Patti Smith on Patti Smith

October 15, 2020
Patti Smith elevated the interview to an art form, states Levy (Dirty Blvd, 2015) at the start of this readily devoured addition to the superb Musicians in Their Own Words series. Singer, artist, and writer Smith is an ideal subject, given her extensive creative output and dramatic evolution from a brash and magnetizing early 1970s upstart to an artist of conscience and compassion annealed in a blast furnace of loss. Through it all, Smith has been devoted to reading and writing, her saints ?Rimbaud, Hendrix, Dylan?and her faith in the grass-roots power of rock ?n' roll to bring people together. Levy, who provides just the right measure of commentary, has chosen well in building this chronological gathering of conversations marking the release of each of Smith's albums and books. Revealing and poignant moments abound, such as when Smith remembers her dead or says that she's not a real singer or a true musician but a spiritually energized performer who has a lot to say: I've always been concerned about the state of things. Smith is funny, jazzily brilliant, frank, caring, and insightful.Women in Focus: The 19th in 2020(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

Starred review from November 1, 2020

The latest entry in the outstanding "Musicians in Their Own Words" series is devoted to singer-songwriter Patti Smith, the "punk poet laureate" whose blend of rock and poetry electrified listeners. Levy (Dirty Blvd.: The Life and Music of Lou Reed) curates a fascinating collection of interviews and criticism, beginning with a 1972 conversation with writer Victor Bockris recorded in the loft Smith shared with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, just after the publication of Smith's first book of poetry, Seventh Heaven. Interviews explore the recording and release of Smith's groundbreaking debut album, Horses, her influence on the punk scene, her reappearance in the late 1980s after semi-retirement, and the writing of her 2010 memoir, Just Kids. Pieces by Dave Marsh, Nick Tosches, William S. Burroughs, Thurston Moore, Anthony DeCurtis, and Jonathan Lethem can be found here; the work concludes with an entry from June 2018 on "Because the Night," the song she cowrote with Bruce Springsteen. It's a tribute to the multitalented Smith that she is always enlightening, challenging, and instructive, and there is much to savor here. VERDICT An illuminating compilation and study of an American artistic treasure. This study is both a finely wrought biographical snapshot and an opportunity to sit in on conversations with one of the sharpest and most provocative minds of our time.--Bill Baars, formerly with Lake Oswego P.L., OR

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