September 25–October 2, 1997
20 questions
Interview by Margit Detweiler
Background
With so much going on in Patti Smith's creative life, it's surprising that the 50-year-old rock and roll legend still has time to be a mom.
"The best time to talk would be tomorrow at 12," Smith tells me in a soft, crackled voice when I call her the first time. "They'll be delivering a piano for my daughter and it'll be a good time." Then, when I call her back, she's in the middle of making her daughter, Jesse, a sandwich, and asks if I can phone in half an hour. No problem.
Last year's album Gone Again (Arista) saw Smith returning to recording after an eight-year absence. It was a solemn work spurred by the deaths of her husband, MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith, her soulmate, Robert Mapplethorpe, and her brother, Todd. Her new record, Peace and Noise (Arista), is Smith electric and empowered, filled with hard-rocking, politically motivated songs that sound more like her early, rebellious work.
Smith has been dedicating much of her spare time to worthy causes—including one local Tri-Staters can benefit from. On Sept. 27 she'll read poetry and debut her new songs at the Walt Whitman Center in Camden, NJ, with guitarists Lenny Kaye and Oliver Ray. The album will be released three days later.
Unfortunately, the show at Walt Whitman, with only 187 seats, is sold out. But you can also catch Patti in her performance for Sessions at West 54th on PBS (TV-12) the same night at midnight.
What prompted you to play the Walt Whitman Center?
I have very fond girlhood memories of Camden. I was raised in the Woodbury area and I used to get the bus up Broad Street and often get out in Camden. I'd go buy orange juice and donuts and look at the Walt Whitman hotel. In my imagination I thought Walt Whitman stayed at the Walt Whitman Hotel... In terms of the canon of poetry, Whitman was one of America's premier poets. I was always proud he was born in New Jersey. I was also friends with Allen Ginsberg and it was one of his pet places. They gave him a tote bag with Walt Whitman's picture on it and he always carried it around. When he fell ill, I went to sit with him in his last hours. He had a beautiful photograph of Walt Whitman above his bed. He died quietly in his bed with that portrait above him. It's been nice trying to continue in the spirit of Allen, who often tried to continue in the spirit of Walt Whitman.
Can you see Walt Whitman's influence in your own work?
It would be presumptuous to say that. I can't really say that I deeply studied him. I liked Whitman as a man. I liked his charitable efforts. I liked that he did what he could to help people during the Civil War, doing what he could to just give comfort and counsel to dying soldiers.
When you last played here with Dylan you mentioned something about New Jersey getting a bad rap.
People are very territorial. I'm guilty of it. People from North Jersey think people in South Jersey are hicks and people from South Jersey think North Jersey is an industrial wasteland. I was brought up in a rural area and very desirous to get out. I actually tried to get some footing in Philadelphia, but that didn't work so I ended up going to New York.
Have you been back to Philly recently?
I spent a lot of time at the Philadelphia Art Museum during the Brancusi show. I do plan to hopefully do something for the museum, but I've been bogged down in doing so many benefits... It's the first art museum I ever walked into. I have a deep affection for that museum. The Brancusi show was one of the greatest I'd ever seen. I could have slept there.
You just moved back to New York—how's that?
It's just like coming back home. My son and daughter are adjusting. It's a lot different than living on a canal in Michigan, but they like it. We live in the Soho district. New York's the most friendly city I've ever been in. I can go out and sit out on my stoop. People say hello. The storekeepers get to know you. I really like it because it's so multinational.
There was so much tragedy that happened before Gone Again; had your frame of mind changed when you recorded this album?
Fred and I had set about to do a more socially conscious record. We spent many hours discussing the kind of album we'd do after Dream of Life. When he passed away I really didn't have the heart to do that particular record. I focused on Gone Again as a remembrance of Fred, but as I strengthened I decided to continue the work we'd anticipated for ourselves. I know the issues that meant something to him, and the ones that are important to me. Gone Again was a very specific album. This record is the first record I've done in a long time where all of the ideas come from my own meditations.
And the music?
Most of the music was written by the newest member, Oliver Ray... The whole record is band oriented—everything is done by the band, except on "Last Call" where Michael Stipe sings in the background. Everything is also pretty much live; one cut is totally improvised, "Memento Mori." We just improvised for 11 minutes and it's exactly as we laid it down. We recorded in an old propeller factory/studio where there were these huge overhead fans that look like propellers. They reminded me of the tops of helicopters, like blades. I improvised on that. The piece is a remembrance of a boyhood friend of my late husband who was killed in Vietnam in a helicopter crash.
A lot of your songs seem news-related and timely. Like the song ("Last Call") you wrote after the Heaven's Gate fiasco.
It's very hard for me to reconcile the idea of suicide as a conceptual thing, especially in young people. Because for one thing I've seen so many of my friends die of AIDS or die when they had no choice... Jess! [Smith's daughter Jesse is still plinking away on the keys]
I guess the new piano arrived. How is it?
It's a little small Wurlitzer, just a little guy, and she's very happy. I don't want to discourage her, I just can't hear. But um... Being very spiritually oriented myself, I can't judge another's spirituality. But I really didn't feel authenticity from their leader. More and more people don't value their life force as they should. They're much too quick to let it go or take the life force of another. People mark their own self-value by what they have. But fame and fortune are two very fleeting things... The rise of plastic surgery in our country is frightening. The rise of designer clothing, the whole music video concept. I just find it heartbreaking. I think the '80s was a very pivotal time. Having a handsome, misinformed, rich, materialistic, kind, funny and charismatic movie star as our president was a very, very bad thing for our country. I don't think he was a bad man. I think he was naively idealistic. He was not qualified and really pumped America up to believe that, like during the war, instead of a chicken in every pot, have a bicycle in every garage. We aren't born on this planet to deserve material things. We deserve respect, food, things of the earth, human rights. But we don't really deserve a bicycle.
Solutions?
As a people we can shed our skins. As a people we are very resilient, tough. We have to be willing to shed certain skins. We're moving into a new century and it's a perfect time. I was watching Mother Teresa's funeral and there were a lot of pompous people involved, but there was also a rather humble priest. The newscaster said, Well, who's going to fill her shoes? The priest thought for a moment and said, "All of us." Which is what I was saying about Allen; many people will have to fill Allen's shoes. Again, I was sad to see her die, but also I found her death inspiring because it left such a huge gap to be filled. With Princess Diana, what did they do? They sent millions of dollars to her charity... Anyway, there's lots of positive things in this world. The Brancusi Show! [she laughs] And a new Bob Dylan record is coming out!
