CD: Patti Smith - Horses (30th Anniversary Legacy Edition) - Disc 1
Horses (30th Anniversary Legacy Edition) - Disc 1 of 2
2005 Arista/Columbia/Legacy
Originally Released November 1975
CD Edition Released
Arista Remasters Series CD Released June 18, 1996
30th Anniversary Legacy Edition 2CD Edition Released Nvember 8,2005
AMG EXPERT REVIEW: It isn't hard to make the case for Patti Smith as a
punk rock progenitor based on her debut album, which anticipated the
new wave by a year or so: the simple, crudelyplayed rock & roll,
featuring Lenny Kaye's rudmentary guitar work, the anarchic spirit of
Smith's vocals, and the emotional and imaginative nature of her lyrics
-- all prefigure the coming movement as it evolved on both sides of
the Atlantic. Smith is a rockcritic's dream, a poet as steeped in 60s
garage rock as she is in French Symbolism; "Land" carries on from the
Doors' "The End,"marking her as a successor to Jim Morrison, while the
borrowed choruses of "Gloria" and "Land of a Thousand Dances" are more
in tune with the era of sampling han they were in the '70s.
ProducerJohn Cale respected Smith's primitivism in a way that later
producers did not, and the loose, improvisatory song structures worked
with her free verse to create something like a new spoken word/musical
art form: Hoses was a hybrid, the sound of a post-Beat poet, as she
put it, "dancing around to the simple rock & roll song." -- William
Ruhlmann
Amazon.com Editorial Review
On her 1975 debut, Smith was full of piss and vinegar, seriously
interested in brining together high art and low three-chord rock &
roll.As a result, her free-form poetry meshes with covers of
"Gloria"and "Land of a Thousand Dances," and the album centers on two
long, highfalutin' pieces, including the three-part suite
(warning!waning! art!) "Land." (The CD version appends a messy live
takeon The Who's "My Generation.") Led by Richard Sohl's piano, the
arrangements don't exactly rock, and some of Smith's songwriting gets
buried in its stylistic affectations (there's a great ong under
"Redondo Beach"'s fake reggae). But the point of Horses was Smith's
persona of volume, cunning and exile, and it comes through distinctly.
--Douglas Wolk
AMG EXPERT REVIEW: (30th Anniversary Legacy Edition) Patti Smith's
catalog has aleady been remastered. Horses here comes in its
originally remastered incarnationwith the same bonus track: a cover of
the Who's "My Generation."This new, 30th Anniversary Legacy Edition,
includes a bonus discwhich is a live version of the album -- ad the
bonus track, recorded in on June 25 in London, England. While this
band is looser, not as rehearsed as her original group, they still
have plenty to offer. Original members Lenny Kaye, and Jay Dee
Daugherty are here along with longtime bassistand pianist Tony
Shanahan, guitarist Tom Verlaine (who played on the original album)
and Red Hot Chili Peppers' bassist Flea, who also plays trumpet. The
loose, "what the hell-let's-go-for-it" spirit this band plays with is
infectious. Smith is in fne voice, and her swagger is not only intact,
but pervasive. Her rapport with Kaye is symbiotic. Each trackhere
roils and brims with wisdom, fire, and spit. "Kimberly" and"Gloria"
simply strut with delight and joy. Kaye and Verlaine are loud as
helland push Smith to get out in front, and it feels right. The three-
part suite that makes up the nearly 18-minute "Land" is just plain
scary. Smith transforms herself into the same hungry, angry Muse that
possessed her 30 years ago. Her rage and her wllingness to go deep
into the fabric of her poetry and the song are awe-inspiring. The live
read of "My Generation" means something different than it did 40 years
ago when Pete Townshend wrote it. And Smith indicts her generation --
the one Townshen commented on. She yells "My generation, we had
dreams, we had dreams man and we f*ckin created George Bush! New
generations, rise up, rise up, take to the streets. The world is yours.
Change it. Change it." The sheer swirling rock chaos that takes ver
the band isa fitting end. The only complaint is that while juxtaposing
these two recordings side by side makes sense, one does have to wonder
if a single disc of the concert might have made more, since fans have
already purchased the remastered ersion. Making them buy it again to
get the bonus disc seems just a tad unfair. -- Thom Jurek
Amazon.com Product Description
November 2005 marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Patti
Smith's debut album, Horses, a groundbreaking rock & rol masterpiece
which continues its unparalleled influence on rock music, style and
culture. Arista/Columbia/Legacy Recordings will celebrate this musical
milestone with the release of Horses/Horses, a two-disc Legacy Special
Edition of Patti Smith's ebut album, on Tuesday, November 8.
