Heard You Knockin'

Patti dreaming of Libba? I wouldn't put it beyond her.

Kevin Slick - The Night Patti Smith Dreamed Of Elizabeth Cotten
Patti Smith - Changing Of The Guards
Elizabeth Cotten - Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie

A Momentous Truth

Patti's new book is another keeper. Here's a fine example: "A homeless fellow in a long, gray overcoat and purple watch cap was scrawling a message on a brick wall with a thick piece of pink chalk. I slipped a five in his cup next to a makeshift bed of flattened cardboard, then watched his fingers as the words slowly emerged: Belinda Carlisle Matters. Why? I asked Why does Belinda Carlisle matter? He stared at me for a fairly long time that extended into an even longer time, all the way back to when cities were merely hills. He shifted his gaze from me to over his shoulder, then down to his shoes, then finally looked up and answered in a low voice. She's got the beat."

The Go-Go's - We Got The Beat

Real Good Time

Stoked to see Patti Smith and her band tonight in the tiny Catalan village of Sant Feliu de Guíxols. To get in the mood, let's enjoy the first known recording (from 1966) by her faithful guitar player, the ubercool Nuggets compiler Lenny Kaye, in the guise of Link Cromwell.

Link Cromwell & The Zoo - Crazy Like A Fox

Coming Home

"A local and statewide newsbreak, then a weather alert announced another hard rain coming. I could already feel it in my bones. The song Your Protector by Fleet Foxes followed. Its melancholic menace filled my heart with strange adrenaline. Time to go..." That's from M Train, the delicate new memoir by Patti Smith. Often filled with a certain sadness, but always uplifting in the end, it's a tonic for the soul, just like a good cup of strong black coffee.

Fleet Foxes - Your Protector

Passing By

"Baby, my love will follow you, as the years go passing by..." Which basically means I'm wishing you a very funky 2012, dear readers.

Albert King - As The Years Go Passing By

The Zombies - This Will Be Our Year

The Rumour - Frozen Years

Leo Kottke - The Driving Of The Year Nail

Patti Smith - My Blakean Year

Howlin' Wolf - How Many More Years

Money Talks

Crisis? What crisis? "Every night before I go to sleep, find a ticket, win the lottery, scoop the pearls up from the sea, cash them in and buy you all the things you need..." Presenting a valuable six pack for your listening pleasure. Original artwork - We Breathe Air And Escape - once more by Tinca.

Patti Smith - Free Money MP3

Growling Tiger - Money Is King MP3

Dan Penn - If Love Was Money MP3

Fang - The Money Will Roll Right In MP3

Jason & The Scorchers - If Money Talks MP3

Aretha Franklin - Money Won't Change You MP3

No Mercy

"Death never takes a vacation in this land..." I know which version I prefer. But Jerry Garcia & co's brooding jam - from Live/Dead - is not bad either, I'll give you that.

The Reverend Gary Davis - Death Don't Have No Mercy MP3

The Grateful Dead - Death Don't Have No Mercy MP3

And since we're on the subject of Garcia, and I'm still full of that fantastic Patti Smith gig I saw last Wednesday, here's the beautiful ode to Captain Trips she opened with. "One common wire, one silver thread..."

Patti Smith - Grateful MP3

Patti Tonite

"They called her the queen of Sheba, laid her down in Ethiopia..." As I'm going to see living legend Patti Smith play this evening, here's some rare stuff from the bootleg vaults. Three exciting tracks from Teenage Perversity & Ships In The Night, recorded live at the Roxy in Los Angeles in 1976. Pay special attention to her impressive take on Birdland, complete with near-breathless spoken intro. "If we rip apart the ozone, there's gotta be another zone under it..."

Patti Smith - Real Good Time Together (live LA '76) MP3

Patti Smith - Pale Blue Eyes/Louie Louie (live LA '76) MP3

Patti Smith - Birdland (live LA '76) MP3

Some Photographs

"I thought I could hear the voice of Tim Hardin singing Black Sheep Boy as I returned with our laundry. Robert had gotten paid for a moving job with an old record player and had put on our favorite album. It was a surprise for me. We hadn´t had a record player since Hall Street."

From Just Kids, Patti Smiths´s moving memoir of her friendship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Buy it if you haven´t done so already.

Tim Hardin - Black Sheep Boy MP3

Patti Smith - I Was Working Real Hard MP3