Patti Smith Group

Video.

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:31:58 GMT

I just wanted to point everybody to the direction of this site:
http://www.benetton.com/africaworks-press/en/index.html

under videos, the second one, Patti is featured in it. And she is also in a few of the photos.

video:
http://www.benetton.com/africaworks-press/en/video_music/5_5.html

photos:

http://www.benetton.com/africaworks-press/en/image_gallery/2_4.html

http://www.benetton.com/africaworks-press/en/image_gallery/2_5.html

i think that covers it!

Patti Smith Documentary Gets Theatrical Release

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 05:31:58 GMT

Patti Smith: Dream of Life, photographer-turned-director Steven Sebring's filmic portrait of punk goddess Patti Smith, chronicles 11 years in the life of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. Sebring followed Smith from 1996 to 2007, chronicling her life through live performances, lyrics, visual art, and interviews with, among others, composer Philip Glass and playwright Sam Shepard. Smith herself narrates the film.

Dream of Life has screened at various film festivals (it won the Cinematography Award at Sundance), but art needs to reach the people, too. Sebring's movie will do just that when Palm Pictures screens it at New York City's Film Forum from August 6-19, and then in wider release in September. A DVD is in the works for 2009.

Also in August, Rizzoli will publish Sebring's companion book, also titled Dream of Life. It features interviews as well as photographs from Smith's private collection.

pitchfork

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:11:13 GMT

Just wanted to share my experience of going to Patti's Land 250 exhibition in Paris last week. It was a birthday treat to me from my friend Debz. To cut a long story short, we caught the Eurostar and arrived in Paris around 1pm. We caught the Metro direct to the Fondation Cartier where the exhibition was. This was our main purpose for being there and I have little idea how long we stayed. Maybe three hours or so? It was really great. One large room with two smaller rooms off it, white and minimal. On the walls were some of Patti's drawings (which frankly weren't all that great, IMO) and lots of black and white polaroids which she had taken over the years, which *were* all that great. They included pictures of Herman Hesse's typewriter, Walt Whitman's tomb, John Keats' bed amongst other things. There were also several films showing: some of her from back in the early seventies; some more recent... all filmed in black and white on 16mm or 8mm film. In the middle was a sofa and a couple of armchairs, with rugs on the floor and a couple of amps - it was supposed to reflect Patti's own home - comfortable and informal - a place for visitors to think, talk or read if and when they felt the need. One of the separate rooms was the Coral Sea Room, a memorial to her friend Robert Mapplethorpe - a contemplative space. The centrepiece of this room was a horizontal screen, almost like a simple bed, on which was projected a film by Jem Cohen of the sea - just waves moving slowly and the odd boat. A recording of Patti's long prose poem The Coral Sea was playing, accompanied by Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) on guitar - very slow and beautiful and hypnotic. In that room also was a case with a small crucifix, a crown of thorns and a pair of slippers which looked like they belonged to a catholic priest - I was really struck by them: their ornate gold embroidery and sense of belonging to somebody important juxtaposed with their worn shape and battered surface. When I read the programme I discovered they had belonged to Pope Benedict XV, the "very humble pope who canonised Joan of Arc in the early 20th century." Just as I was leaving that room, Debz came running towards me gasping "Patti's here! She's going to play a song!" so we scampered back to the "living room" and I knelt literally inches from her as she played "Grateful" from Gung Ho on a horribly out-of-tune guitar, which didn't matter a damn because it was Patti, singing and playing right there in front of me, smiling away, singing to this group of French schoolkids who were visiting. Afterwards she spoke to us all, but particularly to the kids, saying words to the effect of "If you have a dream of what you want to do, follow it, you can do it - if you want to be a poet, or a rock star, or a mother, or a truck driver... whatever you dream you can be, you can be". Just incredible. It was so wonderful to watch the teachers translating her words into French for the kids and to see Patti looking on benevolently. I was shy about asking for her autograph but luckily I had Debz there to spur me on - we had a short exchange when I lent her a pen for signing some of the kids' programmes. She couldn't get the pen to work so Debz and I took it back and frantically scribbled with it to get it working then I had to go after her and call out to her, "Patti! We've got the pen working again! Would you mind signing my programme?" I've seen her live about five times now, a couple of which gigs were relatively small and intimate but NOTHING like this - it really was like actually being in her living room with her, just magic. An event I will never forget as long as I live. I was all over the place after that. I spent 50 euros on a huge hardback book of all her polaroids and then couldn't really string a sentence together for a good hour or so. Neither could I stop grinning.

