Patricia Lee Smith born in the year 1946 on old years eve, 30 December. An American singer, songwriter, musician and poet was better know as Patti Smith, hugely influential in establishing Punk Rock as a genre in the mid-1970's.
Patti Smith had a profound impact on me as a young sixteen year old, playing havoc with my hormones with her Easter album cover as well as the lyrics of 'Because the Night' rendered in a throaty seductive voice.
"Love is an angel disguised as lust, here in my bed until the morning comes" ...sweaty palms I tell you !!
Bear in mind this was South Africa in 1975 .... us youngsters were clueless generally. Enough about me ....
Her first Album released under the auspices of Arista Records in 195 was titled Horses and soon became synonymous with the burgeoning New York Punk Rock scene. It reached number 47 on the US Billboard 100.
Free Money - Patti Smith Band released 1975
From that excellent publication Allmusic.com ...
Punk rock's poet laureate Patti Smith ranks among the most influential female rock & rollers of all time. Ambitious, unconventional, and challenging, Smith's music was hailed as the most exciting fusion of rock and poetry since Bob Dylan's heyday. If that hybrid remained distinctly uncommercial for much of her career, it wasn't a statement against accessibility so much as the simple fact that Smith followed her own muse wherever it took her -- from structured rock songs to free-form experimentalism, or even completely out of music at times. Her most avant-garde outings drew a sense of improvisation and interplay from free jazz, though they remained firmly rooted in noisy, primitive, three-chord rock & roll.
Source Credit
Break it Up - also from Horses
Called the "punk poet laureate," Smith fused rock and poetry in her work. Her most widely known song is "Because the Night," which was co-written with Bruce Springsteen. It reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1978 and number five in the U.K. In 2005, Smith was named a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. In 2007, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Resource Credit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patti_Smith)
Because the Night - Easter Album released in 1978
In October 1979, Smith retired from the public eye and moved to Detroit with Fred "Sonic" Smith. In 1980, they married, and they went on to have two children and write songs together with no regret for the self-imposed exile from show business. In 1988, they recorded Dream of Life (produced by Fred "Sonic" Smith and Jimmy Iovine). The album included the classic anthem "People Have the Power," which the two wrote while she did the dinner dishes. It combined his White Panther polemics with her revolutionary spirit. It also marked Patti Smith's final collaboration with three of her closest companions, all of whom met with untimely deaths: Robert Mapplethorpe, who photographed her for the cover; Richard Sohl, who provided all of the keyboards; and her husband, Fred "Sonic" Smith, who composed the music.
resource Credit
*People Have the Power *
The power to dream, to rule
to wrestle the world from fools
it's decreed the people rule
it's decreed the people rule
Listen
I believe everything we dream
can come to pass through our union
we can turn the world around
we can turn the earth's revolution
we have the power
People have the power
Lyrics
Some of my favorite Patti Smith tracks are not suitable for inclusion here due to the overly sensitive, politically correct nature of society these days..... the more raunchy, rock and roll tracks .... and some lyrics which were an opinion then but a social media statement these days.
Let us finish off with Patti's very fine cover version of Gloria... move over the Morrisons..Jim and Van
I just love the opening lines penned by herself ...
Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine
Meltin' in a pot of thieves
Wild card up my sleeve
Thick heart of stone
My sins my own
They belong to me, mePeople say "beware!"
But I don't care
The words are just
Rules and regulations to me, me .... understand why some of her music is not shareable.
Lyrics
I hate covers but I reckon this one meets the standard !!
Anyway, thanks for visiting and all the support. I am truly appreciative and grateful