Patti Smith

Patti Smith is often confused with Patty Smyth - the former lead singer of the band Scandal.

Beginnings

She was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in New Jersey. Her father was an atheist and her mother was a devout Jehovah's Witness (the intertwining of religious and sexual fervor that has suffused much of her work can probably be attributed to her upbringing). The family was not wealthy and, her formal education over at 16, Smith went to work in a factory ? an experience she found excruciating. She also bore a child which she gave up for adoption. In 1969 she left New Jersey for good.

Related Topics:
Chicago - Illinois - New Jersey - Atheist - Jehovah's Witness

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When Smith first arrived in New York, she lived in the Chelsea Hotel with Robert Mapplethorpe. The two were lovers for a time, in spite of Mapplethorpe's homosexuality, and they remained close friends until Mapplethorpe's death from AIDS in 1989. (Among Smith's other well-known lovers were poet Jim Carroll and Television member Tom Verlaine). She spent the early 1970s painting, writing, and performing spoken-word poetry?frequently at St. Mark's Poetry Project. In 1971 she performed ? for one night only ? in the play Cowboy Mouth, a collaboration with the playwright and actor Sam Shepard (the published play's notes call for "a man who looks like a coyote and a woman who looks like a crow").

Related Topics:
Chelsea Hotel - Robert Mapplethorpe - AIDS - 1989 - Jim Carroll - Television - Tom Verlaine - 1970s - St. Mark's Poetry Project - Sam Shepard

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Smith subsidized her career in these years by publishing rock journalism, especially in Creem magazine. She also wrote songs during this period in connection with Allen Lanier of the Blue Öyster Cult, who recorded several songs to which Smith contributed, including "Career of Evil," "Fire of Unknown Origin," "The Revenge of Vera Gemini," and "Shooting Shark."

Related Topics:
Journalism - Creem - Allen Lanier - Blue Öyster Cult

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