You might think that after 50 years, a band might want to settle down and just relax. If you do, you don’t know the Q!
Hot on the heels of last year’s critically acclaimed box set High Noon: A 50-Year History of NRBQ, Terry Adams, Scott Ligon, Casey McDonough, and John Perrin took a few days off from their never-ending touring schedule, entered Harmonium Studio, and finished this new five-song EP, bound in a beautiful six-panel package. Omnivore Recordings will release the EP on October 20, 2017.
Available on CD and Digital, Happy Talk contains two originals and the Q’s spontaneous take on Roy Orbison’s “Only the Lonely,” along with the band’s years-in-the-making arrangement of Rogers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific tune “Happy Talk,” which serves as the EP’s title track.
According to founding member Terry Adams, “I’ve been crazy about the song ‘Happy Talk’ since I was a kid; I bought every version I could find and still do. I’ve always wanted to record it. To get it right, you must realize that it’s in its own place that’s entirely separate from any song ever written.”
As NRBQ continues a career now reaching into six decades, they show no signs of slowing down. As the song says, “You’ve got to have a dream/if you don’t have a dream/How you gonna have a dream come true?”
Dream on, and enjoy Happy Talk!
Track Listing:
1. Head on a Post (Adams)
2. Yes, I Have a Banana (Mcdonough/Adams)
3. Only the Lonely (Orbison/Melson)
4. Blues Blues Blues (Locke)
5. Happy Talk (Rodgers/Hammerstein II)
2 Responses
Being a big fan of the “classic” NRBQ lineup (Terry Adams, Joey Spampinato, Big Al Anderson and Tom Ardolino), I didn’t have the highest expectations when I puchased a ticket this past summer to see Terry leading the new NRBQ lineup that includes guitarist/vocalist Scott Ligon, bassist/vocalist Casey McDonough and drummer Jon Perrin. What recorded evidence I’d heard of this new lineup suggested that they were a cutesy but lesser version of the NRBQ we’d come to know and love over the last 20-plus years. Boy, was I in for a surprise. Whatever you’ve heard on record of this new lineup up to this point is just them warming up and getting to know each other in the context of being NRBQ. The first concert I saw of the new NRBQ was SMOKING, to the point where I felt I had no choice but to haul it to two more of their concerts in nearby towns later that same week. While they may have taken awhile to find their feet as a creative unit, the new NRBQ has been given a big shot of energy by the awesomely talented younger players, while still staying true to the musical principles that have always guided the band. Terry Adams, who was born in the same year as Mick Jagger, may be getting up there, but when he gets behind his keyboards he powers into the music with an energy and abandon that’s timeless. Please support these guys for as long as they decide they want to carry on! God save the Q!
Sorry, my mistake… Jagger was born in 1943, while Terry Adams came along in 1948.