NRBQ's devoted fans often attend numerous shows by the band during the course of a year knowing that no two will be alike and that virtually anything can happen. They also collect recordings of the Q's shows avidly, in order to capture for posterity those rare moments that will never be repeated. In that sense, NRBQ's fans are not unlike followers of the late Grateful Dead, Phish, and other bands that vary the experience nightly, but NRBQ is a whole lot more fun to follow (and not nearly as difficult to score tickets for), proven once again by this self-released compilation of sundry live tracks. Froggy's Favorites, Vol. 1 takes its cue from those bands like the Dead that have dug into their tape vaults and begun serving the treats back to the die-hard collectors. Where the Dead, Phish, et al., release complete single shows, though, this two-CD collection -- the first live double-disc in the Q's nearly four-decade discography -- cherry-picks highlights from a number of gigs spanning the late '70s to the late '90s. A typical NRBQ show (not that there is such a thing) will genre-surf crazily, from rockabilly to avant jazz to pop ballads to roadhouse country and on and on. That's all certainly in evidence here, but the emphasis for this first entry is primarily on the good-time, not-so-serious stuff, the spontaneous combustions and combinations, wacky one-offs, and inspired lunacy that have kept this band going strong for so long. Of course, there are the novelty bits, like drummer Tom Ardolino stepping up to the mic to try his hand at Ricky Nelson's "Travelin' Man" at a 1991 Connecticut show and getting few of the words right, and then, seven years later in New York, taking on the 1963 Kyu Sakamoto smash "Sukiyaki," listed here in its original Japanese title of "Ue O Muite Arukou," and getting all of the words right -- in Japanese. And back in the day when the band took impromptu audience requests in the form of a "magic box," guitarist Big Al Anderson didn't back down when presented, in Massachusetts in 1983, with the daunting task of singing "The Impossible Dream." He just did it -- even if he did tailor the words to enumerate his own impossible dreams. Anderson, those who favor the classic '70s/'80s lineup will be happy to know, is in abundant supply (all of the second disc, in fact, features him), although the nine tracks spotlighting his replacement, Johnny Spampinato (brother of founder Joey Spampinato, who still plays bass and sings for the band) are quite rockin' too. There is, of course, scorching straight-ahead vintage rock & roll in several permutations ("Ramrod," written by Al Casey, a hit for Duane Eddy), a bit of honky tonk (the Louvin Brothers' "My Baby Came Back"), a funky take on Leadbelly's "Take This Hammer," keyboardist Terry Adams and his brother Donn Adams revamping a song, "Precious Memories," Donn wrote as a child, and even some nuggets from the Q's own catalog ("Magnet," "I Want You Bad"). Anderson even pops one out from his pre-Q days with the Wildweeds ("And When She Smiles"). As ever, the performances manage to be both brilliant and insane, just the way the Q faithful like and expect it.