Patti Smith Poll

'gone again,' its first single?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgcDGys1ETo
and "leave" on 'new adventures in high fi' were my gateways to her early legendary work. just finished 'just kids.' she is awesome. that is all

Never did get round to hearing The Coral Sea

some interesting reactions here

Patti Smith and Kevin Shields - Coral Sea (mp3 inside)

Okay, now I really want to hear it.

Guessing that Horses will take this in a walk, but there are individual songs on all the first four that make me want to vote for them.

I can think of few records with as many embarrassing moments as Horses yet are so extraordinary.

The others all have their moments. "Dancing Barefoot" is still my favorite song of hers," and Gone Again had some moving plaints around the general boringness.

Shall resist reposting this from http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?showall=true&bookmarkedmessageid=69&boardid=41&threadid=23225

I got the 'deluxe' Horses 2CD, and it wasn't until I heard the live version that I actually "got" the studio version.

So, that one...

Done voting.
Haven't listened to her for quite some time now, though.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I know she's a legend and all, but her public persona is insufferable.

I can't comprehend the above statement at all. For example, this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cHL-VXYSgI

well, she hasn't read a book since her Mapplethorpe days.

Maybe this will help you comprehend.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/07/patti-smith-201107

Some of us are born rebellious. Like Jean Genet or Arthur Rimbaud, I roam these mean streets like a villain, a vagabond, an outcast, scavenging for the scraps that may perchance plummet off humanity’s dirty plates, though oftentimes taking a cab to a restaurant is more convenient.

Yet time makes ravens of us all. And so I pick the memories from the crevices of my brain. Again and over, I find myself returning to that windswept maternity ward in which I arose like a phoenix from my mother’s dimly lit womb ready to greet the world like an archangel with my own set of profoundly soft and bubbling truths with which to mark—permanently and ineradicably—my legendary very first diaper.

Well, that's what I mean. Genet, Rimbaud, Blake yeahyeahyeah.

She is very charming in that Franzen interview.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

The least shocking poll result ever?

the albums since she emerged post-nesting in the 90s are pretty good. comments about her *public persona* and taste in poetry and french lit are

sexist?

apt

I wanna give a big up to "Beneath the Southern Cross," a lovely ballad from Gone Again which everyone who loves Smith should listen to.

Gone Again was somehow the first Patti Smith record I ever bought, and I remember it fondly, but it's been forever since I listened to it.

same here except for me it was Peace and Noise

The least shocking poll result ever?

Surprised by the extent of the win.

Let's see if SLOW POLL COMING - the Best 70s Dylan Album can be as overwhelming...

didn't vote but if I had Radio Ethiopia would have gotten mine

yeah, 'radio ethiopia' wins for 'pissing in a river' alone, for me.

yeah, sad to see no votes for Radio Ethiopia, better than Horses in some ways

"Pissing in a river" is overwhelmingly fantastic.

WAs surprised to see no votes for Radio Ethiopia. Would have thought at least somebody would have plunked for it.Think it was dismissed as her 'heavy metal' lp for years. Certainly seem to remember it being called that in the books I was introduced to her through.
It is more heavily guitar dominated than Horses but I don't think I'd be going metal, that being somewhat inherently pejorative, in describing it. Think influences from the ballroom scene etc that Kaye was into earlier are showing through.
I just put the whole lp on my walkman so it can turn up at random. Think it's pretty great. Do like Horses too and bits of Easter.

Had a thought concerning Lenny Kaye & Nuggets I'd been meaning to post somewhere. I'd wondered if Lenny Kaye's working in a 2nd hand record shop in the early 70s had contributed to his idea of compiling a set of mid 60s One Hit Wonders. Like, was it something that he was recognising a market for that lead to him compiling Nuggets which otherwise was a bit out of the blue in terms of releasing in the early 70s. Think I heard about Kaye being asked to compile something along somewhat different grounds that wound up becoming the Nuggets set once he got his hands on it.

With their LISTS. In. FLAMES

Was blaring this in the car today out in the middle of farm-country nowhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrfA-05-95g

Love it from start to finish, especially "Hey you...come here...get up."

Pretty insane mix of people onstage:

Bruce Springsteen
Michael Stipe
Karen O
Courtney Barnett
Jim Jarmusch
Charlie Sexton
Alison Mosshart
Matt Berninger
Flea
Johnny Depp
Kronos Quartet
Angel Olsen
Glen Hansard
Susanna Hoffs
Patti Smith and her band
etc...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYo_waKXKfs

Also reports are they got a heroic dose of Body/Head right before ScarJo

I love this

Yes, I was there - Body/Head was indeed a highlight. Also loved Courtney Barnett who has covered "Redondo Beach" in concert in the past, but this time they changed the arrangement so that instead of the light reggae beat, it's like early Modern Lovers or 1969-era Velvet Underground (with her phrasing in particular reminding one of Lou Reed's from that era). And "Kimberley" always sounded like a pop hit to me, especially with those bass lines, and it was a perfect match for Susanna Hoffs. Plenty of forceful and faithful interpretations by the likes of Karen O, Sharon Van Eaten and Alison Mosshart. Chrissie Hynde's plane was cancelled so that was the only major disappointment - I've never heard her cover Patti Smith. (Maggie Rogers was her replacement.) Sean Penn kind of stumbled a bit with his poetry reading - I felt like he didn't do enough prep or rehearsal - and Scarlett Johansson was okay with her reading. Michael Shannon was excellent, he dedicated his to Sam Shepherd, and Jim Jarmusch was wonderful with some funny quips.

Biggest highlight for me was Michael Stipe. I've never seen him perform live even though I'm a huge R.E.M. fan, and hearing his voice for the first time in concert reminds me of hearing Roger McGuinn's 12-string on the opening of "Mr. Tambourine Man" for the first time in concert seven years ago - as familiar as I can possibly be with both sounds, it's flat out amazing to hear them in person, like the difference between seeing a photo or painting of something for many years only to realize you didn't actually get everything when you finally see it in person. I really, REALLY hope that solo album comes out soon and that he tours behind it.

And the house band was pretty awesome - Benmont Tench, Charlie Sexton, Steve Jordan, and even though I'm not really a RHCP fan, Flea sounded excellent too.

BTW, in the video above, you can see Patti escort a bunch of kids on to the stage - those are some of the underserved students that benefit from the musical education funded by the concert (or really the foundation, but I think the concert's their main source of revenue). They also performed a song earlier. Pretty cool.

Agh autocorrect, should be Van ETTEN.

And Sam SHEPARD

Never mind, at least "underserved" didn't get autocorrected to "undeserved"

A video recording of her 1993 appearance at Summerstage in Central Park, what was then a rare performance. Supposedly this wasn’t known to circulate in any form aside from “Memorial Song” which had been officially released later in the year on the 1993 charity compilation No Alternative.

Broken Flag on Wave sounds so much like something from Judy Henske & Jerry Yester's Farewell Aldebaran album I'm almost convinced it might be deliberate.

Also the title track of Wave is one of those occasions when it's perhaps best not to know what the writer intended. It's kind of mysterious and affecting until you realize it's about the Pope after which it just seems silly.