Scraps

The wildly eclectic New Rhythm & Blues Quintet, better known to its worldwide legion of adoring fans as NRBQ (or just the Q!), is the only band on the planet that can play rockabilly, bar-band blooze, Beatles sound-alikes and Sun Ra-style free jazz in the same set and remain standing. By the time keyboardist Terry Adams, vocalist Frank Gadler, bassist Joey Spampinato, drummer Tom Staley and fabulousnew guitarist Al Anderson released Scraps, their wonderful second album in 1972, they had relocated from Florida to New Jersey—and, like their name says, they were actually a quintet for the only time in their career. From the infectious “Howard Johnston’s Got His Ho-Jo Working” to the loveably understated “Magnet,” Scraps is loaded with NRBQ classics that lived up to the eye-popping press garnered by their self-titled 1969 debut. The Q immediately followed Scraps with 1973’s equally terrific Workshop. Gadler had departed, reducing the Quintet to its customary foursome (natch!), but the band never missed a beat with an album that featured the hypnotically chugging“Come On If You’re Coming,” the mouth-watering “RC Cola and a Moon Pie” and the ultra-prophetic “Get That Gasoline Blues."