Patti Smith at the Minetta Lane

Words and Music

By: Patti Smith

Narrated by: Patti Smith

Length: 1 hr and 23 mins

Publisher's Summary

"Smith reads excerpts from her memoirs, Just Kids and M Train, in her signature deadpan tone, interspersed with folksy comic banter and personal stories from her life as a cutting-edge urban punk artist. The emotionality deepens when narrative segues into song and the poetry of lyrics. The combination of intimate setting and musings by a first-rate performance artist makes for a compelling listen." (AudioFile magazine)

Patti Smith at the Minetta Lane features live audio of performances captured over three evenings in September of 2018 at the Minetta Lane Theatre in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, woven into a single, one-of-a-kind audio event. Pioneering artist and writer Patti Smith commands the stage to perform original spoken-word stories from her life, interwoven with the music of her beloved catalogue, played live by Smith, her son and daughter–Jackson and Jesse Paris Smith–and longtime collaborator Tony Shanahan. What transpires is a personally revelatory showcase, an intimate portrait of an icon, focusing on family and taking stock of a near to 50-year career devoted to artistic integrity. 

©2018 Patti Smith (P)2018 AO Media LLC

Critic Reviews

"[W]hatever Patti Smith at the Minetta Lane: Words and Music exactly is - audiobook, live concert recording, podcast, radio theater or combination thereof - the hybrid form feels completely natural to her talents. The recording, which has a bootleg quality to it, assembles pieces from the three-night run into a single seamless show, though showing seams is a big part of her approach.... For some time now - certainly since Just Kids won the National Book Award in 2010 - Smith's writing identity has come to rival her music-making one. But the take-away from Patti Smith at the Minetta Lane: Words and Music is that the two are ultimately inseparable." (The New York Times Book Review)

A bonus for fans of Just Kids & M Train

Patti Smith is a poet, storyteller, songwriter and performer, and all those pieces are woven together in this outstanding Audible experience.

Patti performs some of her best-known songs and provides stories about them culled from her memoirs. She talks about snowy days with Robert Mapplethorpe, a case of mistaken identity with Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, the love of her life, her kids, her music.

She has a great storytelling voice with that touch of mid-Atlantic accent familiar to anyone who has listened to her Just Kids or M Train on Audible.

This is a live performance so when she flubs a line, she goes off-script and engages with the audience. I was listening to this while on a jog and felt like I was in the theater with Patti.

I've heard music copyright is a real pain. So I was surprised Audible was able to include Patti's songs. I hope this means that in future we can expect other programs that use recognizable songs--not just stuff written for a particular audiobook.

#Poetry #Performance #Goddess #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

An American Treasure, both written and word

The last of the beat poets, a good girl, only seemingly edgy due to her beautiful intelligence and curiosity and compassion to the artists around her: she gravitated towards. But in motherhood; she took a break. She raised a boy and a girl and loved her Frederick Smith, still hauntingly so. I've loved Patti Smith since I was twelve and Michael Stipe, who went to my school, played her for me and said she was the best Rock Chick out there. I found a role model in her: a different brand of feminine. My mother at the time (1970s) received mixed messages about being a feminist or being a mother: she felt tied somewhere between the kitchen, her intelligence and being a wife. I lost my mother to suicide in her confusion (and menopause). Patti has it all in chaotic clarity. It's all grey, just be there, be present and life is all around. Although I'm sure coffee contributes to much of her productivity and heightened awareness. I hope she lives to be 110, but already she is immortal in my heart. She is the Ruth Bader Ginsberg of Rock Stars in her righteousness. When she returned to touring, I remembered who I was still. I wasn't wounded. I am whole. This is a fine collection of great stories from her Just Kids days with Robert Maplethorpe, her struggle with Robert's death, Alan Ginsberg trying to pick her up because he thought she was a boy and accompanied by her family. It speaks to her aging and even in this she is gentle and true. There is a clock with no hands in all our hearts; in this she shows us hers.

Patti Smith

My god.

Beautiful.

Listen.

“Peaceable Kingdom” performance took my breath away, and then all the rest.

Love Love Love.

#Listen #Tagsgiving

Her words - her energy - her music, most awesome - all of it.

WOW.

As someone who didn't grow up devouring Patti Smith's music or poetry, I probably wouldn't have had the very true pleasure of listening to this if I hadn't been offered it free as part of my Audible membership package.

Now I can enthusiastically recommend it to ANYONE, especially if you're in a part of the world where autumn is beginning to come on full force! She starts with a wonderful tribute to the season in the form of a Rilke poem set to music, and unfurls truly affecting stories of life as an artist in 1960's New York -- and later on, as a more established artist in Detroit of the 1980's -- with a spirit of hope and a dazzling sense of humor. I laughed out loud at some of her off-the-cuff remarks between pieces.

Now I'm curious to hear her read Just Kids and M Train in full!!! It's no wonder this woman is a legend. A truly inspiring artist, and one who, as a bonus, proves that it's possible to be a deeply fulfilled mother and wife (her grown children join her on stage, and she speaks of her departed husband with an abiding and palpable love) and a transformative expectations-shattering artist at the same time!

PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER.

Listen on, and then USE YOUR VOICE.

Complete enjoyment

This performance was intimate, inspiring and left me wanting more. With today’s plastic fruit talent, talent used loosely; Pati Smith is an artist who’s work reflects a true life. Her own, others, and mine. Can one ask for more.

In person, word and song

You loved the books read by the author. Now hear theperformance. Singing her favorites, with the stories strung between, she makes powerful use of words, of her voice, and of storytelling. The addition of music makes even stories heard before fresh and alive.

Perfect Patti Smith

I loved “Just Kids” and this live performance reminded me all the reasons her book was so delightful. Patti Smith is simple and straightforward; she is unpretentious and such a faithful friend and lover; she sees the truth in people without losing sight of their beauty. And in November 2018, Patti’s faith that the people are the power was the perfect message.

Like being in the theater with Patti

I’ve become a Patti Smith collector: books, records, museum exhibit experiences, Instagram follows. Her books are perfectly realized in the audio format with Patti reading, of course. This performance at Minetta Lane is the totem of my collection. What a consummate artist, poet, musician and all-around terrific person.

Beautiful Story

I didn't know who Patti Smith was until I started listening to this. I recognized get music right away. She tells such a beautiful story. I highly recommend this audio book.

I am now a fan

Of course, I know of Patti Smith, but this was a great listen that has made me a follower.
I will find out even more about her and certainly listen to her music.