After the Fall, She was Broken and Small (part two)
Late in 1976 the Patti Smith Group toured England. Amusingly enough, the indigenous folk of the British Isles had somehow managed to invent something they called Punk. The British press, infatuated with Sex Pistols, Siousxie Sioux (now THAT one must have stung) and nascent XTC, no longer saw the bloom on our blushing American rose. Insufficiently adored at a press conference, she "climbed up on to a table, kicking aside whatever was on it. Before stalking out of the room, Patti declared, 'I'm the field marshal of rock 'n' roll! I'm fucking declaring war! My guitar is my machine gun!'"
Radio Ethiopia couldn't carry the momentum from Horses. By January of 1977 PSG was opening for Bob Seger and his Silver Bullet Band in the sovereign nation of Florida. This was worse than the Brits: at least they had sparred with her. Trying to rouse the Margaritavillians out of stonefaced silence, Patti dervished off the stage and fell into the darkness.
She landed fifteen feet below, took the impact in her head and neck. So much for that battle. If only we had some video footage of genial old Bob Seger claiming the stage in the wake of what appeared to most of his audience as the death of the opening act.
Patti spent that winter and spring under house arrest in NYC, on an oxycodone vision quest, writing poetry and preparing the miracle of her own resurrection. Her visitors were men, with Names You Will Know. Richard Hell: " . . . She 's so lovable and charming with her 'little girl' stuff and her sweetness . . . But I couldn't deal with it." (Unauthorized Bio, p. 178) So he went off with the Voidoids to get Blank Generation out.
Tom Verlaine ended their relationship, and Allen Lanier stepped into the role. Deerfrance considered this a good trade for Patti: "[Lanier] was almost more like a father than a boyfriend. We talked about Patti as someone who had to be protected." (UnBio, 180) And it was Deefrance who saw "this little face looking in through the window" of CBGB's after she emerged from her apartment and began to think performistry again. (UnBio, 181) The field marshal knew how to act the waif ("really shy")when she needed a hoist to get back up on her horses.
And when the men weren't around the little girl had started hitting the weights--rehab for her injuries had turned into training for the Ultimate Fighting event she had planned for Easter Sunday: Napoleonette in a neck brace, wrapping the rapturous CBGB's crowd around her resurrected finger. Like Christ, now, she had made some changes: in 1977, the Patti Smith Group stopped playing with a certain kind of fire. "Gloria" was gone from the set list.
jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine
Radio Ethiopia couldn't carry the momentum from Horses. By January of 1977 PSG was opening for Bob Seger and his Silver Bullet Band in the sovereign nation of Florida. This was worse than the Brits: at least they had sparred with her. Trying to rouse the Margaritavillians out of stonefaced silence, Patti dervished off the stage and fell into the darkness.
She landed fifteen feet below, took the impact in her head and neck. So much for that battle. If only we had some video footage of genial old Bob Seger claiming the stage in the wake of what appeared to most of his audience as the death of the opening act.
Patti spent that winter and spring under house arrest in NYC, on an oxycodone vision quest, writing poetry and preparing the miracle of her own resurrection. Her visitors were men, with Names You Will Know. Richard Hell: " . . . She 's so lovable and charming with her 'little girl' stuff and her sweetness . . . But I couldn't deal with it." (Unauthorized Bio, p. 178) So he went off with the Voidoids to get Blank Generation out.
Tom Verlaine ended their relationship, and Allen Lanier stepped into the role. Deerfrance considered this a good trade for Patti: "[Lanier] was almost more like a father than a boyfriend. We talked about Patti as someone who had to be protected." (UnBio, 180) And it was Deefrance who saw "this little face looking in through the window" of CBGB's after she emerged from her apartment and began to think performistry again. (UnBio, 181) The field marshal knew how to act the waif ("really shy")when she needed a hoist to get back up on her horses.
And when the men weren't around the little girl had started hitting the weights--rehab for her injuries had turned into training for the Ultimate Fighting event she had planned for Easter Sunday: Napoleonette in a neck brace, wrapping the rapturous CBGB's crowd around her resurrected finger. Like Christ, now, she had made some changes: in 1977, the Patti Smith Group stopped playing with a certain kind of fire. "Gloria" was gone from the set list.
jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine
posted by MM at 11:18 PM
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