It?" (Kama Sutra) 1972 • "C'mon If You're Comin' / RC And A Moon Pie" (Kama Sutra) 1973 • "Get That Gasoline Blues / Mona" (Kama Sutra) 1973 No. 70 US • "Rumors / Sourpuss" (Select-O-Hit) 1974 • "Ridin' In My Car / Do The Bump" (Red Rooster) 1977 • "I Got A Rocket In My Pocket / Tapdancin' Bats" (Red Rooster) 1977 • "I Love Her, She Loves Me / Green Lights" (Mercury) 1978 • "Hot Biscuits And Sweet Marie / Don't She Look Good" (Red Rooster/Rounder) 1979 • "Get That Gasoline / Wacky Tobacky" (Red Rooster/Rounder) 1979 No. 105 US Cashbox • "Me And The Boys / People" (Red Rooster/Rounder) 1980 • "Christmas Wish / Jolly Old St. Nicholas" (Red Rooster/Rounder) 1980 • "Never Take The Place Of You / Radio Spot / TV Spot" (Red Rooster/Rounder) 1980 • "Captain Lou / Boardin' House Pie" (W/ Captain Lou Albano) (Red Rooster) 1982 • "Rain At The Drive-In / Smackaroo" (Instrumental) (Bearsville) 1983 • "Wild Weekend / This Love Is True" (Virgin) 1989 • "If I Don't Have You" (Virgin) 1989 • "A Little Bit Of Bad / Tom Dooley" (Forward) 1994 • "Over Your Head / Blues Stay Away From Me / Spampinato" (Forward) 1994 • "Careful What You Ask For" (Rounder) 1999 • "Everybody Say Yeah! / Hornin' In" (Euclid) 2012 • "Never Cop Out / Scram! It's The Fuzz" (B-side By Los Straitjackets) (Spinout) 2016 • "Do The Primal Thing" (Extended Version) (Omnivore) 2020 • "I'm Not Here / All I Have To Do Is Dream" (Folc) 2021 ==References==