Patti Smith

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

Early career

By 1974, however, Patti Smith was performing rock music herself, initially with guitarist and rock archivist Lenny Kaye, and later with a full band comprising Kaye, Ivan Kral (guitar), Jay Dee Daugherty (drums) and Richard Sohl (piano). Financed by Robert Mapplethorpe, the band recorded a first single, "Piss Factory/Hey Joe," in 1974. The A-side describes the helpless anger Smith had felt while working on a factory assembly line and the salvation she discovered in the form of a shoplifted book, the 19th-century French poet Arthur Rimbaud's Illuminations. The B-side was a version of the rock standard with the addition of a spoken-word piece about fugitive heiress Patty Hearst.

Related Topics:
1974 - Rock music - Lenny Kaye - Guitar - Drums - Piano - Hey Joe - Arthur Rimbaud - Illuminations - Patty Hearst

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Patti Smith Group was signed by Clive Davis of Arista, and 1975 saw the release of Smith's first album Horses, produced amidst some tension by John Cale, formerly of The Velvet Underground. The record fused rock and roll, proto-punk rock with spoken poetry and is widely considered one of rock's greatest debuts. The album begins with a cover of Van Morrison's "Gloria," and Smith's opening words are some of the most famous in rock: "Jesus died for somebody's sins ... but not mine." The austere cover photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe has become one of rock's classic images.

Related Topics:
Clive Davis - Arista - 1975 - Horses - John Cale - The Velvet Underground - Rock and roll - Punk rock - Van Morrison

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As the Patti Smith Group toured the United States and Europe, punk's popularity grew. The rawer sound of the group's second album, Radio Ethiopia, reflected this. Considerably less accessible than Horses, Radio Ethiopia received poor reviews. However, several of its songs, notably "Pissing in a River, " "Pumping," and "Ain't It Strange," have stood the test of time, and Smith still performs them regularly in concert.

Related Topics:
United States - Europe - Radio Ethiopia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

While touring in support of the record, Smith accidentally danced off a high stage in Tampa, Florida, falling 15 feet into a concrete orchestra pit and breaking several neck vertebrae. The injury required a period of rest and an intensive round of physical therapy, during which time she was able to reassess, re-energize and reorganize her life, a luxury which had been denied her in her swift rise to fame.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Patti Smith Group produced two further albums before the end of the 1970s. Easter (1978) was her most commercially successful record, containing the hit single "Because the Night" – co-written with Bruce Springsteen – which rose to #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Wave was less successful, with "Frederick" and "Dancing Barefoot" receiving only minor radio airplay.

Related Topics:
1970s - Easter - 1978 - Bruce Springsteen - Billboard Hot 100 - Wave

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~