Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Your Tuesday Moment of NRBQ

I swear to god I did NOT know this was coming when I posted about the album two weeks ago.



From the Omnivore press release:

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The New Rhythm and Blues Quintet, better known as NRBQ, formed more than 50 years ago. After playing together for a few years, the band began recording with Eddie Kramer and inked a two-record deal with Columbia Records. Their eponymous 1969 debut featured wide-ranging originals peppered with versions of songs from diverse sources, from Eddie Cochran to Sun Ra, including a co-write between the band’s Terry Adams and jazz experimentalist Carla Bley. It was, and is, a wildly original and influential release.

Crawdaddy once noted, “It was filled with first class rock & roll, but there were a number of strange and wonderful songs that indicated something was happening on a higher aesthetic plane …" John Sebastian says: “The Lovin’ Spoonful closed down about 1969 … To me, it's always as if NRBQ kind of took the ball at that point for the original American Music Band.” And AllMusic sums it up: “A tremendously important record by a furiously eclectic and always wonderful band.”

For all of its stature, it’s hard to believe that in the recording’s 49-year existence, NRBQ has never been reissued, in any format. That changes on March 16, 2018 when Omnivore Recordings will make NRBQ available once again, on CD (for the first time), Digital, and as a gatefold LP.

Combining elements of the original, with additional photos and new liner notes from Jay Berman, the package has never looked, nor sounded better.

As Berman writes in his notes: “This historic and monumental recording has been remastered, and finally authorized for re-release. This album is a great reminder that NRBQ is on a mission, one that holds steady to its original inspiration to this day. For those fans who missed it the first time around, it Hasn’t Aged A Bit.”

According to Adams: “We did this album on a 12-track recorder at the Record Plant with Eddie Kramer engineering. We didn’t believe in doing a song more than once. This was how the band sounded on the night it was recorded. A couple of days later it would’ve been a whole different record. I like what they did with this new EQ remix. It sounds like how we felt.”

Indeedy. Hey -- I've got my copy reserved. What are YOU waiting for?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

God, is there a reissue label doing better, hipper work at the moment than OMNIVORE??

I find Adams' comments about their approach to recording the album interesting; a lot of very good records have been cut very QUICKLY, including, of course, many jazz albums but also things like Gil Scott-Heron's PIECES OF A MAN, or the first (s/t) J. Geils Band album (I think the band thought they were rehearsing, but producer Dave Crawford just rolled the tape and, unbeknownst to the band, recorded them - the album was done in about 18 hours). I think there's considerable merit to the idea of capturing a band when they're learning a song or just learned a song - that when it's still relatively fresh and they in fact play it best. Neil Young tried that approach famously on his classic TONIGHT's THE NIGHT album,
where he wanted recording to be like taking a snap-shot, as approached to doing an intricate painting.

J. Lag

Anonymous said...

Re: last post - Sorry, I meant as OPPOSED to doing an intricate painting.

J. Lag

steve simels said...

J.Lag — I agree in theory, but as a general rule, I think most rock records by bands should take way more advantage of overdubbing than most Nei Young records.
😀