A Date With A Smithereen…
Written by: Kevin Brennan
![pat-dinizio345b[1]](http://addictedtovinyl.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/pat-dinizio345b1.jpg "pat-dinizio345b[1]")
As a master writer of songs about shattered, broken and irreparable relationships whose favorite key is E minor, Pat DiNizio could be seen as a melancholy kind of guy. That may be, but the version of his “Living Room Concert” series which he presented Saturday night at the Beachland Ballroom brought happiness to all in attendance.
Spotlighting 18 songs over two-plus hours interspersed with stories about his childhood, his parents, the circus, and plenty of life-as-a-rock-star tales, the concert gave longtime fans insight into DiNizio and his career that they could not have acquired through 25 years of listening to his music.
CommentsShow of the Week: Pat DiNizio and Freedy Johnston
Written by: Matt Wardlaw
I'm going to save you some money with this week's pick for show of the week - let me just put that out there front and center for you to ponder for a moment. Part of the proceeds from this week's show also go to benefit a very good cause - more on all of this in a minute.
My good pal CB, who normally writes up these show posts has been tragically AWOL for the past couple of weeks. I'd say that he is missing, but I actually saw him this past Sunday during my first-ever visit to the Beachland Brunch. After uttering a few choice and very unprintable obscenities at him, I made my way inside the Beachland to enjoy some severe brunch action that was every bit as delicious as you might have heard that it is.
For this week's show of the week, I'll return to the scene of the crime on Saturday night (11/7) for a 90s rewind featuring two of my favorite singer-songwriters - Smithereens frontman Pat DiNizio and Freedy Johnston!
CommentsFrom Me To You: A package from Smithereens frontman Pat DiNizio
Written by: Matt Wardlaw
They say that you always remember your first....
For me, one of the first bands that I met as a young impressionable youth, was The Smithereens.
As a regular reader of ATV, you'll know that I've certainly put a few posts up on the site in regards to my favorite bunch of New Jersey gents, forever "behind the wall of sleep."
I was hanging out with the band, behind the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, OH on a warm summer evening in the early 90's, and my friend and I talked about many things with all four members of The Smithereens for nearly an hour, as if we were old friends. They made quite an impression on this particular music fan, not yet jaded by the experience of meeting bands and "celebrities." I still believed.
The Smithereens have built this kind of relationship with their fans over the years, which is why I'm never surprised to see a hand addressed package show up in my mailbox from Scotch Plains, NJ, marked with lead singer Pat DiNizio's home address in the top left hand corner.
Don't get me wrong, we're not pen pals - it's just another batch of Smithereens/DiNizio collectibles to arrive in my household, dispatched directly by DiNizio, a one man operation right down to handling processing of mail orders from his fans, placed at his website.
DiNizio recently wrapped up nearly 140 shows in six months, combining Smithereens dates with the latest installment of his popular Living Room Tour series. Each night, DiNizio brought the rock to Smithereens fans in their homes, while driving alone 300 miles or more during the day traveling from city to city for the shows.
That's the definition of "workin' it," folks.
To celebrate, DiNizio offered up a special $20 end of tour package giving Smithereens fans a choice of several DiNizio and 'Reens items - mix and match, rock and roll! There are still a few of the sets left, and you can get your hands on those right here.
All sets come with a tour t-shirt, tour poster, Pat DiNizio documentary CD/DVD combo, and your choice of an autographed copy of either The Smithereens Play Tommy, or DiNizio's Buddy Holly tribute disc, personally autographed for you.
Since I already had the Tommy disc, I opted for the Buddy Holly disc, which after a couple of listens, might be my favorite out of all of the recent DiNizio/Smithereens tribute projects.
DiNizio shared an update on the DVD companion to last year's Live in Concert CD release - a release is now planned for this fall, and the band (Pat, Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken) have recorded a commentary track for the DVD. That's music to my geeky commentary track loving ears!
Pat also says that the band will finally enter the studio within the next month to begin pre-production on the long-promised new studio album from The Smithereens!!
Producer Kurt Reil has been behind the boards for all of the DiNizio/Smithereens recording in the past few years, and will be a good and very capable set of ears in the studio once the 'Reens are ready to record.
A January 2010 release is planned for the new album, and I've got my fingers crossed that Reil and the band will emerge from the House of Vibes studio with another classic 'Reens release.