Patti Smith and Kevin Shields' Coral Sea Coming to CD

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:03:02 GMT

On two magical nights - June 22, 2005 and September 12, 2006 - punk godmother Patti Smith and My Bloody Valentine genius Kevin Shields took the stage together at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall. Their collaboration was called the Coral Sea, and took both its name and inspiration from Smith's 1996 book The Coral Sea. The book and the performance served as tributes to the legendary late artist Robert Mapplethorpe, who was Smith's close friend. (He took the iconic photograph that appears on the cover of Smith's 1975 debut album Horses.)

Fortunately for those of us who couldn't make those shows, Smith and Shields have put together a double-disc set chronicling the two performances. The Coral Sea will be released on July 11 on PASK, a new imprint run by Smith and Shields.

The live album has no tracklist; it consists of Smith's spoken word performance accompanied by Shields on "guitars and effects," according to a press release. Although Cat Power appeared at the 2005 performance, she is not featured on the album.

pitchfork

Dream of Life, the movie

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:51:37 GMT

http://www.mininova.org/tor/1339304

Dream of life on arte 25 mars 2008

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:49:57 GMT

I am too happy I have just seen that arte, the film on patti smith already passes!
For those who have the arte chain, broadcasting of the documentary of Steven Sebring introduced in last Sundance festival! I shall try to record it if my magneto does not make the bloody idiot! It really seems interesting

Dream of Life trailer

On arte 25 mars 2008 23h00 (switzerland hour)

Caribana festival 07 (2)

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 10:33:26 GMT

So I put some pictures of concert online on my LJ , i'ts not professional pics but that's ..ok :-)

Jesus died for somebodys sins but not mine.pearlpop.

Caribana festival 07

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:02:38 GMT

I was at Caribana Festival last year,in Switzerland next Geneva... and there was Patti smith ! Just So Excellent !! I put
a video of concert here :-)

14 Patti Smith Icons

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:54:15 GMT

Teasers:

The rest are here.

New Album 2008!!!!

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 08:40:23 GMT

New Patti Smith album to release in 2008 - Title TBA.
Information from http://www.metacritic.com/music/upcomingreleases.shtml
(A long list of upcoming releases, a lot of interesting news)))

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:43:11 GMT

I wrote the following several months ago:

I realized that one thing i like about Patti Smith (and i feel this way about at least one other music artist) is that i can listen to songs from several different points of her life...maybe not real early, but beginning in her late twenties up to now (she's 60 now.) I get the sense of a good part of a lifetime--a lot longer than i've been alive, i'm just 22. Not just with Patti Smith, but seeing snapshots from throughout the life of someone who's been around for awhile.
i was reminded of that tonight when the 10,000 Maniacs (is that the right number of Maniacs? lol) cover of "Because the Night" came on the radio. I have read that the lyrics were inspired by an incident when Patti got ticked because Fred didn't call her when he said he would--she waited hours and he didn't call. Well, that was an incident early on in a relationship that lasted a long time (and of course that incident isn't the main focus of the song.)It added to a feeling, a recurring feeling i had been having through this afternoon, of the great flow of time and human history, including everybody's life, including mine, my family, and all people. All the little things, all the big things (btw, there were some other events that evening that contributed to the feeling, like reading a book with almost mythic themes of childhood and the history of Halloween...)

iTunes Originals

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:56:13 GMT

Info

download: part 1, part 2

What Do You Know/Think About THIS?

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:17:20 GMT

http://www.dreamoflifethemovie.com/

Seeking tickets..

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 16:22:25 GMT

I am looking for one ticket for the Bowery Ballroom show on 30th December - if anyone has a spare one I would love to buy it from you, please let me know! Thanks :)

Trampin'... / Live aux Vieilles Charrues 2004

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:11:09 GMT

CD2:

Jubilee
Break It Up
Beneath the Southern Cross
25th Floor
Cash
Seven Ways of Going
Dancing Barefoot
Free Money
Gandhi
Peaceable Kingdom
Gloria

This is what i'm looking for..

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:52:58 GMT

Hey, is Patti's son Jackson named after Jackson Pollock?

awesome in my opinion

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 01:39:26 GMT

http://www.rockthevote.com/gallery/index.php?psa=pattismith

a short message from Patti and her son Jackson. (whoa, i can see how he looks like Fred!)

concert in Madison on Sunday

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 05:49:48 GMT

(This is copied from my journal, so some of it written for the non-fan.)

