Patti Smith on Lou Reed and rock and roll | American Masters | PBS

[@taraxacum]

She is great to listen to. Fame and accomplishment did not make her arrogant. Her ability to remain humble was part of what makes her beautiful. When I was a teenager and saw The Patti Smith Group perform at the Bottom Line in the Village, it woke me up to something new and clear and brilliant. I think she was doing something far more than just holding a place for something new to come along.

[@marcofalzone6469]

I saw her cuss out a cameraman onstage!

[@tomallen5837]

I don't know, I think it's kind of arrogant to make an assumption that you were able to contribute something on behalf of your own band, but 99% of the rest of what she says is spot on. It's good to hear her share what influenced her. I would agree That Jazz and Blues absolutely needs to be credited, although she didn't mention blues per say - that's pretty much what Coltrane was. I'm 10 years younger and I do recall what a huge change it was, once Punk hit the stage. Before then, radios were the only form of contact. You always had your jazz station you would listen to as a kid as well as your Blues stations ....all of these independent stations around the tri-state area, not just the rock stations. It all came together at some point and then of course the cycle depleted itself, as they all do, replaced by gadgets and robots and automation.

[@AGregBergThing]

Ha Patti is so arrogant

[@barbarahankinson5133]

😮😮😮😮

[@NuntiusLegis]

She is also great to look at.

[@dbob3405]

Whether it is creating art or critiquing art, she is one of the best. She is one of those humans that God anointed an “artist”. I cannot imagine she could have been anything else if she tried. It would be like taking a brook trout out of a mountain stream and telling it, “you will be an accountant”. As you return that living jewel back to the clear flowing water, you know it is where and what it had to be. We as her audience have had the good fortune to enjoy her genius-thank you PS

[@billmay7364]

I love how Pattie Descripes The VU and Lou Reed's Muse. The Song Heroin has Beauty Underneath the Struggle in Darkness of Addiction. One of the greatest songs ever written . Lou Reed is one of the greatest American Artist. People are still trying to catch up to Lou. David Bowie knew this. Patty was a Visonary from Coltrane to Miles and ties it into Lou Reed.

[@lauramiller7827]

I could listen to her speak about any subject all day long 💕

[@Dunskaroo]

I love the way she just exudes authenticity, vulnerability, and beauty at the same time and strikes a balance on those at the same time.

[@barbarapalangi9651]

I'm always amazed when I hear her speak! She has a way of expressing herself in an intellectual way without being pretentious. I never really listened to her or appreciated her music when I was young. It was mostly about the great music/musicians of the British Invasion for me, some friends & family. I'm glad that I'm able to hear & appreciate her contributions to the music industry & society in general now❣️

[@kasondaleigh]

I’ve only known her by name and she is so lovely to listen to!! Very articulate and genuine. Thanks for sharing!

[@ediedisorder7144]

Patti, I just admire and appreciate her so much. Loved this interview. Just watched her on the 15th Aug great show as always. Live Portland, Or. 103 degree heat, lots of misters water spraying everywhere. But Patti brought it. She just rocks. And such a humble and thankful human being.

[@auralepiphanies4055]

Yeah Heroin is the most honest, intriguing, satisfying, terrifying, street level lyrics maybe of all time ...Put it up there with the lyrics of Blowin in the Wind. I still tell people Lou Reed is my Bob Dylan!

[@flyingo]

My musical, political and social tastes for the “out of the ordinary” developed from life in the late 60s and early to late 70s, and Patti’s albums were a huge part of that development. Radio Ethiopia changed me deeply. I was fortunate to have attended a few of her concerts over the years, and seeing her perform live was other worldly, to say the least. Her book “Just Kids” is an amazing and entertaining read. She is just brilliant in every way.

[@peacetrain3320]

Patti Smith came to Chapel Hill after Horses was released. She played on campus at a small auditorium. It was like, New York City came to the country. It was epic!

[@geinikan1kan]

I came back from abroad and Gone Again had just come out, after a hiatus of a few years for Smith. Man that album made me cry it was pure rock poetry about grieving and life.

[@katebarker1983]

Her vision of a future without a need for labels is succinctly spoken. I love her. She is wise.

[@josephcopeland2343]

Patti Smith it's not just a singer she's a poet in our own right

[@cosmicdrifter287]

Very smart and beautiful woman in more than one way.

[@j.kevvideoproductions.6463]

She's very articulate & described Lou Reed's writing skill pretty well.

