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New On DVD For 2004 Music Video Distributors and NRBQ have announced the release of "One In A Million", a DVD featuring a 1989 NRBQ performance. The Montreal, Quebec show features Terry Adams on keyboards, Joey Spampinato on Bass, “Big Al” Anderson on guitar, and Tom Ardolino on drums. The track list includes I Got a Rocket In My Pocket, Girl Scout Cookies, It’s A Wild Weekend, Little Floater, You’re So Beautiful, 12 Bar Blues, Crazy Like A Fox, Here Comes Terry and Shake, Rattle & Roll. Bonus material includes an NRBQ slide show, and a bonus video from the title track, 2004 release, “Dummy”. (2004) Interview by Tom Guerra A 2004 Vintage Guitar® magazine features an interview with Big Al. You can find that interview by Tom Guerra with Al discussing guitars, NRBQ and his new CD HERE. (2004) The Next Big Thing! Watch for Big Al in the Vince Gill video for Next Big Thing! Al can be seen and heard trading licks with Vince on the title track from Vince's latest CD which was co-written by Al. (2003) Re-Released 
On the Big Al Anderson front, Pay Before You Pump (Imprint 1996) was re-released July 10th 2001 on the
Valley Entertainment label. (2001)
In Nashville  As Al Anderson has sworn off touring, your best bet to see him is in Nashville - most likely in a "songwriters-in-the-round" situation. He recently played the Bluebird Cafe along with several of his songwriting pals.
Big Al's Old Brown Tele Owned by HR Cafe
In December of 1990, The HR Cafe purchased Big Al's brown Telecaster which he used for years while performing with NRBQ. No mention as to where it will be placed.  Big Al Song On New Fastball CD Austin,TX-based Fastball's Rykodisc debut, Keep Your Wig On ( release date June 8, 2004), features a Miles Zuniga/Al Anderson song, "Airstream" penned during Zuniga's Nashville hiatus from the band. The song was first heard on the 2003 Jupiter Records release, "Fastball Live from Jupiter Records").The band's second album released in 1998, All the Pain Money Can Buy contained their hit single "The Way," which won them two Grammy nominations and an MTV Award nomination for Best New Artist. Fastball: Tony Scalzo (vocals, guitar, piano, hammond b-3 organ, keyboards, vibraphone, bass guitar); Miles Zuniga (vocals, guitar, piano, bass guitar); Joey Shuffield (drums, tambourine). (2004) Jeff Potter Now Shines As A Lustre King "I first heard Al Anderson play guitar (“Walk Don’t Run”) at a high school assembly in 1962. I had seen him around town but didn’t know he was a musician. I was really impressed with what I heard! I became good friends with Al, Skip and Ray around ’63, so when the Wildweeds started to record I went to some of the sessions including one in which Al laid down the vocal on “ No Good To Cry”. I also went to many of their shows. It was like a movie plot seeing the early Wildweeds have a hit with their first record. When the band went in a country direction they hired Herb Steiner ( from Linda Ronstadt’s Stone Ponies) on steel guitar. In the `70s, after Herb left the band, he played steel on Michael Murphy’s hit song “Wildfire”. Guitarist Bob LaPalm was brought to Al’s attention by Jim Malcolm, the band’s booking agent. When I joined in 1970 the line-up was Al, Bob Dudek on drums, Al Lepak on bass and LaPalm playing guitar along with Al. I was on piano and harmonica. This incarnation had returned to a soul , blues, R&B style. We recorded about a dozen songs at Vanguard Studios and did some mixing at Electric Ladyland with Eddie Kramer. We also met NRBQ at that studio. Vanguard released a single (“C’mon If You’re Comin”) in ’71. By this time the band was having the basic show biz personality conflicts. Bob Dudek left and original drummer Andy Lepak came back for awhile. Bob LaPalm left and joined “Clean Living”. They were a band from the Amherst, MA area that Al had earlier arranged an audition for with Vanguard. They ended up on that label. I left soon after Bob LaPalm and eventually joined “Clean Living”. Big Al played guitar on that band’s follow up single to a Top 40 hit that they had had. I had left the Wildweeds on good terms, but just needed a break from the rigors of the business. Al joined NRBQ around ’72 and I think he would have made that move regardless of where the Wildweeds were at that time. He took me to see them a year or two earlier and loved their music. Contractually Al still had one album to do for Vanguard so the LP “Al Anderson” was recorded with three Wildweeds ( Al, Al Lepak and myself) along with Terry Adams, Donn Adams and Tom Staley from NRBQ. Two songs were remakes of unreleased