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Which Patti Smith do I start with?

batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
edited March 2007 in Strut Central
Horses - hands down, or is there something more revealing in her catalog?

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  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    Horses - hands down, or is there something more revealing in her catalog?

    Horses, no contest. Personally, I don't think she ever came near it again. Her other records have some great moments, but Horses is far and away the strongest overall.
  • piedpiperpiedpiper 1,279 Posts
    Easter is as well, because it includes rock ??n?? roll n*****
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    I was watching the first season of Saturday Night Live and she was one of the musical guests. She and her band did their thing. I felt like i needed some in my collectron. I didnt hear her shit as a kid, and in college all the white kids only played that classic rock. My Punk buddies in high school were past her already - Corrosion of Conformity and shit. So I feel like I Missed The Bus like Deej.
  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    Horses - hands down, or is there something more revealing in her catalog?

    Horses, no contest. Personally, I don't think she ever came near it again. Her other records have some great moments, but Horses is far and away the strongest overall.

    I actually prefer 'Radio Ethiopia' as her best, but you should start with 'Horses'.

    She was easily the coolest thing on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on VH1 this weekend.

    "My Mommy died last year, but just before she passed she said 'Tricia, when you make it to the Hall of Fame, I want you to play my favorite song, you know, the one I love to vaccum to.' Mommy, this one's for you." Launches into "Rock and Roll N***er".
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Is Horses a case where she finally hit her stride? Were there pre-cursor albums where the listener could forsee her brilliance? Or was she just wack and turned the corner on Horses?
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    And which reality altering substance would best accompany my baptism?

    Whisky/Weed/Woola?
  • DrWuDrWu 4,021 Posts
    Friends don't let friends listen to Patti Smith.

    b/w

    file under BB King


  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    Is Horses a case where she finally hit her stride? Were there pre-cursor albums where the listener could forsee her brilliance? Or was she just wack and turned the corner on Horses?

    No, more like a burst of everything she had held in til it could no longer be contained. It was her first LP. She had a single ("Piss Factory") a year or 2 prior, but it's one of the best debut LPs of the 70s, easily. The real centerpieces of the record are her version of Van Morrison's "Gloria" (opening track) and the closing insanity of "Horses/Land of a Thousand Dances". Patti just has a very personal, unique way of embracing and making rock and roll, and 'Horses' is pretty definitive of her pretentious and simultaneously gritty way of working. I just like the songs a bit better on 'Radio Ethiopia', especially "Ask The Angels", it just rocks a bit more with less of her poetic posturing. So while I enjoy 'RE' more, I do think 'Horses' is more representational of the Patti Smith Group phenomenon.
  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    And which reality altering substance would best accompany my baptism?

    Whisky/Weed/Woola?

    [Modern Lovers]Take it straight, Hippy Johnny.[/Modern Lovers]
  • coffinjoecoffinjoe 1,743 Posts
    Is Horses a case where she finally hit her stride? Were there pre-cursor albums where the listener could forsee her brilliance? Or was she just wack and turned the corner on Horses?

    her first & produced by the man John Cale

    that one side of Easter is darn good too

    & Radio Ethiopia & the Rundgren production all have some fine moments

    she played a free early evening show at the Kennedy Ceneter a year or two back
    very nice !

    (anyone remember/see that Gilda Radner/SNL parody of her/punk rock chix, i think she called herself "Candy Stripe", pretty raw & not repeated/replayed for years)
  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    Is Horses a case where she finally hit her stride? Were there pre-cursor albums where the listener could forsee her brilliance? Or was she just wack and turned the corner on Horses?

    her first & produced by the man John Cale

    that one side of Easter is darn good too

    & Radio Ethiopia & the Rundgren production all have some fine moments

    she played a free early evening show at the Kennedy Ceneter a year or two back
    very nice !

    (anyone remember/see that Gilda Radner/SNL parody of her/punk rock chix, i think she called herself "Candy Stripe", pretty raw & not repeated/replayed for years)

    I actually consider the Gilda Radner character on SNL my first exposure to Patti Smith! Didn't they have one bit with Belushi mimicking Joe Cocker and Gilda doing her Candy Slice/Patti Smith character doing a duet? It was like the Spaz-a-thon!
  • coffinjoecoffinjoe 1,743 Posts

    I actually consider the Gilda Radner character on SNL my first exposure to Patti Smith! Didn't they have one bit with Belushi mimicking Joe Cocker and Gilda doing her Candy Slice/Patti Smith character doing a duet? It was like the Spaz-a-thon!

    i think when candy was too messed up to record they brought in cocker to help her out = spaz fest

    i think there was a mention in a wash post article about how snl never syndicated that segment
    it was a classic !
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