[@DrNancyLivingCoCreatively]

Patti is brilliant on many levels. 💙

[@ho2cultcha]

Patti has helped me by taking the loneliness away in my childhoodl. i listened to her music and felt apart of something even when i was isolated up in northern new england. so i moved to upper east side to be a part of it.

[@minorracket2854]

Intelligent artists are rare thee days. So articulate

[@SusanDoran]

They're always rare

[@markdarnell614]

I think Patti Smith has earned the Title - VISIONARY! Honestly, I am not particularly drawn to her music, as much as I am her Thinking, and BEING! She is both Beautiful, and Astonishing ...like an ancient Fortress Wall!

[@peteroverbaugh6650]

I saw her open for the Grateful Dead at the UMass Amherst Spring Fest in May of 1979. It seemed an odd Tandem, but it worked and was wonderful. Jesus Died for Somebody's Sinz but not Mine....Happy Easter.

[@gohomo2384]

Thank you! always glad to see Patti :) would love to see more!

[@ToddRock16]

❤Must Hear video for those of you who don't know or desire to know the Why's? and the How's Rock music is and was a formidable force. 🌹Patti Smith is emblematic of Art . Live! In Concert? Life -changing. At least it was for this Rock Drummer. 💙

[@joelspringman523]

I love, love, love, love, and admire, Patti so much.

[@drychaf]

Speaking my language. So lovely to hear how we used to speak. This is already about a quarter of a century ago, and I haven't heard such a heart-felt evaluation of the effects of music on us for a very long time. Music in the 20th century was discussed as seriously and deeply as was painting in the 19th century to the First World War. I miss the accepted significance of music. As for the labelling. Jeez, wishful thinking? It's got worse and worse. If you're creative, if you're trying to achieve anything, in fact, you've just got to ignore it and carry on.

[@stealthsadhu306]

"Music in the 20th century was discussed as seriously and deeply as was painting in the 19th century to the First World War." Wow! A thought worthy of Patti herself!

[@sunnypedaal]

Beautiful interview , thanks ❤️🌞

[@jeffdawson2786]

Valuable interview. Patti’s view of history comes from the inside.

[@1971bdott]

Great artist ❤

[@leonwaltemate6152]

To me, Heroin and Waiting for the Man are part of the the same experience. Masterpiece of describing the life of a junkie. 😢.

[@johneeeemarry34]

He used junkies to make the band seem less suburban and more pseudo ‘street’, very proto Indy hipster..

[@Roger-r7s]

Even though I find the opinions of most celebrities or rock stars pretentious or boring there are some who are really interesting on a deep philosophical, spiritual, passion for honesty and beauty, human soul expression and meaning level. Patti Smith is definitely one of those people.

[@harbourdogNL]

I first heard Gloria in a tent city youth hostel in London in the summer of 1976. Some guy was playing the Horses album and I asked "Who is that?!" Still one of my top 10 albums. (That same trip I was down King's Road in Chelsea and went into Vivienne Westwood and McLaren's Sex shop...didn't realise until later years where I'd been!

[@petejones879]

I could listen to her all day long.. I was lucky enough to have seen her live in my home town (city) of Wolverhampton.. She had walked around the town and was amazed by our St Peters Church which is around 800 yrs and and she remarked 'we have nothing that old in the states... Except for maybe Ronald Reagan' lol 😅

[@JamesLamm-jt7vg]

Horses and Easter were excellent

[@dylanharkin8198]

I have never seen a more beautiful woman in my life, and I doubt I ever will

[@enricovankeeken1624]

*I get "punished" for feeling?thinking the sAme way YOU do, almost dAily..its a good thing my name is nOt R!CkY :-)*

[@hopeislandful]

I've never seen an uglier woman in my life.

[@michaelworse6034]

Always keep a little Patti in your heart ❤️!

[@Jojoseahorse]

Me too, absolutely

[@peterwilliams6052]

I agree

[@kevinjoseph517]

i knew her room mate, over in france....and at chelsea patti knew janis.