Disc One of Horses/Horses features the original album, in its
entirety,along with the bonus track, Patti's interpretation of the
Who's classic "My Generation." Initially released as the B-side to
"Gloria," the frst single from Horses, in 1975, "My Generation"
features John Cale, the album's producer, on bass. The Legacy
SpecialEdition of Horses has been remastered by Greg Calbi producing
superior sound to previous editions of the album.
The second discof Horses/Horses showcases Patti Smith and her Band--
Lenny Kaye (guitar), Jay Dee Daugherty (drums), Tony Shanahan (bass),
Tom Verlaine (guitar) and featuring Flea from the Red Hot Chili
Peppers--performing the complete Horses album live, with a
"MyGeneration" encore, at the Royal Festival Hall in London on June
25, 2005. This historic performance of Horses was the culminating
concert at the 2005 Meltdown Festival, which was curated by Patti
Smith. (Lenny Kaye and Jay Dee Daugherty were both mmbers of the
ensemble that played on the original Horses while Tom Verlaine was a
guest artist on the 1975 album).
Horses/Horses comes packagedwith a deluxe booklet featuring rare
archival photographs, ephemera, lyrics and documentation of the 205
concert as well as PaulWilliams' provocative essay on "Gloria."
AMAZON.COM CUSTOMERREVIEW
Expanded version disappointing, March 22, 2006
Reviewer: Perry Tamte (Lynnwood, WA USA)
Horses is one of the seminal "albums" from my youth. I loved t, and
played it a lot, usually alone, since my peers didn't have the same
reaction to it. One of my all-time, core favorites. For some reason,
I've never replaced my original vinyl with a CD. When I saw the
remastered version, Ihad to have it. I wihed I could have gone to the
2005 concert, so thought I'd really enjoy the double CD with the live
version. Reviews here and on iTunes talked of how amazing the live
versionwas, and reinforced my thoughts, so I went for the double CD.
Listening to te studio version was just as fantastic as remembered.
Not at all faded by time. Unfortunately, I can't say that aboutthe
live version. I don't like the live version. At all. I feel a weird
sense of disloyalty saying that, enough that I didn't want t admit it
at first. I kept at it, with repeated listenings, hoping I'd warm to
the differences. But...no. I'm forced to say that I much prefer the
studio version. No, worse than that, I dislike the live version. So
much so, that I no longer have thelive versions on my iPod. Maybe it's
that effect of liking whatever version of a song you hear first, or
possibly, since this was such acentral album in my formative years,
the original sound has too much meaning for me to like anything else.
Whatevr. I would havebeen better served by the single CD version.
Since that makes mefeel older and more inflexible than I want to
believe I am, I wish I hadn't bought it. Then, my reminisces wouldn't
have any negative tinge. Oh well. I'll live. But, saveyourself. The
studio version is 5+ stars excellent. Buy it.
AMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW
one of the original alternatives, December 18, 2005
Reviewer:D. Schmittdiel (Clinton Twp., MI)
In the 1970's I owned two of Patti Smith's vinyl releases, 'Wve', and
this disc, her debut LP, released in 1975. Though artist's such as
Smith were part-punk,part-post psychedelia, the heir's apparent to
hippie-inspired rock and roll, they still maintained a direct
connection to the Baby Boom Generation, as eidenced by the non-Patti
Smith compositions chosen for this disc, Van Morrison's 'Gloria',
Chris Kenner's 'Land of a Thousand Dances' (previously recorded by
Wilson Pickett), and on the remastered CD, Pete Townshend's 'My
Generation'. Of course Patt Smith's versions, though possessing all
the intensity and passion of the original versions (and then some),
also lack the relative innocence of those renditions. In part, Smith's
interpretations serve notice that that crown of rock's royalty hasbee
passed to a new genre, if not a new generation. That new generation,
perhaps more of an addendum to the Baby Boom Generation, included a
greater openness to alternative lifestyles, as Smithsings love songs
to 'Gloria' and 'Kimberly' in her uncomproising manner.
I originally purchased 'Horses' due to a dearth of quality recordings
being produced by my old standby's, such as Eric Clapton, Stephen
Stills, Neil Young and Steve Winwood. At the time, Smith's version of
'Gloria' was receiving cosiderable FM airplay, and she seemed to be on
the cusp of something new and exciting. While I wasn't enthused by the
recording as a whole, it certainly was loud, raw, explicit, and
challenging, qualities my previous favorites had apparently forsaken
Smith's singing style was also completely unique, and despite the fact
her lyrics were at times incomprehensible, it was always a treat to
hear her deliver them. I'm much more enthused by Smith numbers that
possess a fast tempo and hungry, driving uitar work, such as the
opening track, 'Gloria', promised for the rest of the disc.
