Easter (Remastered) Patti Smith

• 1Till Victory02:46
• 2Space Monkey04:04
• 3Because the Night03:32
• 4Ghost Dance04:40
• 5Babelogue01:25
• 6Rock N Roll Nigger03:23
• 7Privilege (Set Me Free)03:27
• 8We Three04:18
• 925th Floor04:04
• 10High On Rebellion02:36
• 11Easter05:58
• Total Runtime40:13

Info for Easter (Remastered)

"Rock and roll is the only cultural asset America has given the world," declared a young Patti Smith years before she made her own records. Then she made "Easter", which made that asset a little more valuable. "Easter" is an essential cultural touchstone.

Whereas "Horses" was built on poetry and "Radio Ethiopia" scrapped accessibility for primal cacophony, "Easter" was The Patti Smith Group's most approachable package of Smith's vision.

As an artist and songwriter, Smith constantly pushed the boundaries of rock's scope: The demented "Space Monkey" builds a visual landscape, "Because The Night" melds pop with literary intention, and "Ghost Dance" transcends all musical genres to become a mantra. Possibly the most powerful track on the album is Smith's epic "Babelogue/Rock N Roll Nigger" segue, where she incorporates Jimi Hendrix, Jesus Christ and Jackson Pollack into a paean to artistic individuality and its inevitable alienation.

"Patti Smith came back from the year-and-a-half break caused by her fall from a stage in January 1977 without having resolved the art-versus-commerce argument that had marred her second album, Radio Ethiopia. In fact, that argument was in some ways the theme of her third. Easter, produced by Bruce Springsteen associate Jimmy Iovine, was Smith's most commercial-sounding effort yet and, due to the inclusion of Springsteen's "Because the Night" (with Smith's revised lyrics), a Top Ten hit, it became her biggest seller, staying in the charts more than five months and getting into the Top 20 LPs. But Smith hadn't so much sold out as she had learned to use her poetic gifts within an album rock context. Certainly, a song that proclaimed, "Love is an angel disguised as lust/Here in our bed until the morning comes," was pushing the limits of pop radio, and on "Babelogue," Smith returned to her days of declaiming poetry on New York's Lower East Side. That rant (significantly ending, "I have not sold my soul to God") led into the provocative "Rock n Roll Nigger," a charged rocker with a chorus that went, "Outside of society/Is where I want to be." Smith made the theme from the '60s British rock movie Privilege her own and even got into the U.K. charts with it. And on songs like "25th Floor," Iovine, Smith, and her group were able to accommodate both the urge to rock out and the need to expound. So, Easter turned out to be the best compromise Smith achieved between her artistic and commercial aspirations." (William Ruhlmann, AMG)

Patti Smith, vocals, guitar
Lenny Kaye, guitar, bass guitar, vocals
Jay Dee Daugherty, drums, percussion
Ivan Kral, bass, vocals, guitar
Bruce Brody, keyboards, synthesizer
Additional musicians:
Richard Sohl, keyboards on "Space Monkey"
Allen Lanier, keyboards on "Space Monkey"
John Paul Fetta, bass on "Till Victory" & "Privilege"
Andi Ostrowe, percussion on "Ghost Dance"
Jim Maxwell, bagpipes on "Easter"
Tom Verlaine, arrangement on "We Three" (in 1974)

Recorded at The Record Plant, NYC and The House Of Music, West Orange New Jersey
Produced by Jimmy Iovine

Digitally remastered

Patti Smith
Part-Punk, Part-Folk, but 100% rockstar, Patti Smith has proven herself to be an enduring legend within Rock & Roll. For her work as an early pioneer of the punk movement, Patti Smith was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Also an author and an activist, Patti Smith maintains a relatively low profile, but still performs and records. Patti Smith tour dates are currently scheduled nationally. Use Eventful as your Patti Smith concert calendar.

The Chicago native moved to New York City in 1967 with no money and survived through near impoverished conditions to become a rock icon. After cultivating her poetic craft on the streets of New York City and Paris, Smith began to perform rock music in 1974 and was signed by Clive Davis in 1975. She released her debut album, Horses, in 1975 and started a musical revolution. Smith was at the forefront of the punk movement and was a frequent performer at the legendary CBGB. Smith released her biggest commercial success, Easter, in 1978; the album included the massively successful single "Because of the Night", and Smith toured aggressively.

Smith remained largely out of the spotlight in the '80s, preferring to raise her kids outside of the limelight. She reemerged in the mid-90s with Peace in Noise (1997) and Gung Ho (2000), both of which earned her Grammy nominations for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. In 2006, Smith returned to where it all began and performed a near four-hour concert at CBGB the night that the iconic club closed down. Smith has returned her attention to writing and won a National Book Award for her memoir, Just Kids, in 2010. Patti Smith is a rock legend whose music spans punk, folk, and politics.

This album contains no booklet.