Birthplace

Camden, NJ

First Band(S)

The Road Runners - I was the Drummer

Broken Relations - still The Drummer

Dancing Bear - Bass from here on

The Shakes

The Pedestrians

Johnny’s Dance Band

Cats On A Smooth Surface

Easy Street

Night Shift

First Concert

The first concert I ever witnessed was at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia. It was The Who! They debuted the album Tommy. The opening act was the Philly band The American Dream. The music was awesome and extremely loud.

Best Concerts

Yes - The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA 

Paul McCartney and Wings - The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA

Top Ten Desert Island Albums

1. Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson

2. Blue - Joni Mitchel

3. Portrait of Jaco Collection - Jaco Pastorius

4. Ram - Paul McCartney

5. McCartney - Paul McCartney

6. Argybargy - Squeeze

7. Greatest Hits - The Beatles

8. Selling England by the Pound - Genesis

9. Skylarking - XTC

10. Still Crazy After All These Years - Paul Simon

RUNNERS UP (!):

Live At Leeds - The Who

Cosmic Thing - B 52s

Pump - Aerosmith

Twenty One Pilots - Smithereens 

Riding in My RV - Traveling Robert

Yessongs - Yes

Aqualung - Jethro Tull

ELP - Pictures at an Exhibition

Live - Throwing Copper

The Essential Collection - Gilbert O’Sullivan

Favorite or Most Influential Song/Single

“Hard Day’s Night” - The Beatles

Favorite Hooters Gig and/or Tour Stop

Had to be The Wall! A sea of humanity stood before this incredible stage…And after the show I got to sing a song to Albert Finney, my fav star of all time. I sang a song to him that he forgot he performed in his musical. Scrooge!

Favorite Road Food

Pizza and chicken wings.

My back pages

I never tour without having my entire Andy Griffith series out with me. And I must have my King Of Queens collection too.

I travel with as many electric fans as I can sneak.

I buy all my stage clothes at second-hand stores before each tour and I try to spend about twenty bucks max. At the end of the tour I throw the 50 lbs of sweaty clothes in the trash never to smell them again! (Except for the few nice stage jackets).

In 1975 I relocated to Asbury Park and played with Shakes at the world famous Stone Pony, where I got a chance to jam with Bruce Springsteen and various E-Streeters. Later in 1980 I joined Cats On A Smooth Surface and was once again jamming with The Boss almost every Sunday night (by the way, his now wife Patti Scialfa sang back up with Cats On A Smooth Surface).

In 1979 I played Paul McCartney in “Beatlemania Now”. Later in life my son Eric James Smith joined “Beatlemania Now” and does the most convincing Ringo on the circuit. My son Graham Alexander played Paul on Broadway in “Rain”.

So basically I gave birth to the most awesome rhythm section in history.

LIVE Gear

Ampeg SVT and two Fender P-Basses.