Unfortunately you have to work through the punk-reggae of 'Redondo
Beach', and the punk-blues of 'Birdland' to get to the more serious
pile driving excursions of 'Fre Money', 'Kimberly', and 'Break It Up'.
These three tracks, in addition to 'Gloria', are to me the meat of the
album. Although the slower numbers are outnumbered on the disc, since
'Birdland' and 'Land' time out at about nineteen minutes,they
claimmuch of the available recording time. The original closer,
'Elegie', is also a slow track, timing out at 2:41. Smith added a
bonus track, an unremarkable 3:16 live version of 'My Generation' to
this remastered package.
Patti Smith appeals to a mre artistically aware and elite crowd than
rock and roll normally attracts. She spent time delivering her poetry
without musicalsupport prior to 1975, and even on this disc at times
reads rather than sings her writings. Nevertheless, Smith relies ona
bare bones backing band of piano, bass, lead guitar, and drums, and
the instrumental backing is simplistic as well. I never found
PattiSmith's brand of performing as something I would consistantly
listen to, but it did find a niche in my collectio, appealing as an
alternative rather than a staple. I guess society as a whole possessed
the same view, as only one Patti Smith song, 'Because theNight', ever
cracked into the Top-40 (#13 in 1978). While I considered three stars,
four is perhaps mor representative of 'Horses' overall value.
AMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW
Horses, May 12, 2006
Reviewer: finulanu "See, what happened was..." (In hiding)
When it opens with a line like, "Jesus died for someone's sins but not
for mine", you know yo're in for something good. Sure enough, that one
line launches you into a forty-five minute album filled with graphic
descriptions of sex and violence. (Listen to mypersonal favorite,
Land, if you want proof). She sings her dark verses with so much
ntensity, so much feeling that it makes Jim Morrison look like a
raving drunk. Yes, it's that intense, people. And she somehow manages
to turn a brutal tale of murder into the R&B nugget Land of a Thousand
Dances, not to mention an even rawer versio of Gloria, the album's
signature song.
Best tunes include Gloria, Free Money, Kimberly, Break It Up and
Horses, though every song on this album is thoroughly amazing.
AMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW
a brilliant artist who begat a revolution, Januay 28, 2002
Reviewer: Ludwig J. Pluralist "avantepopgospeler" (Beacon, NY USA)
Patti Smith's "Horses" starts out with some soft,mournful piano
chords, courtesy of Richard Sohl. We then hear a most extraordinary,
New York sounding voice, which declaes "Jesus died for somebody's sins/
but not mine!" And from this moment on, the listener is brought into a
kind of wild, subterranean world, a world of poetry and mythos, a
world, which is an extension ofthe very soul of the greatest poet to
ever becme a rock star. As the opening song, "Gloria" continues,
picking up speed via Lenny Kaye's crunching guitar riffs and Jay Dee
Daugherty's steady drumming, poetry merges with mid-60s garage punk,
and a whole new world of possibility opens up. This isfollowed by the
gentle, reggae derived "Redondo Beach," which, it turns out, is one of
Patti's great vocal moments; there is a rhythm to her voice which
serves this, and other songs, very well, as here, she sings a sad tale
which contrasts with the pbeat sound of the song. "Birdland," one of
the lengthier songs here, returns to the mournful sound ofthe
beginnings of "Gloria" and is quite sublime. A few songs later is
"Kimberly," Patti's tribute to her sister, with some great lyrics and
a nice teady, rocking beat. It's one of my favorite all time Patti
Smith songs. The record climaxes with "Land," a song sequence, in
which Patti creates a near cinematic narrative, set in a high school
filled with misfits. She brilliantly alludes to the poular culture of
an earlier era.
So, with this record, which sounded like absolutely nothing else that
came out in 1975, Patti Smith begat a revolution. She is a historic
link betweenthe Dylan/Morrison/Lennon/Hendrix 60s and the CBGBs/Max's
KansaCity punks of a few years later. Its hard to imagine folks like
Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain, and all of today's female rockers like L7,
Sleater-Kinney, and others, even existing, without her getting the
ball rolling. While she is still a vibrant artit, this is the place to
begin to explore the world of Patti Smith.
AMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW
An investment is needed, but well worth the payoff!!, February 24,
1999
Reviewer: A music fan
I bought this album when Patti had her comeback with "Gne Again" in
1996. I didn't know what to expect, but I had a gut feeling that I
needed to get to know her music. I listened to "Gone Again" a lot
andlet this one fall by the wayside.
I didn't start seriously listening to "Horses" for another two yers.
