Get That Gasoline Blues
by NRBQ

Album: Workshop (1974)
Charted: 70
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Songfacts®:

  • This was written in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis, when the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) proclaimed an oil embargo, resulting in gasoline prices rocketing from $3 per barrel to $12. The song parodies Danny & the Juniors' "At The Hop." By employing this nostalgic, 50s-style arrangement, NRBQ hoped to evoke "the good old days," when gasoline prices were much lower!
  • Despite counting Sir Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and Keith Richards among their fans, NRBQ - short for "New Rhythm and Blues Quintet" (later "Quartet") - never achieved mainstream success. Their recording career spanned over 40 years, but "Get That Gasoline Blues" was NRBQ's only song to reach the Billboard Hot 100.
  • Workshop was NRBQ's third album and the first to feature what many consider to be the "classic quartet" line up: Terry Adams (keyboard), Al Anderson (guitar), Joey Spampinato (bass) and Tom Staley (drums).

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