Not many people have both won the National Book Award and can claim membership to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; Lou Reed, Bob Dylan and Patti Smith, the “Godmother of Punk,” are a few of that hallowed club.
On Oct. 7, fresh off her performance at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Smith performed in bone white Converse high tops at Oakland’s Calvin Simmons Theater with friend and fellow artist Lynn Goldsmith, to discuss their new book, “Before Easter After.” The work chronicles the time surrounding the making and release of The Patti Smith Group’s album, “Easter,” and pairs Smith’s musings, including snippets of her journal pages, song lyrics and poems, with Goldsmith’s photographs.
An ode to the pair’s five decade friendship, the book reflects their shared passion for creative expression, both independently and in collaboration with one another. In jack-of-all-trades fashion, both have experimented with a range of artistic mediums including, but not limited to, songwriting, poetry, writing, photography, filmmaking and painting, elements of which are highlighted in “Before Easter After.” In similar monochromatic outfits, the duo even had a sisterly appearance as they sat side by side onstage, ribbing each other in the way that only close friends do.
“It’s not really that Patti and I work a lot together; people keep saying that, but Patti [and I] do a range of things. Our relationship is more one of friends who [have known] each other since our late twenties. We have many of the same likes and dislikes; […] we’re girlfriends. It’s a real gift to have a friend in the first place, and then to have one over such a long period of time, it definitely makes [them] different [from] any other kind of friend,” Goldsmith told the Foghorn.
Through thick and thin, Smith and Goldsmith have served as inspiration for each others’ artistic pursuits, and this ability was especially evident during the “Easter” era. While on tour, Smith fell off the stage during a live performance, sustaining a skull fracture and neck injury, and Goldsmith was there to capture it all, from the fall through the recovery period to the triumphant moment when Smith regained full mobility again, immortalized on the “Easter” album cover.
“All [the photo] is is me fixing my bobby pin [but] I was so enamored that I could do that because for several months I couldn’t do anything. That picture, to me, expressed this return to my physical abilities, being able to do that thrust […] I expressed the energy that I reclaimed and [Goldsmith] captured it beautifully,” said Smith.
Goldsmith added, “It was the first time you had lifted your arms back up – in terms of a resurrection, that was the moment.”
Their easy rapport and exchange of anecdotes flowed on throughout the event, as they explained the backstory of several photos included in the book, often gently sparring on different recollections of a particular photo, to the audience’s laughter and applause. Both reaffirmed their mutual trust and understanding of one another, how these laid the foundation for their professional collaboration.
“It’s really fun to work with someone who’s been your friend for such a long time and who you also more or less have a language that doesn’t need to be spoken out loud. I think the really great part is how we trust each other; if I have an idea and she’s not really into it, she’ll still do it, because it might turn out great and vice versa,” Goldsmith told the Foghorn, recalling a photo from the book in which Smith is wearing a white feathered headdress. During the live event, this photo was projected onscreen and the two discussed it at length. Smith spoke about her initial discomfort to the audience and how only after Goldsmith’s encouragement, she allowed the photo to be taken. Now, decades later, they’ve chosen to include it in their book.
The slide show and book talk was paused a number of times so that Smith and her longtime band member Tony Shanahan could perform her hit songs, including “Because the Night” and “People Have the Power,” to which audience members clapped and sang along. Smith introduced each song with an explanation of its meaning or giving a dedication, often to her late husband, Fred “Sonic” Smith. “This song has three levels, it speaks of our creator, it speaks of people who I felt very grateful for, and of course, for Fred. It was a song I really wrote in anticipation of leaving,” Smith said, before breaking into the opening chords of Dancing Barefoot.
“We’re growing old with Patti Smith together,” laughed attendees and longtime friends Michelle Johnston, Suzanne Gautier, Jeannie Kohl and Joanne Yonto, who first saw Smith perform at Berkeley’s Longbranch Saloon in 1976. “She is our songbird of our generation, she is our people.”
Editor-in-Chief: Jordan Premmer, Chief Copy Editor: Sophia McCrackin, Managing Editor: Jordan DelFiugo, Opinion Editor: Dakota Duran, Scene Editor: Elina Graham