At that time, I had to spend a lot of time with this album and its
lyrics to start makingsense of it. I was a bit confused and
challenged, but I knew that I loved what I heard and read. I saw her
do a great live show in NYC, and I delved even deper into her music.
So after all of that work, it really started to pay off! I realized
that layers and layers and layers of stuff existed in this one little
record. It is a complex album to someone that has undergone the
effortto deconstruct it but definitely won't strike any ears that have
been tainted by too much pop music.
So the bottom line hereis that this album, like your best friend or
lover, is difficultand demanding, but pays off tremendously if you've
got the heartand mind fr it. This might sound a bit pretentious, but I
am anunpretentious person (like Patti) and I have never been
challenged by a rock-and-roll record like this!!
I actually met PattiSmith in NYC a few months ago. Even though I spent
only about 10secnds one-on-one with her, I knew who that woman was
through her music and writings. From the moment I saw her face and
heard her speak, I really did feel "surrounded by Horses, Horses,
Horses, Horses..."
Half.com Details
Contributing artists: Jon Cale, Lenny Kaye, Tom Verlaine
Producer: John Cale
Album Notes
Personnel: Patti Smith (vocals); Ivan Kral (vocals, guitar, bass);
Lenny Kaye, Allen Lanier, Tom Verlaine (guitar); Richard Sohl (piano);
John Cale (bass); Jay Dee Daugherty (drms).
Recordedat Electric Lady Studios, New York, New York.
Originally released on Arista (8362). Includes liner notes by Patti
Smith.
Personnel include: Patti Smith; Flea, Jay Dee Daugherty, Lenny Kaye,
Tom Verlaine, Tony Shanahan.
Recoding information: Royal Festival Hall, London, England (1975 -
2005).
With the exception of Bob Dylan, few rock n' rollers explored poetry
within the rock format as thoroughly as Patti Smith. By the mid-70's,
Smith had been a regular poetry-reade in New York City clubs for
years, and with a deep admiration for The Rolling Stones, it was only
natural to set these poems to music. With an exciting rock band to
back her up (including renowned music critic Lenny Kaye on guitar),
Smith built up afollowing on the strength of the band's thrilling and
trance-inducing live shows.
Produced by ex-Velvet Underground bassist John Cale, HORSES was
considered 'punk rock' when it was first released, but there was much
more to it. Smith had agift for eing able to paint vivid pictures with
her prose, as evidenced by a pair of 10-minute long epics, "Birdland"
and "Land"(which consisted of 3 sections--"Horses," "Land of A
Thousand Dances," and "La Mer"). Other tracks are more conventional,
yet justas gripping--a cover of "Gloria," "Free Money," and
"Kimberly,"plus a ragged live cover of The Who's "My Generation"
(included on the '96 remastered CD edition as a bonus track). HORSES
is a classic.
Industry Reviews
Ranked #31 in NME's list of he Greatest Albums Of All Time.
New Musical Express (10/02/1993)
Ranked #8 among The Greatest Albums Of The '70s - ...the words were
monumental--an exceptional tribute to creativity unhinged...
NewMusical Express (09/18/1993)
5 Stars (out of5) - ...the brittle rock and wide-eyed transcendental
journeying of 1975's accepted classic HORSES has lost none of its
thrill...
Q Magazine (11/01/1996)
Bloody Essential
Melody Maker (07/13/1996)
9 (outof 10) - ...Here is rock from the poin of view of a gifted
writer who has reinvented herself as an alien creature, reared on Jean
Genet and Rimbaud...
New Musical Express (07/20/1996)
Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century
Vibe (12/01/1999)
Ranked #5 in Rollng Stone's Women In Rock: The 50 Essential Albums - ..
.Rock & roll poetry was a bore until this Jersey girl showed up...
Rolling Stone (10/31/2002)
Included in Q's 100 Best Punk Albums.
Ranked #44 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums Of Al Time - ...A
statement of faith in the transfigurative powers of rock & roll...
Rolling Stone (12/11/2003)
5 stars out of 5 - [W]hat still stuns is Smith's reverie-like, stream-
of-consciousness delivery.statement of faith in the transfigurative
powers of rock & roll...
Rolling Stone (12/11/2003)
5 stars out of 5 - [W]hat still stuns is Smith's reverie-like, stream-
of-consciousness delivery.
01. Gloria [0:05:55.44]
02. Redondo Beach [0:03:26.40]
03. Birdland [0:09:15.73]
04. Free Money [0:03:54.03]
05. Kimberly [0:04:26.58]
06. Break It Up [0:04:05.02]
07. Land: Horses + Land Of A Thousand Dances + La Mer (de) [0:09:25.34]
08. Elegie [0:02:49.45]
09. My Generation (Bonus Track) [0:03:20.08]