To me, Patti Smith will always be known for three things: her role as the punk poet laureate, her fall from a high stage in Florida, breaking several vertebrae in her neck, and her propensity to perform on elevated stages in short skirts and without underwear. None of these is a bad thing (she survived the fall), but they do rather set her apart from the norm.
But then, Patti Smith's life and career, even in the surreal world of rock and roll, could never easily be described as normal. Born in Chicago in 1946, her mother an atheist and her father a Jehovah's Witness, she was off to a good start. In her early years she drifted towards an acting career and moved to New York where she met Robert Mapplethorpe, the photographer. They were friends and sometime lovers, despite his homosexuality, until his death in 1989 from AIDS.
It was Mapplethorpe who financed Patti's first single, the charmingly titled 'Piss Factory' in 1974. But it was Patti's first album, the seminal 1975 release of 'Horses' on the Arista label, which began to get her noticed. It was produced by John Cale of Velvet Underground, a relationship that was edgy from the start but which spawned one of her best ever records. A mixture of rock and roll, early punk and poetry, it received wide acclaim
In 1978 she released 'Easter', containing perhaps her best-known single, 'Because the Night', co-written with Bruce Springsteen. It was something of a rock anthem, but very little she then did inspired more than passing interest from anyone but her die-hard fans. Her following album, 'Wave', was much less successful. Following its release Patti, now separated from long-time partner Jim Carroll, met Fred "Sonic" Smith, former guitar player for legendary Detroit rock band the MC5, who adored poetry as much as she did. The running joke at the time was that she only married Fred because she wouldn't have to change her name. Patti and Fred had a daughter, Jesse, and a son, Jackson. Through most of the 1980s Patti was in semi-retirement from music, living with her family north of Detroit in St. Clair Shores. In 1988, she released the well-received album 'Dream of Life'. This album was considered more mainstream than her earlier punk-influenced work.
When Fred died in 1994, friends encouraged Patti to perform and tour again and since then she has worked with a wide variety of musicians, from Dylan to Michael Stipe. A number of albums still received luke-warm praise until 2004's 'Trampin', her first for Sony, which finally made the Billboard Top 200.
Since then she has performed with Red Hot Chilli Peppers, received awards for her contribution to the arts from the French government and headlined the final gig at CBGB, the legendary New York music club.
So why, after all this, has she released an album of covers, 'Twelve'? Apparently, it had been on her to-do list since the late Seventies, when she scrawled a list of potential songs on the cover of a book she was reading.
'Many of the songs I thought to record somehow slipped away,' she says, 'and unexpected ones filled their slots. Twelve truly had a mind of its own…'
So we hear her hugely evocative voice on an eclectic mix of tracks. From 'Gimme Shelter' to, believe it or not, the Tears for Fears song 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World'.
There is also an unusual take on Paul Simon's 'Boy in the Bubble', and she matches, perhaps excels, Grace Slick's rendition of Jefferson Airplane's 'White Rabbit'. On 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', her voice, including the intoned poem at the end, is just perfect for the song.
Throughout the album there is superb musicianship from Lenny Kaye, Tony Shanahan, Jay Dee Daugherty, and a range of part-timers including Flea from Chilli Peppers on 'Gimme Shelter'.
Does 'Twelve' add anything to the world of popular music? It is not going to change the world but, previously a Patti fan or no, this is a worthy addition to anyone's music collection.
What next?More by Patti Smith? More reviews? More rock, or punk?