RIP Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens

Here is a great show from 2015 with a nice coda to House We Used To Live In about midway through:

 

Reading so many nice stories about him. Sounds like he was a great guy. R.I.P.

 

Neat photo! Pat told me that Nokie Edwards of The Ventures once gave him some sheet music, which dispelled the myth that Nokie and the other members of The Ventures didn't read music. Pat was also a big fan of guitarists Chet Atkins, Duane Eddy and Dick Dale. Pat played a number of surf and instrumental songs in an all-star group which in its various lineups, included Jeff Skunk Baxter, Marshall Crenshaw, Jim Ellison of Material Issue, Clem Burke of Blondie, Kathy Valentine from the GoGos, Mars Williams from Psychedelic Furs and Gilby Clark of Guns N Roses and Chip Z'nuff from Enuff Z'nuff. I think Wayne Kramer from MC5 was also a member of the lineup at some point.

 

Thanks for posting.
Wonder if this is available commercially?
The quality is excellent.

 

I think this Infinity Hall performance was recorded in 2011 and aired a number of times on PBS to support the "2011" album. Would love to have it on DVD or even a live CD package.

 

That would make sense, things I see from 2015/16 he is usually not playing guitar due to his nerve issues, I would presume.

 

He says near the beginning of the video that he's 55... So 2011 makes sense.

 

Various PBS stations are still running it. I recorded last month but haven't watch it yet.

 

Only got to see the Smithereens once but they were great
RIP

 

forgot to include that this photo was from 1981

 

Forgot to include the year - 1981

 

So darn sad, a swell guy for sure.


I’ve known these fellow Jersey chaps for around 45 years now, always so darn proud of them.

Here are a few cool photos that I shot that I thought I would share to honor the guys.


Pat with Keely Smith at the Capitol Records 50th anniversary party, and the guys at Tower Records NYC for the release of the first album, “Especially For You”


He is finally no longer in pain, God Bless Pat


Best wishes,

Ron Furmanek

 

Oh man. Just saw the news on the Washington Post web page. Way back when in the 80's I listened to "Especially For You" and "Green Thoughts" over and over.

Rest in peace.

 

Sad news, indeed. RIP, Pat.

 

I finally saw the band here a few years ago opening for Tom Petty. The Smithereens were
fantastic - I could have listened to them all night - the `Tommy' medley was astounding.
Pat said it was their first show in Canada since 1989. I was shocked at how large DiNizio
had become, frankly.....so a health-related expiration would not surprise me. Still, sad.....

 

Grew up in NJ and always said that Pat & the Smithereens repped NJ rock n' roll well.

Finally got a chance to see them once I moved up to Boston in the '90s, at the first iteration of the Mama Kin club (which was tiny). They smoked the joint. I was never a huge fan before that but seeing them live made it all click for me.

RIP.

 

Blow up never took off IMO like it should have, outside of that I heard "Top of the pops" on the radio a lot. I consider "Blow up" on par with its 3 predecessors and better produced. I consider the albums demise to be record company support, and the same with everything that came after.

The album where things dropped off a little was "A date with the Smithereens".
Two things I struggled with.... "Free John Gotti". I never felt sympathy or a connection with this murderer. "Sick of Seattle" is sour grapes which should of been directed at record companies not the Seattle music scene, which was influenced by the Smithereens. Pat should of moved to Seattle instead......

Incidentally the time I got to see the Smithereens was at "Under the rail" in Seattle on the "Date with the Smithereens" tour. Important show to me in which I took a date, and really shouldn't have.
It was a club venue holding probably 300 or so. We were standing center stage about 8 feet back from Pat, a fight broke out that my date tried to break up before I could stop her. I was focusing on the band more. She absorbed a fist dead on in the face, and refused to tell me where it came from, in which now I'm very glad she didn't. This event taints my memory a bit, but the Smithereens were a band I was very into, though not the most popular at the time. I thought they should of played a bigger venue, but they were great.

 

A go to rocker for me...among many

and cut flowers is a great ballad among many

 

I really thought this was one of those phony obits for sure. Still in shock here. Whaaaaaa...?

 

Been on the couch for the last three days with a nasty sinus infection/fever.
Only to find this out after starting to feel better.
Now feeling sick in a different way.
RIP Pat

 

That was my sentiment just about every time I saw them. I thought they deserved to be playing a 20,000 seat coliseum when I saw them in a 2,000 seat theatre, and later in their career, a 2,000 seat theatre when I saw them in a 200 person club. Regardless of the venue, they always smoked it.

RIP Pat.

 

Another hard stop for music fans. Decent interview -
Remembering Smithereens' Songwriter And Lead Singer Pat DiNizio

 

Pat probably meant first proper tour of Canada since 1989, as they played weekend gigs on their own (casinos, clubs etc) during the 1990s and 2000s. Canada was good to The Smithereens and seems to have a larger interest in what is now considered "classic" music, especially acts from the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

 

Gutted to hear about Pat's passing, The Smithereens played a large part in the direction my musical tastes headed in my mid-teens.
A wonderful songwriter and singer.
RIP Pat