October 15 – Patti Smith Group – Wave

Although she is an odd person, and as we know, I like odd, I was never into Patti Smith. She was labeled as punk but she actually is a poet, and that’s just how I like my poetry – set to music. This was another of those finds in the Barnes and Noble $5 CD rack, and starts with three very familiar Patti Smith songs: “Frederick,” “Dancing Barefoot” and her fantastic version of The Byrds’ “So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N Roll Star.” All the rest of the stuff I don’t know. However, some of it is worth exploring further. I like Smith for living her life the way she wanted, or so it seemed. She fell in love, got married, had a family and then her husband died. Then, as these things seem to happen, two more deaths hit her. She’s remained active in music, and is an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I know, big deal, so’s Kiss. But she is Patti Smith and needed no makeup whatsoever to be the icon that she is.