Thursday, June 4, 2020

PATTI SMITH - Horses 1975

Mention CBGB's to any music fan and they immediately think of The Ramones, Television, Talking Heads .. and the Queen, Patti Smith.
When CBGB eventually closed on Oct 15 2006 , Patti Smith returned to perform the final act, a 3 1/2 hour tour-de-force.

In 1975 I'd never heard Patti Smith's music, but I had heard of her. When I came across this album, 'Horses' it had to be part of the collection. Produced by Velvet Underground's John Cale, quote - "'Horses' has since been viewed by critics as one of the greatest and most influential albums not only in the history of the American punk rock movement, but also in the history of all rock and roll." - unquote.
Starting with a version of Van Morrison's 'Gloria' (but a version unlike anything you've heard before) to a Patti rock/reggae composition 'Redondo Beach' to the 9 minute plus opus 'Land: Horses/Land of A Thousand Dances/La Mer (De)' this album is all things .. garage, punk, beat poetry, challenging and raw.

Patti's biggest commercial release came in 1978 with the single 'Because the Night' co-written with Bruce Springsteen and my world's collided when she toured with Bob Dylan - but if you want to hear where the magic started, 'Horses' says it all.

My favourite track? .. 'Kimberley'.

1 comment:

  1. Very cool start. I look forward to seeing what else you post <3

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