For now, mark your calendar for the annual birthday/Halloween fan jam at DiNizio's house in Scotch Plains, scheduled for October 8th-October 11th.
Among the planned activities for the weekend: DiNizio will celebrate John Lennon's 69th birthday on the 9th by performing an entire Lennon solo album to be chosen by the fans, additional Lennon Beatles favorites, and plenty of Smithereens songs by request.
How do you follow that? How about an entire performance of the Beatles "White Album" in sequence for the next night?
Get the complete lowdown on the entire weekend here. I swear to God, this might be the year that I finally make the trip!
Closer to home, Pat DiNizio is booked for a solo Cleveland date at the Beachland Ballroom on Saturday, November 7th. Tix are $20 in advance, and should be available online soon via the Beachland's website.
CommentsFlashback: The Smithereens and The Kinks
Written by: Matt Wardlaw
In addition to kicking out their own catalog of work over the years, The Smithereens have also provided backing band duties for a number of their musical heroes, including Otis Blackwell, The Beau Brummels, and The Kinks, to name a few.
Here's an interesting note on how the collaboration with The Kinks came about, taken from a recent book, The Kinks: All Day and All of the Night: Day by Day Concerts, Recordings, and Broadcasts, 1961-1996. (purchase) The book has several different notes on Smithereens/Davies appearances, including this one:
"On Friday 22nd, Ray and Dave appear at the Boston Garden in Boston, MA for the WBCN Rock Of Boston concert. Also on are The Raindogs, RTZ, The Smithereens and Foreigner, with a pre-concert set by The Stools. Originally billed as Kinks Unplugged (and supposedly with a third member), the brothers' appearance is changed to an acoustic set by "Ray & Dave Davies of The Kinks". (edit)
On the spot they arrange for the New Jersey-based Smithereens to back them for the last song and a half. This provides the audience with a pleasant surprise as the closed curtain that is behind the duo for most of the set is raised in the middle of 'Lola' to reveal The Smithereens joining in. A rousing set-closer of 'You Really Got Me' follows and Ray and Dave bring the crowd to their feet.
"The Kinks and The Smithereens played as if they'd almost rehearsed," writes Ted Drozdowski in Musician,"bashing along with ragged abandon while Ray pogo'd behind his microphone." Dave will later consider using The Smithereens as his first backing band in 1997, but ultimately the partnership never materializes. Dave subsequently heads back to LA while Ray remains in New York City for the next week before heading back to London."'
Ray and Dave Davies with The Smithereens - Lola - November 22nd, 1991
Highlights from some of the other 'Reens collaborations can be found on The Smithereens rarities compilation Attack of The Smithereens, released in the mid-90s.
The Smithereens Mega-Box Set is an item in my collection that continues to provide plenty of musical listening enjoyment for yours truly. For the unfamiliar, this item was briefly available, limited to 500 copies, signed and numbered by bandleader Pat Dinizio featuring "511 Amazing Rare & Impossible-To-Find Tracks on 21 Incredible CDS!"
Price for the above item was $100.
Sounds awesome, right? It's pretty cool, for sure. And they sold out like hotcakes. I almost didn't get one, and when I got a second chance, you'd better believe that I pounced on it.
Today, I was listening to a disc of live rarities from the set that includes the version of "Lola" posted above, and wraps up with a trio of live performances featuring The Smithereens backing Dave Davies in Hollywood in August of 1994. It made me a little bit more hungry for the rumored Kinks reunion tour. And c'mon, having The Smithereens as your backing band certainly doesn't suck!
Drummer Dennis Diken lays down a serious backbeat on these tracks, which will come as no surprise to Smithereens fans. Diken is one of the hardest hitting drummers I've ever seen in the live setting. Here's a great shot of the monster at rest, behind the drum kit, from a January show in Spain. The photo below is from 'Reens guitarist Jim Babjak's Myspace page.
Check out frontman Pat Dinizio's continuing schedule of living room concerts and other events, including a date in Columbus, OH this coming week.
And in the meantime, enjoy these tracks of the 'Reens with Dave Davies!
Dave Davies Intro
Death of a Clown
Too Much On My Mind
Milk Cow Blues
The Smithereens – Now and Then
Written by: Matt Wardlaw
Gotta give thanks here at the top to Brian and The Frontloader for helping to spread the word about my current vinyl contest in support of Record Store Day.
