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NRBQ - NRBQ

NRBQ
NRBQ

Remember those old movie clips of early attempts to build a "flying machine"? A man stands atop a high cliff waving large artificial bat wings attached to his arms—black oil cloth held together by wooden frames. After a dramatic gesture to the crowd he leaps into the air, flaps his wings madly, and falls two hundred feet to the bottom of the cliff. Splat! Thus it is with the NRBQ album.

In this case the take-off point was the most unbelievably exaggerated hype since chlorophyll toothpaste. As NRBQ moved north from its home in Kentucky, Columbia Records began trumpeting the national anthem of rock P-R, the ever popular "First Group Since the Beatles to Capture That Simple, Joyous
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Rock and Roll." This time we were told that not only was the band "a way of life," but also that "NRBQ is life." With a tasteless rap like that laid on them any group would have to check its contract to make sure it hadn't signed a death certificate by mistake. Apparently, record companies have decided that what "Top 40" really means is the highest possible I.Q. of the average listener.

NRBQ's music is characterized by an insane and disorganized eclecticism. The album lumps together country music, hard rock, Sun Ra, cocktail lounge jazz, and folk ballads into an unlistenable collage. Rather than integrate the various styles into a coherent set of moods, the record assaults the listener with fragments which are sadly inadequate by themselves and which clash when brought together. The truly sad part of it is that the band obviously has a great deal of talent and spirit.

NRBQ originally stood for "National Rhythm and Blues Quintet" and later for "National Rockabilly Quintet." It is indeed the rhythm and blues and early rock numbers which they do best. "Rock and Roll Shoes" in particular is masterfully arranged, executed, and recorded. The guitar, piano, tambourine and drums are all competent and make up for the weakness of the singing. The lyrics are fine: "Now a long time ago Chuck Willis made a plea/ You didn't listen to him but you gotta listen to me/ So get down, get down those rock and roll shoes/ I just got a feelin', we got no time to lose." The problem is that we did listen to Chuck Willis and a lot of other people, and we recognize the themes and riffs are unsophisticated cops from some excellent ten and twelve-year-old songs. After doing changes from Willis' "(I Don't Want To) Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes," from "Chantilly Lace,' "Rockin' Robin," and so forth, the lead singer exclaims, "I get that feelin', I'm paying my dues." Roots? Yes NRBQ's got lots of roots, but then so does crabgrass.

This is a potentially exciting group of young musicians in search of an identity. Hopefully, they will be able to discover a way of combining their two loves, rock and roll and country, in a style which will delight rather than irritate our ears. It will take a lot of work.

In the meantime this record obeys the now thor

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NRBQ - NRBQ