Patti Smith was at the Barrymore Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin on August 5th. Patti likes to come to Madison after her Chicago shows so she has a whole afternoon to wander around town. While we were eating at the diner across the street, we saw her guitarist, Lenny Kaye, wander up and down the street.

My wife and I got there early, so we could have our pick of seats, since she hadn't been feeling too well lately. We decided that we'd go up front, up against the stage, rather than take seats. The last time we saw them, we were on stage right, in front of the bassist and second guitarist. It was extremely loud there, so this time we took stage left, in front of Lenny. Patti's mic was set up slightly to that side anyway, and Lenny's pretty cool anyway, so that was a good place to be. We were about ten feet from each of them, for most of the show. Cyn was up against the stage with me behind her. The only problem with being so close, is that we didn't get much sound from the PA. We could hear the drums clearly, and the guitars, since the amps were behind the musicians, but Patti didn't have an onstage amp, so we could usually only hear her somewhat muddy voice from the house behind us. Same for keyboards. It wasn't much of a problem, though. Only once did we have much trouble understanding her. Sometimes we could hear her without her mic. Sometimes I could hear the click of Lenny's pick on his strings (when he was tuning up between songs).

The show is billed as "Patti Smith and Her Band." This is:
herself, vocals, she played guitar on "Beneath the Southern Cross" and played clarinet on a song ("Are You Experienced?", maybe?).
Lenny Kaye, guitars, mostly. He sang lead on one song, backing vocals on several, and bass on one song.
Jay Dee Daugherty, drums. He and Lenny are her last remaining original bandmembers.
Tony Shanahan, bass, guitar a couple of times (including lead once).
Jackson Smith, guitars. This is Patti's son. At least I think that's who that was.
Did Lenny and Tony swap instruments for "Gimme Shelter"? I forget which song that was.

Her latest album is a collection of cover songs called Twelve. She did eight of those. I was impressed by just about all of them. One that I didn't care for ("Everybody Wants to Rule the World"), sounds much better on the album. They did a smokin' version of the Doors' "Soul Kitchen." One of the first covers they did was an excellent reworking of Hendrix's "Are You Experienced." She led into "White Rabbit" with an amusing story about a rabbit she saw on her walk around town (Who is the statue outside the capitol building? This being Madison, I thought... "nah, too easy.")They also did "Gimme Shelter," "Within You Without You," "Changing of the Guards" (Dylan) and "Smells Like Teen Spirit." This last song was much softer, and more acoustic than the Nirvana original, but, like most of the covers on this record, has a dark edge.

She opened with "Kimberly" from her first album. Not a song I would expect to be an opener. The expected "Gloria" was in the encore. I don't remember all the other songs... "Space Monkey, early in the set, apparently by request from the guy next to us. "Southern Cross" and "Summer Cannibals" from Gone Again. "People Have the Power" and "Because the Night." That seems like a short list, but I can't think of any other songs they did - oh. Patti introduced Lenny, and went off to the side to take a seat on the edge of the stage. The band played The Seeds' "Pushin' too Hard." Lenny is a huge proponent of the old garage rock. Patti came back up on stage to sing the too hard backing vocals with Tony.

Being an intimate show - a venue of about a thousand people - the audience was able to interact. People would shout things a lot. Patti tried to play along, but I get the feeling that she doesn't really appreciate it. It sure is annoying to me, and it's not even my show. People don't realize it, but when they shout things, they're really trying to be part of the show. Front and center, there was a woman who asked Patti, "Patti, are you going to feed our heads?" Personally, I'm rolling my eyes, but whatever. Patti says, "am I going to feed your cats?" The audience laughs, and the woman can no longer get her words heard. Patti went into a thing about feeding cats, and finally said, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about." The woman sounded upset and made some crack disparaging Patti's songs, then put her head down on the stage for the next few songs. WTF? And this guy behind me with the woos. Really fucking loud. All the freaking time. I half expected Patti to tell him to shut the hell up (though somewhat more politely).

There was a young girl near us in the audience. She was about chin-high to the stage. Patti came over at one point, sat down and talked to her and her mom for a little bit. She brought earplugs over to her a short time later. Late in the show, during "People have the Power," She came back over to teach the girl the double hand-clap. This woo guy squeezed up next to me and tried to get Patti to touch him. Patti was clapping, and this guy was poking at her hands. I slapped his arm and told him to knock it off. He continued, but stayed a few inches away from her. When Patti was done, she graciously shook his hand, but took pains to wipe and wash his sweat off of her hand. After the show, Lenny came over to shake the hand of the little girl. And no one else's.

