Why Patti Smith Matters

Everything

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Caryn Rose does a brilliant job of dissecting Patti Smith’s iconic career. I thought I knew EVERYTHING about Patti as she’s been my number 1 Idol Since I heard Horses in 1976 but even this hardcore Patti fan learned some new tidbits about Smith. Rose even has the temerity to question Smith about a few things and I wasn’t defensive for Patti but found Rose’s honesty refreshing. Rose also does an excellent job of fleshing out Patti’s collaborators and gives them their due credit. I highly recommend this book and I’m now reading Rose’s Fictional “ B-Sides and Broken Hearts” which is VERY GOOD. Like Patti, this woman is a Worker.

The title should have been "Why Patti Smith Matters to Caryn Rose". The purpose of this series is to highlight the cultural, countercultural, or dissident value of an artist or performer, and instead this book is a re-cap of Smith's career. If you’re buying this book you probably already know the highlights. There are things that matter to me, like Commander McBragg cartoons from Bullwinkle, the sound of the 1966 Star Trek Transporter, or the looped cough intro to "Sweet Leaf", but these are personal values, and not material for a manifesto or treatise on cultural importance. This reads more like a 'Dear Diary' and reminds me why the younger generations irritate the hell out of me. It seems like they don't get it, especially as they refer to U2's Achtung Baby as epic rather than as a cash grab (you can make a case for Joshua Tree being epic, especially since you couldn't avoid it, it even showed up on cereal boxes at the time). Anyone involved in rock n roll, whether participant, observer, or detached theorist KNOWS that Patti Smith matters, the same way we KNOW why Bo Diddley, T. Rex, Bowie, The Ramones, or the Slits matter. The shame of the book is that a case for WHY PATTI SMITH MATTERS was never articulated. It was all so much adolescent experience. And maybe that’s why I lost interest in the book. So free advice: read/listen to source material and not the journal entries of fans.

I confess being a bigger fan of Patti Smith than of her music, but I just want to say I thought Caryn Rose's book was really well done. Lots of great analysis, just enough history w/ context, and Rose's track-by-track through the Smith catalogue has convinced me I need to listen again, and better.