| | She was born in Chicago on 30 Dec, 1946 |
Patti Smith is the first lady of rock music. But she never brought attention to her gender, dressed simply and made a show of nothing but her music. While there were several women in other genres, they – Joni Mitchell, for example – didn’t do any groundbreaking work like Smith.
Still, most of her albums were alien to the charts. Unmitigated by slight commercial success, she has had far-reaching effects on mainstream rock. Unlike many other musicians whose influence was acknowledged years later (Lou Reed, Iggy Pop), Horses, her debut 1975 effort, was immediately hailed as an influential record. Even more explosive was the fact that she was a woman who was showing the male-dominated punk movement the way.
Now that we have access to lots of journalism on her, the album and all that followed seems inevitable. Patti Smith was born in Chicago, but spent her youth in New Jersey. Evidence of her free spiritedness is there from the time she was a teenager. Raised a Jehovah’s Witness, she left the faith – and all organised religion – because it was too confining.
However, she had a strong religious education. ‘Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine,’ (Gloria) would be the first thing we’d hear from her. Solace, it seems, she found in the work of the beats and rock n’ roll music from Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. This combination – of poetry and rock – would become the crucial elements of her work. But positive recognition would have to wait a decade as Smith was voted ‘Class Clown’ in high school. Her low album sales possibly means that she’d still fail to win any favourable election, but what makes Smith’s story impressive is that she won over most within the fraternity who mattered.
Smith debuted at a time when heavy instrumentation was respected within rock. The rock benchmark was Led Zeppelin. Her music, however, contained three chords. Even with the basic instrumentation and rhythms, the force of the music came through to many assigned the task of criticizing rock. Her work has also been cited by several other musicians as an influence and pretty much any practitioner of punk rock has, by mere association, picked up from Smith.
But while the music has been passed on, it’s nothing like most Patti Smith albums, or the albums she’s known for. Smith, even while moving towards a more radio friendly sound, kept pushing the boundaries of what was possible within rock. In more avant-garde albums, she included free jazz and often improvised vocals. Through her lyrics, she channeled the works of poets like Arthur Rimbaud and adapted portions of biographical works. Several of her songs feature just spoken word pieces, some of which run up to 11 minutes.
However, an injustice has been done to Patti Smith by those who label her as an avant-garde musician. Though it includes experimental elements, her music is largely conformist. The three-chord rock often turns primitive and the lyrics, even while poetic, are always accessible.
If her own tunes are what you’re afraid of, be sure to get Twelve, her most recent work which includes renditions of classic songs like ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and ‘Gimme Shelter’. With most other artists, cover songs are usually homage, but with her, they are always interpretations. The Nirvana tune is played by a jazz band and Hendrix’s ‘Are You Experienced?’ is a more spiritual version. And even slowed down, they rock. |
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