NRBQ: "Ridin' in My Car" (1977)

All Hopped Up was NRBQ's fourth album (and first with drummer Tom Ardolino, solidifying a lineup that would last for close to 20 years. It would be one of 32 album releases over their long career. Not only is the title track "Ridin in My Car" an underrated song, the entire band may be the most underrated in history.

Founded in 1967, NRBQ (New Rhythm and Blues Quartet) sought to fuse everything, from rockabilly to jazz as well as rock and country. They also had a huge sense of humor that is evident in such songs as "Howard Johnson has his Ho-Jo Workin" and "Housekeeping", a song so funny that it may well be featured on this blog in the future.

Known as one of the best live bands ever, it was impossible not to be impressed with their no set approach to shows with Pianist Terry Adams beating his piano to death and always in danger of knocking his microphone over. Al Anderson's hands flew up and down the neck of his guitar and he moved very little compared to Adams. He wrote and sang the song although when we saw them, the vocals were sung by Tom Ardolino.

To our knowledge, the song was never released as a single. The song would be named to the Rolling Stone 50 Best Summer Songs of All Time.

While NRBQ had a rabid cult following, they would record and be dropped again and again by record companies due to poor overall sales.

While "Ridin In My Car" was a simple tale of Summer love lost, most of their material required a sense of humor or a sophisticated ear due to their willingness to experiment and not have a particular theme throughout the albums.

Well, I went to the place
where ev'rybody hangs out
To see what ev'rybody
was talkin' about
and over in the corner
all alone with you
was a boy from last summer
singin' songs to you

but he can't sing like I can sing
Oh, It's so hard
and I still think about you
every time I'm Ridin' in my car

Rock critic Mark Deming:
"Can anyone explain why Al Anderson's wonderful and engagingly heart-tugging "Riding in My Car" wasn't a hit single? All Hopped Up also features a handful of stellar covers, including a jumped-up take on "I Got a Rocket in My Pocket" (Adams' barrelhouse piano truly shines), a swinging version of "Cecilia," and a rollicking ride through Big Joe Turner's "Honey Hush," and the band's loosely tight communication is a fine thing to hear on all cuts. And even the album's token weird one from Adams, "Call Him Off, Rogers" could pass for a serious pop tune if you didn't pay too much attention to the lyrics (about a dog with designs on Adams' arm). Just in case you thought NRBQ had gotten all normal on us, though, the album closes with the most extraordinary version of the theme from "Bonanza" you will ever hear. It's hard to say why anyone would want an entirely serious album from NRBQ, but All Hopped Up is closer than most, and proves their charm and their talent is what makes them great, not their idiosyncratic sense of humor."

Lots of people have covered this song, most notably She and Him in March of 2010, which we are including here. You will want both for your Summer car excursions this year...