Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I live in New Brunswick, NJ and in 1984, when I was just a young guy who loved to hang out at a record store in the city called Flamin' Grrovies, there was a guy who owned the place who used to play me his record from time to time. It was Jim Babjak and the record was "Beauty and Sadness"...the Smithereens' first EP. I remember him telling me they were going to tour Europe that summer.

He got big and sold the store. I miss the store and I miss him. He was a cool guy to me and didn't treat me like a 15-year-old kid.

Jimmy does indeed have superb taste in music, and it's great talking shop with him about that period of record collecting - he still brags to me about having an 8-track of "Something Else By The Move," a rare bird indeed in its own way. I think I would have liked that shop too.

And I correct my earlier post, that gig in Cali was October 2003, not '02.

They're playing in Stockton, CA in a couple of weeks, I hope to make the gig!

Has it been 25 years? I first saw them in 86 or 87. I remember the first time I heard "Behind the Wall of Sleep". I ran right out and bought the album, and I wore that sucker out. It got to the point where some folks would automatically throw the tape in just to preemptively shut me up. Great album, and a great band.

And they're playing the Asparagus Festival, huh? Should be a hoot.

EDIT: Well, guys, you've done it again. I've got "Behind the Wall of Sleep" turned up to 11 as I type. Drove the wife out of the room, I did. Man, that's a great song.

I met Pat a couple of weeks ago. Got to chat a bit. He liked my 4003LH.

"These guys have gradualy lost their signature sound and popularity ever since they stopped using Rickenbackers."

Nah, I disagree. I saw 'em on, I think the "11" tour, and they weren't using Rics and _sounded_ exactly like the Smithereens.

I do remember, however, being disappointed that they weren't playing Rics.

Obligatory Mike Mesaros comment:

I was a _huge_ Smithereens fan and I got a 4001 because I loved the sound Mike got. Sadly, the 4001 is long gone. I still consider Mike one of my favorite players and an influence.

It's too bad I didn't know about that auction. I would have definitely been bidding.

Somewhere I have pics showing Pat when he did his "Livingroom Tour" at my house back in May of 2000. Nice show.

One of my favorite music moments was when I was standing at a bar in NYC around '88 (Hard Rock Cafe). I was sitting next to one of them and chattin' with him about whatever. Then I turned around and saw Pat surrounded by chicks at his table. By the time I figured out what was goin' on, they split. Nice, decent guys!

Saw them in concert not long after that. Great show.

I most recently saw them in (I THINK) 2002 touring with the Knack and Missing Persons. The boys from the Knack had a few Rics out during the show, although Prescott Niles wasn't playing one.

The Smithereens are playing this Saturday at the Asparagus festival in Stockton, CA.

They have 2 shows between 12 and 2:30.

I'll be there!

I'll be bummed if they don't play a Ric.

Maybe I should offer to loan them mine?

Hey, who else from Rickresource is goonna be there? Maybe we should meet up and have some...uh Asparagus?

Spike, It would have been really expensive

The Smithereens did 2 great sets at the Stockton Asparagus Festival. They also didn't repeat a lot of songs which was nice.

They sounded really good. Pat still sings the same, though he is a lot, uh, bigger than he used to be.

They were smiling almost the whole time, and looked like they were having a ball. The first set had a somewhat small group of people there, but the second had more people there getting into it.

They did a more recent song which makes me want to check out their last cd.

Alas, no Rickenbackers. But they sounded great. Do people know if they just rent gear at a gig like this? Or did they bring some of thier own stuff?

This may be a wacky question, but I was wondering, what would a band like The Smithereens get paid to do a gig like this?

They rent their backline, as they fly in from different locations for these types of shows.

I wasn't able to make the shows after all, but Pat did swing by the Ric factory the afternoon before to give me a hard time.

I caught the Smithereens at their June 11 show in Trenton, NJ. No Rickenbackers in sight. Jim had a blond Telecaster, Pat had his old sunburst Strat, and the fill-in bass player (Mike was said to be home with his new baby) had a P-bass special. An excellent show, to say the least.

I got to talk to Pat outside before the show. He said he still has his Pete Townshend model Rick. I told him I have a 360/12CW. He mentioned it to drummer Dennis Diken, who thought enough of this to ask me about it after the show. Dennis said he was a big fan of Carl's, and he got to do some percussion work with the Beach Boys while Carl was still with us.

I can't stress enough how impressed I am with how down to earth these guys are. I had a similar post-show experience with them during the Blow Up tour, and they were just as accessible then, when they were at the height of their fame. If there was any justice in the music industry, the Smithereens would be tripping over their platinum albums, selling out arenas, and Brittany Spears would be aspiring to be as successful as the Smithereens one day...