Saturday, April 17, 2010

Just kids

Patti Smith has just published a touching memoir about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe when - just kids - they were both struggling artists trying to make it in New York City. We are talking 1967 to 1975, the year when Patti Smith recorded her landmark album Horses and Mapplethorpe had his first exhibition at a serious art gallery. Patti Smith recreates their love story, their total commitment to Art, their fumbling beginnings, their bohemian life style, what the Chelsea hotel was like, the spirit of those years, how they slowly broke through , her encounters with Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and the circles around Andy Warhol, and how they found their respective ways, she as a poet and a rock'n roll star, he as a great photographer. I, who arrived in Manhattan in 1977, remember well her amazing concerts at CBGB's. She was a goddess of rock n' roll. We love you Patti!, we used to scream from the audience. It's still true.

1 comment:

bábá said...

I liked her concert here in Lisbon last year. It was a nice performance. She's still an artist.