patti smith

...patti's first long player came as some kind of revelation, even to cats who'd seen her live or checked the 'hey joe' 45...mind thwacking rock'n'roll with hallucinogenic poetry was not the sort of thing that was happening in mid seven oh land, specialy on a major label...it was like the whole tapestry of rocking noise being rewove into an avant explosion of past and future void

opening vibrations...a meeting of time and space in the middle of a cats cranium...the optimism this wax brought to countless heads alone makes this one of the all time hep stonking great efforts in the hundred years of recording...being produced by john cale hooks this up nicely to the velvets legend which was still extant slightly (the whole continuous trance vibe cale had picked up from lamont youngs eternal music performances, gave patti an excuse to wig out endlessly) and by kicking the LP off with 'gloria' patti places this in a linear position to the song that started the whole mid sixties garage blast and shows her knowledge of the importance of rock'n'roll as life affirming substance, not just entertainment...this has got to be patti at the peak of her powers, she was putting the groove down like no one else at the time, it didn't get any better, patti was sailing waters that had been still for ages, now the waves were crashing onto the rock'n'roll sands...maybe not quite as revolutionary sounding anymore but under the right circumstances and conditions this makes it home every time...
...johnny...