[@hughdismuke4703]

The end of the interview is what's most interesting. The parts about labeling, something some people have a problem with. Overall an artist is someone who 'moves' the masses. They move people away from the everyday stagnate schedule and conditioned thinking we are all snuck up on with. That is the purpose of a creative person. To give people a different vision. Names are just names. When Smith was talking about the music wasn't meant to be handled by marketing people, she got very cautious about how to describe it because she realized that she was stepping on the thing that helps these artists have recognition and compensation for their work. We all understand that part already. But here's my point. As long as music and other forms of art moves a person, makes a person think in a different way? If it serves its purpose in progressing society? Then it doesn't really matter what path it has to go thru in order to be what it was meant to be. And that's easier said than done. I believe there is too much emphasis placed on what is considered pure art vs. corporate interference, although corporate can have a daunting affect on a musicians work a lot of times, or so it seems. But then again it is important for someone like Patti to say it just as a reminder. Whatever music has to go through, people often are able to recognize its worth, what it's saying and how it's capturing our senses. The hip hop world is a perfect example of this. A great struggle, a lot of hard work, lots of red tape to get past, contract talk, before the artists work is presented to the public and the rewards after. The PR is probably the most annoying I would guess.

[@humanbeing5300]

This is spot on, Jerry Garcia and Bob weir have both cited Trane as a huge influence. Bob Weir modeled his guitar style similar to McCoy Tyners piano. The modal jazz development started by Miles was a direct influence on the development of rock music

[@johnjones3714]

Back in the seventies I kept reading about the Velvet underground it was probably five or six years before I actually heard any of their music. Owning a few Lou Reed and John Cale solo albums yes but no Velvets

[@orchideeproduzioni1911]

What a great treasure is Patti Smith

[@SusanDoran]

Outstanding interview, but surprised by the audio issues, the interviewer wasn't micced properly, and even interference on the lavalier mic on Patti. Wonder what Lou thought of Patti when he first met her...? She's come into herself so beautifully over the years - whrn she was first on the scene in New York she was, not surprisingly, a little hard to take for many people, but she hung in there, did her thing, stayed constant, and outlived and outlasted so many, with such a good brain and a restless spirit propelling her ever forward while also reflecting on and integrating the past into her at once Romantic and pragmatic, clear-sighted world view and quest to understand humanity.

[@sjv855]

I really appreciate her insights. But, I've never been a fan of Coltrane or Miles Davis. Feels emotionless to me. However, I appreciate their influence on music.

[@dominicarblaster4042]

I tend to agree after visiting the tea clipper 'Cutty Sark' when at school near London

[@HollyBluePlanet]

Patti nails it, but does not see why it happened. I lived on Bleecker in the 70's, was in high school in the 60's, and heard the music evolve. It went from real rock and roll and Eddie Cochran in the 50's, to the death of Buddy Holly and several years of horrible schlock like Bobby Daren. Then the next wave hit and we had the Beatles and the Stones and the Yardbirds and Seeds...bringing back the rough garage sound to rock and roll, with a new level of musicianship and chord progressions. Then they started to sing about things that mattered because my entire generation was growing up to be thrown into a meat grinder of human sacrifice called the Vietnam War. The anit war and civil rights movements were happening and the music was reflecting it. Then the music died again with the death of Hendrix and the silencing of any anti war sentiment. The military industrial complex won. Then we had another wave when people got access to creating their own music and selling it on the internet. They smashed that movement with streaming services that pay nothing to musicians. Do you see the pattern? Do you know who keeps suppressing good music and promoting the schlock? I admired the sentiment of the punk music, but I missed the complex chord changes and harmonies that had been the signature of the music of the 60's. Patti is great. She told her truth and did not back down. I was playing Grateful Dead covers on the street when she was doing something truly artistic and original down the block at CBGB's.

[@hom0s4cer]

Who's they?

[@zebrazagadore4827]

@@hom0s4cerStreaming services. Much like writers and actors have been striking against.

[@stuartwray6175]

Nothing of value happened for around 25 years? - you go from the death of Hendrix to the internet. Who is suppressing good music? The military industrial complex?

[@HollyBluePlanet]

@@stuartwray6175 Los Lobos happened. There were a few bright lights in the mediocrity.

[@thePrisoner1000]

Spotify for example, 88% of the revenue goes to Spotify and the publisher, 6% to the writer of the song and 6% to the performer.@@hom0s4cer

[@MarvinMonroe]

I wonder if she ever saw Humble Pie back in the day

[@briankorbelik2873]

I remember when the Patti Smith Groups second album, 'Radio Ethopoeia was released. I and about 3 other people were the only ones that did not hate the record. I thought, "ahh, Pattie, this record is your thanks to VU/Lou/John et all.".

