Big Al Anderson

Big Al Anderson is a songwriter, guitarist, and singer. For twenty-two years he was the lead guitarist and one of three singer-songwriters in NRBQ. He wrote many NRBQ classics including It Was A Accident, Feel You Around Me, Never Take The Place Of You, It Comes To Me Naturally, Ridin' In My Car, Crazy Like A Fox, and A Better Word For Love. He not only sang his own songs, but many covers and quite a few of bandmate Terry Adams' songs. His high clear tenor could belt them out or deliver a sensitive ballad. In 1993, he cowrote the #3 Carlene Carter hit Every Little Thing, and on that note, he amicably left NRBQ and moved to Nashville to focus mainly on songwriting.  

After a regional hit single, No Good To Cry, with The Wildweeds, Anderson made his eponymous first solo record in 1972 just before joining NRBQ. The record features all the of Anderson's skills singing, writing and playing hot guitar licks. His country leanings are all over the record. Mostly ignored on release, it was reissued in 1998, and is a fine early outing.

His next solo record was Party Favors 1988. A mix of NRBQ-like rockers and good songs that sound like they didn't quite fit the NRBQ mold, it's an entertaining diversion. 

Post-NRBQ, Pay Before You Pump 1996 is great Al Anderson. A solid band, Al's fine vocals, and every song is a co-write with an all-pro Nashville songwriter. The co-writing with other great tunesmiths will continue on all of the remaining Anderson records. The songs are uniformly strong, and Al's vocals really stand out. The rockers rock hard, and Al rips some great, concise leads. Even with NRBQ, Al always played the perfect lead without overplaying, and without long extended solos. This one displays the fine songwriter he had become, and the great guitar player he had been all along.

The journey continues with After Hours 2004. As the title suggests, this one is more laid back, but none the worse for it. Again, all of the songs are excellent. Al does the definitive version of A Better Word For Love, and there's several other well-crafted ballads. The songs have a more country feel, but maybe not enough to call it a country record. Two songs are sung by their female co-writers. It's a lovely record, and Al's vocals show new nuance and depth.

In 2007 Al returned to rocking with Al Anderson and the Balls' Pawn Shop Guitars. I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but it's another keeper. Playing with a core band of Nashville stalwarts, the band sounds like they've been playing these gems for years. There's a few good ballads, but this one rocks. In many ways it sounds like one of those great Dave Edmunds records from the seventies and early eighties. Twangin' indeed. Songwriting is wonderfully varied, band is tight, and Al fully understands his own strengths by now.

2012's Strings opens with the beautiful tear-jerking ode to his father, I Have Loved These Days. Right after that Al sings the lovely title track, a thank you to his guitars. This one goes back to the laid back feel of After Hours, with acoustic instrumentation and help from a bevy of country music stars including Vince Gill, Jerry Douglas, Chris Stapleton, and Glenn Worf. It is both mellow and more country than any of his other work. The songs are good enough to compete with Guy Clark or Lance Cohen, and the bar doesn't get any higher than that.

Also in 2012, the tongue in cheek World Famous Headliners was released. Al is joined by fellow singer-songwriter-guitarists Pat McLaughlin and Shawn Camp, plus Greg Morrow (drums) and Michael Rhodes (bass). They rock the country pretty fine. While they share the spotlight and make some good music, it's not really an Al Anderson record, but it is good. They also made a live record Now Appearing in 2015 which I have not heard and doesn't seem to be available for streaming.

For rocking, Pay Before You Pump and Pawn Shop Guitars are indispensable. Both After Hours and Strings are great in a gentle way that is nothing like Al's work in NRBQ, revealing the sensitive side of Al's fine songwriting.