Yes kids, a contest in which YOU can win some free vinyl from your good ol' buddy Matt here at Addicted to Vinyl. All I need you to do is share with me your story about the first album/CD purchase you ever made.
Click here and lay it on me in the comments!
Bruce at Not Lame Records caught my eye this evening with a Twitter message pointing me towards a page's worth of collected Smithereens videos courtesy of threedonia.com. One video in particular snagged my interest - an obviously live performance of "Now and Then" from the Blow Up album!
In the early 90s, quite a few people owned a copy of 11, the Smithereens album that caught a good amount of attention and radio/TV play with the single "A Girl Like You." 11 was in fact, the album that opened my eyes to the recorded genius of The Smithereens.
I picked up 11, and slowly made my way through acquiring the rest of the catalog, and then anxiously awaited new releases from the band. Blow Up was an unfortunately titled album for the band, as things really did blow up for the band after the release, and not in a good way. The album was sadly overlooked, and the followup album A Date With The Smithereens (their first album for RCA after parting ways with Capitol Records,) suffered the same lack of attention from the record buying public.
It's a total shame, because both albums are great and in the same league with 11. I ended up seeing The Smithereens at least 4 times on the Date tour, including a show at the Newport in Columbus where scheduled openers The Grays were replaced at the last minute by this band called Weezer. That's right, I saw Weezer in front of a crowd of about 10 people that had showed up early to see the no-name opening bands. The show happened slightly prior to the release of "The Blue Album," and after that album was released, you know the rest of the story. On this night in Columbus, OH, they were far from being stars, and were the first band on the bill before Cindy Lee Berryhill, and a subsequent headlining set from The Smithereens. This show still rates as the best show I ever saw Weezer perform.
Back to The Smithereens..
I've always wished that I could take some friends back in a time machine to those days when The Smithereens were performing epic shows where the setlist went out the window within a half hour of the band taking the stage. I was amazed at the impressive grip that the band had on their catalog - they really could perform any song that was requested, no matter what album, no matter how obscure.
Thanks to this rare video of the band's appearance on The Dennis Miller Show, you can catch a small glimpse of the amazing unit made up of singer Pat Dinizio, guitarist Jim Babjak, eternally youthful bass player Mike Mesaros, and band historian/drummer Dennis Diken. I sometimes forget that Blow Up has some of my favorite Smithereens tracks - tracks like "Girl In Room 12," "Evening Dress," and "Now and Then." "The video below of "Now and Then" will give you a great appreciation for Babjak as a guitarist. I've always admired the modesty in his playing, and his ability to subtly drop a solo on you full of riffs that rip your face off. Here in Ohio, he was always good for a request for "White Castle Blues" as well!
Here's the other track that was performed on that night on The Dennis Miller Show - "Top of the Pops," which includes a short interview with the band on the tail end of the clip.
While we're on the subject of "Now and Then," I thought I'd share a rare live version featuring The Cowsills (who also backed the band on this song on Blow Up.)
The Smithereens - Now and Then (live)
Remembering the request-heavy shows that I saw in the 90s, I have to share one more track with you - a live version of "Groovy Tuesday" from the BBC, which was always one of my favorites to shout out (followed closely by "Time and Time Again.")
The Smithereens - Groovy Tuesday (BBC)
The 'Reens have a busy year on tap, some of which I've detailed previously here. Frontman Pat Dinizio also has a new limited edition autobiography on the way, packaged with some pretty cool items, and his annual Memorial Day fan shows have just been announced.
Dinizio is currently on the road touring an extensive winter living room tour - Check out the tour dates here.
Relevant Links:
The Smithereens - Blow Up - CD or MP3 Download
The Smithereens live DVD – 5 full-length video clips online now
Written by: Matt Wardlaw
As mentioned in a previous update, The Smithereens (a.k.a. world's greatest band/one of 'em anyway) will release a DVD companion to their 2008 live release on January 15th.
Smithereens frontman Pat Dinizio recently put up a post with 6 full length videos from Live in Concert. You can click through on each video link to watch a higher quality video, which makes a huge difference and will give you greater appreciation for the "film" effect that they used on the footage.
I'm really looking forward to this release - hoping that the between song chatter will be included (and I imagine chances are good that it will be!)
The Smithereens - Behind The Wall of Sleep
The Smithereens - Drown in My Own Tears
The Smithereens - Top of The Pops
The Smithereens - Since You Went Away
The Smithereens - Any Other Way
The Smithereens - A Girl Like You
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