[@richierugs6544]

i bet a lot of you people got the t-shirt of her signature that i made back in the cbgb days--or maybe not----she was so cool after about 6 months i told her i was the guy making the shirts and gave her 20 bucks, she thanked me for making them---the next time i gave her money she took it but told me not to give her any more money---all in all i probably only made a few hundred of them

[@JSnygg]

I love her text analysis’

[@AGregBergThing]

The album Horses is a masterpiece, its pretty much musicly downhill from there give or take a song

[@kevinjoseph517]

the image wasnt corporate.

[@crimsonwolf9099]

She has ALWAYS been a corporate product! Major corporate label "alternative" fodder. Sucking up to corporate "stars". Never EVER played the small punk dive circuits but was corporate catapulted to big venues with other corporate acts. She is a "punk" poser and corporate "alt" astro-turf. So she wore a leather jacket? So what.

[@alazymonkey5716]

Patti Smith reminds me so much of Jordan Jensen. JJ is the Patti Smith of comedy!

[@richardm239]

WE NEED PATTI TO TO MAKE NEW MUSIC AND PERFORM AGAIN . SEEING THE DIRECTION THAT OUR WORLD IS GOING IN WE TRULY NEED ARTIST TO HELP WAKE THE YOUTH UP AND REMIND SOME OF US OLDER ONES THAT WE CAN CHANGE THINGS ,PEOPLE DO HAVE THE POWER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ediedisorder7144]

She is performing live. I just watched her in Portland Oregon on August 15th.

[@richardm239]

@@ediedisorder7144 DAMN LUCKY YOU ,SHE IS SOMEONE I WOULD LOVE TO SEE LIVE ,I WONDER IF SHE EVERS WOULD COME TO CANADA ,NOW THAT WE ARE A COM MUNIST COUNTRY WHO KNOWS !!!!!!!

[@GetReal521]

Lou Reed: the man with yellow teeth and dirty fingernails. Patti Smith is a delight to listen to. She is very good at painting a full picture. I really enjoy listening to her.

[@chrisames2795]

She is remarkable

[@lindasutton4014]

I bought a copy of The Petting Zoo, by Jim Carroll, that was sold as a Copy “signed “by Patti Smith. The signature in the book was “signed “ with Autopen, which adds no value to the book.

[@pommelhorsepommelhorse8731]

I was just going to say that

[@berniekellman405]

If people were more like Patti Smith and less like themselves the world might be an A- instead of C- kind of place these days.

[@cejannuzi]

A lot of glam rock was actually stripped down rock n roll. It was presented very theatrically.

[@jonjon6192]

I have no idea what Patti Smith is talking about - She says 1970's lacked direction, that we needed something new... Maybe New York needed direction, but in California we had a thriving music scene, an all consuming teenage revolt against the undeclared war in Vietnam and the Draft... not to mention racial discrimination... In August 1969 (in Bethel New York) 500,000 kids from all over the US- Stood up and Told the US Government to St, ufufuf it... California bands were Unique and kicking it... Little Feat, Spirit, Love, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, The Doors, Mothers of Invention, Grateful Dead. Talk about the end of Folk Rock...Ever heard of the Eagles......... I assume Pattie has heard of West Coast Jazz... lol and on and on and on..

[@stardust1083]

The same thing she is saying stands today

[@beandipcartography]

R.I.P. Allen Lanier.

[@phantompanther648]

I saw her on the street more than once , west village.....l'd always dreamed meeting her. Our eyes met as if we were any man and women....and she flirted.....

[@Jojoseahorse]

She's the only woman I have ever "liked", so that says something for her magnetism

[@phantompanther648]

@@Jojoseahorse thank U 4 Elephant Records... ...🦑🦐🦞

[@Jojoseahorse]

@@phantompanther648 Elephant Records? Y r u thanking me 4 that?!

[@lotharkodama6273]

...If this human has the power...

[@bartonted]

I Survived.

[@petejones879]

Being a performer of the arts with her poetry and her music I'm surprised she was never part of the warhol factory set.. Maybe she was a little bit too young

[@sato-lh5zf]

👍🏻

[@tkshots]

that was a struggle

[@rickprol-pc8ds]

Love Patti Smith !!!!!!!!!!! She is just such a great artist and a real treasure.

[@john_atco]

Patti Smith has always talked a lot..

[@crimsonwolf9099]

That's cuz she thinks everything she says is important and heavy. She babbles pseudo intellectual rubbish peppered liberally with name dropping to boost her cred. Always has!

