"An artist is an artist only because of his exquisite sense of beauty, a sense which shows him intoxicating pleasures, but which at the same time implies and contains an equally exquisite sense of all deformities and all disproportion."
Charles Baudelaire on Edgar Allan Poe, 1856.
from The Painter of Modern Life and Other Essays
"Well, could you play a car crash with an electric guitar?"
Patti Smith to Lenny Kaye, 1971. from Just Kids
Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye performed together for the first time on February 10, 1971 at The Poetry Project at the St. Marks Church in New York City. It was also the first time an electric guitar had ever been played at the church, and Lenny uses it to demonstrate the auditory car crash sounds in "Ballad of a Bad Boy," one of four selections from this rarely heard performance, and would serve as the the first of many collaborations between these two. Later becoming the Patti Smith Group, they helped to forge a new alliance between rock n roll, art and poetry in New York's punk scene of the mid 1970s. The historic venues in New York where they originally played before touring the world are now all gone except for The Poetry Project which tonight will host their return in celebration of the 40th anniversary of that first performance.
So, if you're in New York City, you might wanna check it out.
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Download:
"Mack The Knife" mp3
by Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye, 1971.
available on February 10, 1971
"Dedication" mp3
by Patti Smith, 1971.
available on February 10, 1971
"Oath" mp3
by Patti Smith, 1971.
available on February 10, 1971
"Ballad of A Bad Boy" mp3
by Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye, 1971.
available on February 10, 1971
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"Hey Joe (Version)" mp3
by Patti Smith, 1974.
on Mer 601-45
out of print
"Piss Factory" mp3
by Patti Smith, 1974.
available on Land (1975-2002)
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"Radio Free Ethiopia" mp3
Patti Smith, 1976.
WNEW New York Hungerthon Radio Broadcast
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top photo: Patti Smith in Subway, 1971. by Gerard Malanga.
