Coming closest to the punk rock abandon of her 1970's concerts with the original Patti Smith Group — and also the strongest vocal performance here — is Patti Smith's take on the Rolling Stones classic "Gimme Shelter". While nowhere near as chaotic and incendiary as those legendary performances, here Patti Smith shrieks, howls, and growls her way through the lyrics with the sort of passion and intensity that lends a newly dark urgency to the original lyrics.
Curiously a reading of "Soul Kitchen" by Jim Morrison, by all accounts one of Smith's biggest influences, is much more somber sounding. Smith's version of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" — proceeded as it is by a psychedelically tinged spoken word intro — is also still a pretty straight forward reading. More interesting is her take on Bob Dylan's overlooked "Changing Of The Guard," reworked here in a lushly strummed (and gorgeous sounding) acoustic arrangement which allows the lyrics to stand more front and center than the more familiar electric version from Dylan's Street Legal album.
If you've only previously thought of Patti Smith as a poet, Twelve is an album sure to surprise you as much as it did me. While Patti Smith's voice may be an acquired taste to some, her vocals here are not just strong, they also reveal her considerable, previously hidden powers of interpretation.
Patti Smith's Twelve features Patti Smith's original band — Lenny Kaye (guitar), Jay Dee Daugherty (drums) and Tony Shanahan (bass, keyboards) — as well as guest appearances by the likes of Flea, Tom Verlaine, the Black Crowes Rich Robinson, and playwright Sam Shepard (on banjo). It will be available in stores on April 24.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
nice review glen. man, the release schedule this spring is gonna bust my wallet!
2 - Holly Hughes
No point in doing covers if you don't make 'em different from the original, in my opinion. Every cover I've heard Patti do in concert was a revelation. I'm glad she finally got some of this onto a record.
Yes, this is going to be an expensive spring...
3 - Brewmaster
Great review! April 24th I am on itunes at midnight.
4 - Glen Boyd
Thanx everybody. Patti does make these songs her own (especially "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Changing Of The Guard") and Lenny and the rest of the band sound more rockin' here than on anything since Easter.
Thanx again for the comments!
-Glen
5 - alessandro Nicolo
Horses: Redondo Beach. Love it. The album evokes so much. Her voice is what makes it unique. Love that 'My Generation' take at the end...effen nihilistic.
6 - JC Mosquito
That My Generation B side at the end of the Horses reissue features ex Velvet Undergounder John Cale guesting on bass - legend is that's him falling off the stage at the end of the song.
7 - Red River
Thanks for the review.
You know, maybe this songs weren't made for Patti, but I like to think that deep in their minds, all the authors were thinking of her.
I would, of course.