[@markboyd9275]

What else are you supposed to do at an interview, stand on your head?🙄

[@michellewatson5954]

😂

[@tuveuxlademocratieoutuveux4692]

*Amazing how she deliberately avoids mentionning the importance of the Beatles throughout... Jazz had no bloody relevance in the music world in the sixties and seventies !! What is she talking about ???...*

[@foggynotion]

She's saying that the Beatles would have adamantly disagreed with you.

[@bartonted]

i BOUGHT SOME cheap 4 litre friuties wine, bought a one sided blade. walked home. played some records, blood everywhere, dripping, wrists dripping. blood on carepet. new album. blood, play music, bauhaus, loud, fuck it. CUT. made a phone call. TRIPPING. screaming, more wine. walking, find a taxii. He took me driving artound . talked to me, drove arounf paddington an darlo/ He took me to a hospital. I did'nt care or want it. he sasid no. We drove some mord, I dont know who he is/was. just drove me around.I Wa in the backseat. I had a banf=dage around my wrists, we didnt get to paddington until later. I think he was ax taxie drivwere. We talk=ed about stuff. he wanted toi save me. or sumething like that. Hec talked I listebned m i thought he was some sortv of angle, they said UI turned up one houer later after i phoned thenmm ,andf didnyt know where i had bben I don'tv remember makind a hphne call . I played a record, blood on myu hands, iut was mine.

[@daveyvane]

So I suppose “Slow Ride” is not her favorite song?😂

[@indy26211]

Godness

[@xxcelr8rs]

Marketing crews.... red alert cut.

[@waynedurning8717]

The wish she expresses at the end. I bet she never imagined it would get this much worse.

[@AGregBergThing]

History shows that artists do their best music when drug induced

[@bartonted]

Shit Happens

[@DStuart-s1q]

I HATE the off camera hollow interviewers in these things. I love her but that interviewer gimmick ruined it for me--same as all these.

[@mccauleyprop]

Her last few comments in regards to "identidy"...the left wing media has failed her!

[@stuartwray6175]

Liberal media.

[@sess845]

She's getting at the point that cis-het white men aren't labeled -- are accepted as the norm -- and others get labeled. (The Pollack point strays from that )

[@Canyon2023]

She over romanticizes the lyrics of Heroin. It's a typical junkie's experience.

[@cactaceous]

Yes but who was writing lyrics like that for mass consumption?! At that time or any time before. Nobody. A typical junkie’s experience brought to the ears of people that had never thought of it, heard of it or knew about it. It’s the bravery that is romantic. The fact he did not give a fuck.

[@bartonted]

Cheap wine is awful, Suicide is in the past, and punk music is fun! and informative?

[@davaxschinko]

Patti Smith is overrated.

[@Methilde]

Anyway they didn't musically existed without brithish invasion and they were closer to Rock&roll than jazz.

[@stuartwray6175]

They? eh?

[@blondeboywilson9221]

The Cult of Patty Smith never ceases to amaze and disgust me.

[@nikolic-sq5rx]

she has fight with words, hard to listen

[@Screenwriting]

She's deliberate and intelligent. She's not fighting words at all. She's summoning them.

[@swesttttt]

Good lord. She’s a poet. She’s not fighting with words, dude, she’s constantly considering the best way to phrase something to give the full image.

[@govchal]

@@swesttttt I liked what he said: "she has fight with words, hard to listen". it's important. so drop kick yer knee jerks through the goal posts of life. baby.

[@crimsonwolf9099]

Junky rambling. That's why. Sure she thinks the world of the song "Heroin". Duh! I used to as well.

[@stuartwray6175]

Has fight?

[@MarkDarnell-cq2wy]

Deep as the top layer of an Onion.

[@pascaljeanne8002]

oh man patti smith ...what is her ? lol , what is it ? i never understood what she does ! please patti ...stop it !

[@johnmcclung7536]

Not to Hot looking

[@ToddKuehnau]

I'm sure you ain't a looker yourself. Guess what?? Women are not here for your satifaction.

[@govchal]

she is very proud of her breasts. I have the documentation. thank you.

[@daddo2413]

Not for me. Not my fave.

[@mysto]

She is basically Flying on other people talent. Not interesting .

[@themistero]

She reminds me of my aunt. Why can't boomer hippies wear any make up or color their hair when they get old? I mean whatever, but it just creeps me out, you know? Kind of like a wicked witch or something.

[@ttacking_you]

Boy, she really liked her some Hendrix. Hendrix is like some mythological God to people in my generation. It's hard to believe he existed