Happy Birthday Patti Smith!

Wishing a very happy birthday to Patricia Lee Smith born on December 30, 1946, and better known to her many admirers as Patti Smith. She is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Patti was described as the ‘High Priestess of Punk’ when her 1975 debut album Horses made her a leader of the punk rock movement with her fusion of rock music and poetry. In recent years Patti has become as renowned as a writer as she is as a musician with the publication of such memoirs as Just Kids and M-Train. It was because of her books that I decided to write a little birthday tribute today to Patti...... You may recall that back in November I wrote a little piece about a trip to Yorkshire when two friends and I visited Sylvia Plath’s grave in the village of Heptonstall. 

Well, only a couple of weeks ago I was researching for an article about Albertine Sarrazin in Patti’s Book of Days, and lo and behold, on Page 512 for October 26 I stumbled across a photo of Patti Smith in the exact same location as us at Sylvia’s graveside. (See photo at top) This is what Patti has also said elsewhere about Sylvia, ‘This is a picture taken at the grave of Sylvia Plath in Heptonstall, taken by Tony Shanahan. I found it in my old copy of Ariel, given to me by Robert, a long time ago. In rereading her poems I am remembering the great impact they had on me at twenty. Half a century later I am still struck by her mastery, her sharp yet silky tongue, the tragic loss of her. I have visited her resting place many times.  In snow, dark with solitude and in sun, shrouded in wildflowers'. ........The Robert referred to there is her late boyfriend, the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Patti seems to have a special affinity with Yorkshire because since finding that photo I have discovered some other interesting links. The town of Hebdon Bridge which is adjacent to Heptonstall has been devastated by floods in recent years. Out of the kindness of her heart Patti played a concert to 190 people in the towns Trades Club and donated all the proceeds to the flood relief fund. 

That isn’t all, because another reason for Patti’s frequent visits to this area is her love of the novels and poetry of the Bronte sisters. (See video below of Patti in Haworth) Some of the lyrics of her biggest hit Because The Night were inspired by Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. Patti played another concert to a tiny audience in the Schoolhouse in Haworth (see photo) It was the very building where Charlotte Bronte's wedding reception was held in 1854.  Patti donated the money raised to the Bronte Society. 

I also discovered a couple of days ago that Patti isn’t the only great writer and music composer to be born on December 30 because it is also the birthday of Paul Bowles.  On Wikipedia it says, Paul Frederic Bowles, December 30, 1910 – November 18, 1999 was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator. He became associated with the Moroccan city of Tangier, where he settled in 1947 and lived for 52 years to the end of his life. He studied music with Aaron Copland, and in New York wrote music for theatrical productions, as well as other compositions. He achieved critical and popular success with his first novel The Sheltering Sky (1949), set in French North Africa, which he had visited in 1931. In 1947, Bowles settled in Tangier, and his wife Jane Bowles followed in 1948. Tangier was Bowles's home for the remainder of his life. Bowles died in 1999 at the age of 88. I have never listened to any of Paul Bowles music compositions, but I have read The Sheltering Sky and many of his short stories. It was a friend of mine Fred who introduced me to his work when he gave me a collection of short stories. Coincidentally it was in Fred’s flat in 1976 that I first heard Horses by Patti Smith. I am mentioning all this because Patti also admired Bowles work, and she actually met him. It was quite sad because he was very old then and died only two years later. This is what Patti said about their meeting. (I found these words on a website called The Marginalian.)

I was first introduced to Bowles in a serendipitous way. In the summer of 1967, shortly after I left home and went to New York City, I passed a large box of overturned books spilling out into the street. Several were scattered across the sidewalk, and a dated copy of Who’s Who in America lay open before my feet. I bent down to look, as a photograph caught my eye above an entry for Paul Frederic Bowles. I had never heard of him but I noticed we shared the same birthday, the thirtieth of December. Believing it to be a sign, I tore out the page and later searched out his books, the first being The Sheltering Sky. I read everything he wrote as well as his translations, introducing me to the work of Mohammed Mrabet and Isabelle Eberhardt. Three decades later, in 1997, I was asked by German Vogue to interview him in Tangier. I had mixed feelings about my assignment, for they mentioned he was ill. But I was assured that he had readily agreed and that I would not be disturbing him. Bowles lived in a three-room apartment on a quiet street in a straightforward fifties-modern building in a residential section. A high stack of well-travelled trunks and suitcases formed a column in the entranceway. There were books lining the walls and halls, books that I knew and books I wished to know. He sat propped up in bed, wearing a soft plaid robe, and appeared to brighten when I entered the room. I crouched down trying to find a graceful position in the awkward air. We spoke of his late wife, Jane, whose spirit seemed to be everywhere. I sat there twisting my braids, speaking about love. I wondered if he was really listening.—Are you writing? I asked.—No, I am no longer writing.—How do you feel now? I asked.—Empty, he answered'. ......  

On Wiki I also found out that yet another great person was also born on December 30, but this time in 1879 which was the Indian sage Ramana Maharshi. I discovered him via Eckhart Tolle. I have been reading a book about Ramana Maharshi recently, so I might write about him in 2025. Anyway, happy birthday to the one and only Patti Smith, and don’t forget.... People Have The Power! (I have added a video below of Patti singing a Bob Dylan song from the last time we saw her which was 3 years ago in Bath)