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| Patti Smith |
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"Writing has always been the most important form of expression to me to create space for others -- I think that is an artist's duty."
-Patti Smith
| Date of Birth: December 30th, 1946 |
| Birthplace: Chicago |
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| The talent behind punk's first album, Horses (1975), Smith emerged as a groundbreaking force in the disillusioned aftermath of the peace and love era. Her third album, Easter (1978) gave her a surprise hit single in "Because the Night," co-written with fellow New Jersey native, Bruce Springsteen. |
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| Inspired by 19th century decadent literati poetry, absurdist theater, beat writers, and abstract painting, Patti Smith eventually became the blueprint for the indie rock chicks of the last couple of decades. |
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Patti Smith was born in Chicago on December 30th, 1946, and grew up in Woodbury, New Jersey, the eldest of four children. She developed an interest in poetry, and was particularly influenced by France's 19th century decadent literati, Baudelaire, Rimbaud and Verlaine.
After becoming pregnant and giving up the baby for adoption, she dropped out of Glassboro State Teacher's College and worked on an assembly line in a local factory. She moved to New York City in 1967, living for a time with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in Brooklyn.
Smith ventured to Paris in 1969, where she worked as a street performer. Upon returning to New York in 1970, she found herself among the city's avant-garde artists, including painter/filmmaker/songwriter Bob Neuwirth and actor/playwright Sam Shepard, with whom she co-wrote the play Cowboy Mouth in 1971. She soon became the star of several underground theater productions, including Vain Victory at the Cafe La Mama, and became increasingly immersed in writing original poetry.
Smith was already an established underground poet/playwright when she hooked up with rock critic Lenny Kaye, who encouraged her to become a rock journalist herself. She contributed articles to Creem, Crawdaddy and Rolling Stone magazines. Kaye also persuaded Smith to recite her poems in public, and in February 1971, she launched her performance career as a spoken word artist at St. Mark's Church, with Kaye accompanying her on guitar.
At the suggestion of publicist Jane Friedman, who became her manager in 1973, Smith began singing and not simply reciting her poetry. With gigs including the opening slot for the New York Dolls at the Mercer Arts Center, Smith was soon moving among the Big Apple's underground rock scene.
With Kaye on guitar and Richard Stohl on keyboard, Smith made her recording debut in 1974, a cover of "Hey Joe" backed with the original composition, "Piss Factory." The single, released on an independent label set up by her and Kaye, was one of the first records to come out of New York's burgeoning punk/new wave/indie movement. Her big break for international exposure arrived when she was signed to Clive Davis' Arista label in 1975.
Smith's debut album, Horses, produced by John Cale of Velvet Underground fame, was issued in late 1975. The album included a cover of the '60s garage classic "Gloria," and cracked the Top 50 on the U.S. charts. The follow-up, Radio Ethiopia (1976), was a more polished effort, though it failed to make the top hundred on the album charts. In January 1977, while performing in Florida, Smith fell from the stage and broke two vertebrae in her neck. She remained in a neck brace for several weeks, during which time she wrote her fifth poetry collection, Babel, published later that year. |
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© Kevin Mazur
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