It may seem like they come around about as infrequently as Halley's comet, but "Buzzed Meg's" appearance at the Court Tavern turned out to be yet another fiery spectacle worth waiting for. Better known as the lead guitarist and drummer for the Smithereens, Jim Babjak and Dennis Diken's band performed a revved-up set along with fellow bandmembers Kurt Reil (from The Gripweeds) and Vince Grogan. Andy Burton, who has most recently toured with the Herman's Hermits' Peter Noone, also sat in as guest keyboardist on a couple of tunes. The occasion was to commemorate the release of "The Music From Jim Babjak's Buzzed Meg - Part 1" album. The show managed to combine several of Babjak's own Smithereens compositions along with Buzzed Meg originals and the occasional cover tune.

Jim introduced one of his Smithereens tunes, "Love Is Gone", by explaining that it was strongly influenced by the Beatles and their "Rubber Soul" tune "The Word". He explained that its Lennon/McCartney lyrics containing: "Have you heard the word is love" were twisted around and reformulated for "Love Is Gone" with its semi-similar phrasing stylizations: "The word is out now (did you hear it?), Love is gone". With such influences in mind, it was hard not to be reminded of George Harrison's death - especially since his passing had just been announced the day before the show. In fact, the band tore into George's "I Want To Tell You" as a fond tribute. With equal ferocity, they also celebrated his Beatles legacy with "She Said She Said".

It's easy to draw parallels between Babjak and the "quiet Beatle", of course. Perhaps the most obvious ones are their similarities as "lead guitarists who were frequently overshadowed by another songwriter in their bands". Maybe this explains why Jim claims to have three albums worth of his own songs stored up and waiting to be released. (Harrison's three record collection, "All Things Must Pass", similarly springs to mind.) Also, Harrison and Babjak are both known to be relatively shy or self-denigrating to some extent. Jim began introducing one of his songs this evening by relating a tale about its origins. He then stopped abruptly, however, and declared that he didn't think the audience really wanted to be bored by such a story as that. Despite this initial stage patter reticence, Jim eventually managed to crack a joke or two like introducing as a "love song" their cover version of "Seven & Seven Is" by the band "Love." Dennis snickered "I get it" before hitting the drums and plunging the band into a nicely rollicking rendition of the song.

The kind of camaraderie and musical telepathy that can only come from years of playing together were evident quite often between Babjak and Diken. One such magical musical moment onstage even prompted Jim to smile appreciatively and gesture at Dennis for the audience's benefit. At that moment, Jim seemed to be in awe of an especially noteworthy bit of Diken drum work. No less impressive were several wailing guitar solos wherein Jim closed his eyes and seemingly slipped into another stream of musical consciousness.

While Kurt Reil did a fine job as lead vocalist, Jim also acquitted himself admirably while taking over lead vocals on the Buddy Holly song "Well Alright". This tune has been sung by Pat DiNizio in previous Smithereens live shows, but Jim took an impassioned crack at it this time out and shared some fine melodic harmonies with Vince Grogan. Jim even acknowledged Pat DiNizio's "lovely" lyrical contributions to the Babjak compostion "Cut Flowers" before Buzzed Meg rendered their own spirited version of it. "Now And Then" and "Point of No Return" were among other Babjak/Smithereens tunes that were met with appreciative applause by an audience containing more than a few Smithereens fans.

Even though the Buzzed Meg versions of Smithereens songs were obvious crowd pleasers, Buzzed Meg originals such as "You Get Me So Excited" and "Paradise" also elicited an especially enthusiastic response from the crowd. The band closed their set with the Who's live showstopper from yesteryear, "Heaven and Hell," and seemingly sped into a "jamming overdrive" before finally skidding to a halt. Jim would also be called up onstage during The Gripweeds' set to play an equally fiery "Shakin' All Over". Jim was in fine form all evening as were the rest of "Jim Babjak's Buzzed Meg". Luckily, Buzzed Meg will show up again long before Halley's comet ever does when they reappear live at Maxwell's in Hoboken on Friday, December 7th.