Patti Smith recently announced that she has a new record coming out, which will include a track with Television’s Tom Verlaine. I don’t know that I’d mention it otherwise, as I haven’t heard it yet, but, since its release happens to almost coincide with Easter, and as it gives me a reason to quote one of the most ambitious and lovely lines in the history of rock ‘n roll, at a time when it’s incredibly relevant, I thought that I go for it… Here, for those of you unfamiliar with the Easter-themed quote which I just referenced, is Smith’s song, Gloria, from her 1975 magnum opus, Horses.
And, here’s Smith on the set of the television news magazine program, Sunday Morning, last weekend, talking with Anthony Mason about the new record, the time she spent with Robert Mapplethorpe, her view of herself as more “worker” than “artist”, and lots of other stuff… She also performs the songs My Blakean Year and Grateful live.
13 Comments
check this out too:
http://www.dia.org/calendar/exhibition.aspx?id=3153&iid=
I can say without any irony that PATTI SMITH IS MY HERO! “Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine.” That line often runs through my head when I am confronted with religious situations such as Easter ;)
& what a perfect opener to the album Horses –
Thanks for sharing this video, I would have missed it otherwise. I love that she calls herself “a worker!”
Thanks for the information on the DIA show, Ad. I hadn’t heard about it.
There should be a special wing of the rock n roll hall of fame for ability to milk one decent record for six decades.
Did you know she was friends with Robert Mapplethorpe? If you missed one of her books on the subject sit tight, she will find another angle from which to squeeze a new book about it soon enough.
In her defense, Bob, it was one HELL of a record.
For those who haven’t seen it, there’s also good footage of her from 1978, at her height, being interviewed by Tom Snyder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNg19CH9AwY
I just like her first and last name
:)
:)
It is a good record but her catalog is a mighty thin soup. Patti Smith is in the R&R HOF but Cheap Trick isn’t? Absurd.
Bob, I’m going out on a limb here and guess that you haven’t read her book.
And who gives a shit about who’s in the R&R Hall of Fame? That’s like caring about who wins Grammys.
I love you, Bob, but you’re losing me here. As a recording artist, Patti Smith may not have lived up the promise of her first record, but she’s in a class above Cheap Trick.
Eel, have you ever seen Cheap Trick? They still deliver the goods and have a pretty fat book of nearly perfect power pop songs.
Relevant:
http://isaidwithallduerespect.blogspot.com/2009/10/cheap-trick-sucks_26.html