Vanguard material. Vanguard reissued that album on CD in ’98 with “C’mon If You’re Comin” added. I also joined AL on some solo shows he did in the early 80’s. I played harmonica with him for those. Al was and is very supportive of my musicianship. I’ve been recording my own songs for about twenty years but have only put them out on CD recently. Al played guitar on two cuts. My discs etc. can be checked at www.jeffpotter.net . There are audio samples there. I now perform solo shows and I’m also a member of "The Lustre Kings”, an Albany-based rockabilly band. Two final thoughts – Any fan of Al can hear his great songwriting, singing and guitar playing but one should also take notice of the way he holds a guitar – the way he handles it ! It’s very impressive and individualistic. I got along really well with all the Wildweeds, was managed by their first producer and was good friends with Al, Skip and Ray so I think I’ve seen more angles on this great band than maybe anyone , but that’s another story -------------------" (2004)
Anderson Contibutes | Track To Paycheck Tribute Sugarhill Records has released the Robbie Fulks-produced Touch My Heart: A Tribute To Johnny Paycheck. Al Anderson contributes "Someone To Give My Love" to the compilation. Some of the other artists featured on the 2004 release include Marshall Crenshaw, Mavis Staples, George Jones and Neko Case. (2004) Confidential Recordings Releases 'Weeds Compilation For the first time ever in the US, Connecticut rockers, The Wildweeds, have found their Cadet catalogue gathered together and released on compact disc (CD). New York City - based label Confidential Recordings, headed up by Michael Shelley and Dean Brownrout, secured the rights to The Wildweeds' Cadet legacy for the US release. As well as gathering up all the A and B sides of their canon we will find several previously-unavailable-in-the-USA tracks plus two extra version of "No Good To Cry" - one in stereo and one an instrumental with guitar and organ leads. Also, the accompanying booklet will have many previously unseen photos and a full history of the band. Visit the home of the Wildweeds at www.wildweeds.net. (2002) Bob Dudek 1944 - 2002 With sadness I report that former Wildweed bassist and drummer, "Hurricane" Bob Dudek passed away June 2, 2002, after a long battle with cancer. Bob was born Robert Paul Dudek, Dec 3, 1944 in Stamford, CN. His Wildweeds days behind him, Bob spent his time rehabilitating injured birds out of East Hampton, Connecticut. Former Wildweed Skip Yakaitis, died from heart disease in 1988.(2002) REVIEW: Al Anderson, Village Underground, NYC, June 25, 2001. Al was in great form June 25th during his solo acoustic set, opening for (and later accompanying) Raul Malo at the Village Underground in New York City. With the exception of "Better Word For Love," his song list included all post-NRBQ compositions, including "In My Dreams" (dedicated to his idol Chet Atkins, who was ailing at the time and has since passed on), "Ouch," "Right On Time" (written for, but subequently turned down by, Bonnie Raitt) "It Came From The South," "When I Come Back I Wanna Be My Dog," "Trip Around The Sun," "Bang Bang Bang, "Survivors of the Storm," "I Can't Remember Not Loving You" and a new one called "Something In the Water." Al looked relaxed and healthy and was cracking jokes between every song. His playing was powerful, very musical and absolutely wonderful! He enhanced Raul's set with his great guitar playing, occasional harmonies and lots of welcome humor. During the Raul-Al part of the show, the audience was treated to Malo's wacky impressions of Willie Nelson (with Al nailing Willie's picking style on Raul's guitar), his frighteningly accurate rendition of the Bee Gees' "I Started A Joke" (in English and Spanish!) and his interpretation of Dwight Yoakum singing "Blame It On The Bossa Nova." This was the first time I'd seen Al do a full solo set (vs. participating in a singer songwriter in the round evening). It was absolutely great to hear and see him looking so well! Although I assume the club was sold out primarily due to the Mavericks' popularity, I'm sure Al won many new well-deserved fans during this performance. (2001) Michael Greenberg 
Those interested in ordering from an on-line store should try searching under the artist name "Wild Weeds" (due to a cataloging error)(2001). | |
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I didn't know that...
Matt Zeiner, keyboard player in The Dickey Betts Band is the son of none other than former Wildweeds keyboard player, Ray Zeiner. Matt took piano lessons from Big Al's mom!