Smithereens' guitarist set for release of new album
Popular band pays tribute to Beatles on 'Meet the Smithereens'
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer

Jim Babjak bought his copy of "Meet the Beatles" in 1970 when he was 12. He had no idea then where his love of music and his love for the Beatles would one day take him.

Babjak, of Manalapan, is the lead guitarist for the rock band The Smithereens. The band has recorded what he calls a tribute to the four musicians who influenced not only his musical style, but the style of every rock band since the release of "Meet the Beatles!" in January 1964.

"Meet the Smithereens!" will be released on the same date the Beatles released "Meet the Beatles!" - Jan. 20.

Babjak said the album is a fun journey through 12 Beatles songs done Smither--eens style. The tracks are "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "I Saw Her Standing There," "This Boy," "It Won't Be Long," "All I've Got to Do," "All My Lovin', " "Don't Bother Me," "Little Child," "Till There Was You," "Hold Me Tight," "I Wanna Be Your Man" and "Not a Second Time."

The cover design on the Smithereens' new CD has caricatures of Babjak, Pat DiNizio, Dennis Diken and Severo Jornacion in outfits much like the ones the Beatles wore in 1964.

"Meet the Beatles!" was the group's second album, but their first official United States release. According to Babjak, unlike its British counterpart "With the Beatles," which was mostly comprised of cover songs, "Meet the Beatles!" featured songs written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney at a time when artists rarely wrote their own material.

Babjak said he was never a big fan of the idea of recording Beatles songs because he thought that material should be left alone.

But, he said, "it is so much fun to play if you're a musician. I highly recommend it. It brings back some real good feelings; feelings I had growing up and dreaming of playing in a rock 'n' roll band."

He remembered when his parents first purchased a record player.

"It wasn't a stereo like I wanted, but at least it was a start. My dad had just opened a tavern business that year, and he would let me keep the old singles from the juke box every month when they would replace them with the latest hits," he said.

"When I listened to 'Meet the Beatles!' for the first time, it blew me away. I loved the songs immediately. They sounded fresh and exciting, even though it was the Woodstock era. Most of the kids in my seventh-grade class didn't even like the Beatles, but that didn't matter to me," he said.

The musician said that after hearing the songs on that album he was "hooked."

"That record stayed on my turntable for months, and I wanted to be able to play that type of music on my guitar," he said.

Babjak said "Meet the Beatles!" shaped his initial approach to playing rhythm guitar. He said that in 1971 he met his future band mate, Diken, on his first day in high school, and he began to follow that dream.

Babjak realized his dream in the 1980s with The Smithereens and continues to live that dream, playing his music in a rock 'n' roll band. The Smithereens have released seven albums and have reached gold and platinum status along the way during their career.