Patti Smith - Punk’s Poet Laureate
In 1974, a new form of anti-establishment, rebellion rock music briefly took over the music scene, driven exclusively by unsigned bands. But the genre died quickly, but heavily influenced popular music ever since.
The U.S. punk movement starting at CBGB’s in New York City, was lead by bands that pushed traditional musical boundaries. Bands like Television, MC5, The Stooges, Iggy Pop, Suicide, The Ramones and the New York Dolls broke with accepted standard. Each band had their own new sound, but commonly condensed the traditional 3-minute single down into just a minute and a half. Collectively, these bands were called “punk”.
Combining the anger of youth, a unique style of delivery developed on stage, her feminist views and at times, 19th century French poetry, Patti Smith stepped on stage, picked up a microphone and became an instant punk rock icon.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year, Smith is best known for her ground breaking debut 1975 album, Horses, and the song “Because the Night,” which she co-wrote with Bruce Springsteen. He also recorded it on his Darkness on the Edge of Town album. Her version of “Gloria” or G-L-O-R-I-A…the 1964 tune first recorded as a B-side by Van Morrison’s UK band Them, takes the original version and makes it 100 percent “punk”.
Her most recent album, Twelve, released this year, is a compilation of a dozen classic covers, by artists ranging from The Rolling Stones (“Gimme Shelter”) and Jimmy Hendrix (“Are You Experienced?”), to Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and REM’s “Everybody Hurts”.
Eleven of her twelve albums have reached Billboards Top 200 in sales list.
Patti Smith
Nightclub 930
815 V Street, NW
Washington, DC (map it)
800-955-5566
Date and Time - Friday, Dec. 28th, 2007, 9:00 p.m.
Tickets - $25.00 and are available online. All ages show, standing only.
Nearest Metro Subway Station - U Street / African American Civil War Memorial / Cardozo Station - Green line, then a 2 block walk.
Parking - 930 Club offers $10.00 monitored lot on 9th Street. On busy nights the lot fills quickly so purchase parking with your ticket. Additional street parking is available.
Image - Flickr
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