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''Meet The Smithereens!'' is the seventh studio
album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by
Carteret, New Jersey Carteret is a borough in northeastern Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population reached 25,326, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 2,482 (+10.9%) from the ...
-based
rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...
The Smithereens The Smithereens are an American rock music, rock band from Carteret, New Jersey. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio lead vocals, (vocals and guitar), Jim Babjak (guitar and backing vocals, vocals), Mike Mesaros (bass guitar and bac ...
, released in stores on January 16, 2007. The album features the band covering
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
' 1964 American album, ''
Meet the Beatles! ''Meet the Beatles!'' is a studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released as their second album in the United States. It was the group's first American album to be issued by Capitol Records, on 20 January 1964 in both Monaural, mono ...
'' It is the first Smithereens album to feature Severo "The Thrilla" Jornacion, who replaced original bassist Mike Mesaros in 2006.


Background

In 2006, The Smithereens hadn't released an album in seven years since 1999's '' God Save The Smithereens''. "There was simply no demand from record companies for a new Smithereens album", lead singer
Pat DiNizio Patrick Michael DiNizio (October 12, 1955 – December 12, 2017) was the lead singer, songwriter and founding member of the band The Smithereens, which he formed in 1980 with Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken and Mike Mesaros from Carteret, New Jersey. ...
explained. The band still performed live, and in May 2005 they were invited to perform at
Abbey Road on the River Abbey Road on the River (AROTR) is a five-day, multi-staged music festival which was initially created to honor the music and spirit of the Beatles. The festival took place in Louisville, Kentucky over Memorial Day weekend but moved across the Ohi ...
, a Beatles music festival in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
. The band had often performed Beatles songs as encores and were asked to do a whole set of covers at the festival. During the set the audience called out for Smithereens songs and the band realized that there was some crossover between die-hard Beatles fans and Smithereens fans. Soon after, DiNizio began to receive e-mails from fans who had attended the concert suggesting the band record an album of Beatles songs. The band was intrigued and decided to record an album of all-Beatles material as a way to reintroduce The Smithereens to their old audience. “I realized that to attempt to record songs from every phase of the Beatles’ career and have any sense of continuity would be almost impossible", DiNizio said. The idea of a song-by-song cover of ''Meet The Beatles!'' took shape when DiNizio came across an article in the October 2006 issue of '' American Heritage'' magazine titled "1964 - When a New Age Was Born". It talked about the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, America dealing with the
assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy Onas ...
, the civil rights movement but also about
Beatlemania Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the English rock band the Beatles from 1963 to 1966. The group's popularity grew in the United Kingdom in late 1963, propelled by the singles " Please Please Me", "From Me to You" and " She Loves Yo ...
. "I believe ''Meet the Beatles'' is historically the most important rock-and-roll album ever released in America", DiNizio said. "It just started a cultural revolution that hasn't stopped". DiNizio contacted Bob Frank, president at the band's last record label,
Koch Records MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch"), formerly known as Koch Records and Entertainment One (eOne) Music/Records, is an American independent record label and music management company based in New York City. It was formed in 1987 as a music div ...
, and presented him the idea of "The Smithereens versus The Beatles". Frank loved the idea and signed the band to a new record deal. According to DiNizio, the band immersed themselves in 1964 ephemera in preparation for recording, with objects like magazines, posters and the
bobblehead A bobblehead, also known by nicknames such as nodder, wobbler, or wacky wobbler, is a type of small collectible figurine. Its head is often oversized compared to its body. Instead of a solid connection, its head is connected to the body by a ...
s that made the cover.Crawdaddy! ''Crawdaddy'' was an American rock music magazine launched in 1966. It was created by Paul Williams, a Swarthmore College student at the time, in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music. The magazine w ...
"> With Kurt Reil of The Grip Weeds co-producing, the album was recorded in five days in November 2006 at The Grip Weeds' House of Vibes studio in
Highland Park, New Jersey Highland Park is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, in the New York City metropolitan area. The borough is located on the northern banks of the Raritan River, in th ...
. "It was really successful", DiNizio said of the album in 2013, "it broke download records on
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
– and it put us on the front page of the
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
leisure section on Sunday, so och Recordslet us do a Christmas album, another Beatles tribute and the live album".


Track listing


Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. ;The Smithereens *
Pat DiNizio Patrick Michael DiNizio (October 12, 1955 – December 12, 2017) was the lead singer, songwriter and founding member of the band The Smithereens, which he formed in 1980 with Jim Babjak, Dennis Diken and Mike Mesaros from Carteret, New Jersey. ...
 – vocals, guitar, production * Jim Babjak – guitar, vocals (lead vocals on "Don't Bother Me"), production *Severo "The Thrilla" Jornacion – bass * Dennis Diken – drums, percussion, vocals (lead vocals on "I Wanna Be Your Man"), production, liner notes ;Additional personnel *
John Hawken John Christopher Hawken (9 May 1940 – 15 May 2024) was an English keyboard player, best known as a member of The Nashville Teens, Renaissance, and the Strawbs. He also played in Spooky Tooth, Third World War, Vinegar Joe and Illusion, as ...
 – piano on "Little Child" and "Not a Second Time" * Dave Amels – organ on "I Wanna Be Your Man" * Kurt Reil – vocals, production, recording, mixing *Kristin Reil – percussion on "Don't Bother Me" *Dennis Drake – mastering *Paul Grosso – creative direction *Andrew Kelley – art direction, package design *Todd Sinclair – CD cover design *
Bruce Spizer David "Bruce" Spizer (born July 2, 1955) is an American tax attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana, who is also recognized as an expert on the Beatles. He has published thirteen books about the band, and is frequently quoted as an authority on th ...
 – liner notes *
Dennis Mitchell Dennis Allen Mitchell (born February 20, 1966) is an American former college and international track and field athlete, who was a member of the gold medal-winning team in the 4 × 100 metres relay race at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Athletics car ...
 – liner notes *
Lenny Kaye Lenny Kaye (''né'' Kusikoff; born December 27, 1946) is an American guitarist, composer, and writer, notable for his work with the Patti Smith Group, his contributions to music magazines, and his garage rock retrospective anthology '' Nuggets' ...
 – liner notes * Sid Bernstein – liner notes * Andy Babiuk – liner notes *Dave Connolly – liner notes


References


External links

* ''
Crawdaddy! ''Crawdaddy'' was an American rock music magazine launched in 1966. It was created by Paul Williams, a Swarthmore College student at the time, in response to the increasing sophistication and cultural influence of popular music. The magazine w ...
''
Meet the Smithereens... Again!
*
NY Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Interpreting the Beatles Without Copying
{{Authority control 2007 albums The Beatles tribute albums The Smithereens albums