Apparently, Tony's bass amp quit on him. He and the tech were running around all through "Within You Without You." They finally got a replacement hooked up at the end of the song. Tony didn't seem to be handling it well. He had some backing vocals that he had to do in between bouts of consternation and fiddling. Lenny made some accidental noise twice, while Patti was speaking. Once, he was trying to open a bottle of water, and hit his strings. Patti was happy to get through all nine verses of "Changing of the Guards" without a major fuck-up. At one point, Patti seemed to be trying to open her pants, as a little bit of theater for the song. I glanced over at Lenny, and he was doing this wide-eyed uh-oh thing. Seemed like he was looking right at me.

I was really mad that I forgot my camera. I had been looking forward to shooting her next concert since the last one, and I left it in the motel room. I walked out of the room pleased that I'd remembered the tickets. There we were, ten feet away from Patti. Once, I looked up and she was standing with one foot up on her monitor, leaning down, straining into the microphone. Nobody standing in my way. That was a money shot, for sure. So many picture-perfect moments. Grrr. Oh well. I'll remember this show for a long time, even without the photos.

08/01/07: Pittsburgh

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 05:39:29 GMT

Hey guys :) I was at the Pittsburgh show last Wednesday. It was my first Patti show, and it's safe to say it probably won't be my last. The crowd was a little spotty at first (ditto security -- if you went to the show and saw three people go up to the stage then were told to go back to their seats, I was one of them). Nonetheless, everyone eventually had their time, as Patti promised, and I got these videos & photos.

Happy birthday, Jerry Garcia!

part of "Soul Kitchen," I think.

part of "Not Fade Away"

Patti pulled this fan up to dance with her during "Not Fade Away"

"Smells Like Teen Spirit"

Larger photos can be found at my flickr. :)

Question

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:14:25 GMT

Were Lou Reed and Patti Smith ever together?

pittsburgh show.

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 17:32:14 GMT

are any of you going to the show in pittsburgh on wednesday? i'm really looking forward to seeing her. this'll be my first patti concert! =)

Patti Smith and band on Early Show

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:53:50 GMT

So I'm friends with Patti Smith on Myspace (the official Patti Smith myspace linked to by pattismith.net) and I got this bulletin from her:

THE EARLY SHOW BROADCASTS LIVE FROM CLEVELAND
FEATURING A PERFORMANCE BY PATTI SMITH AND HER GROUP

On Friday, July 27, 2007 from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM, at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (One Key Plaza on Erieside Ave) in Cleveland, Patti Smith and Her Group will be performing a LIVE concert for CBS The Early Show.

The Early Show cordially invites you to take part in this exciting experience that will be broadcast LIVE on CBS on NATIONAL TELEVISION.

The show begins broadcasting at 7 AM and are hoping that you will join them! (Please arrive at 6:30 am)

I looked at cbsnews.com and yes, they're playing on the Early Show on Friday. Guess I'll get up early on Friday!

thoughts on "Horses"

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 02:23:07 GMT

First of all, how many references are there on this album to someone falling on their knees? Let’s see: “Birdland,” “Kimberly,” “Land,” “Break It Up;” so 4 as far as I can tell. A motif?

Also, anyone notice the hints that the situations described in two of the songs seem like movies? In “Birdland:” “This movie is mine. In “Land”: “The movie kept moving as he planned” and “I felt his hand on my knee (upon the screen) and I looked at Johnny.” Hm.

The first time I heard “Birdland,” it was the live recording on the “Land” CD set, and it sounded to me like the birds lifted up the boy and carried him off somewhere. This definitely reminded me of a French movie, I think it was “The Red Balloon.” Basically, what happens in this movie is that a red balloon follows a little boy around of its own accord, and the two become friends. Then some bullies pop the balloon, and the little boy is sad. But then you see balloons escaping from other kids all over the place, and the balloons come together and lift up the little boy and carry him off somewhere.

Just some interesting thoughts I had about “Horses.”

?

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 06:43:28 GMT

What is in the cover of a new (Twelve) album?

Lyon pictures & videos and some icons

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 10:37:10 GMT

Some patti smith's pictures in Lyon

teaser:

download the pictures (6mb)
download the video (142 mb) (bad quality)

credit to la_kagol

and other pictures and icons h e r e and h e r e @ mariskatorri