Patti Smith on Patti Smith Interviews and Encounters

by Levy, Aidan

• ISBN13: 9781613746349
• ISBN10: 1613746342
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2026-04-07
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press
• More Book Details

Summary

From the moment Patti Smith burst onto the scene, chanting "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine," the irreverent opening line to Horses, her 1975 debut album, the punk movement had found its dissident intellectual voice. Yet outside the recording studio—Smith has released eleven studio albums—the punk poet laureate has been perhaps just as revelatory and rhapsodic in interviews, delivering off-the-cuff jeremiads that emboldened a generation of disaffected youth and imparting hard-earned life lessons. With her characteristic blend of bohemian intellectualism, antiauthoritarian poetry, and unflagging optimism, Smith gave them hope in the transcendent power of art. In interviews, Smith is unfiltered and startlingly present, and prescient, preaching a gospel bound to shock or inspire. Each interview is part confession, part call-and-response sermon with the interviewer. And there have been some legendary interviewers: William S. Burroughs, Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth), and novelist Jonathan Lethem. Her interview archive serves as a compelling counternarrative to the albums and books. Initially, interviewing Patti Smith was a censorship liability. Contemptuous of staid rules of decorum, no one knew what she might say, whether they were getting the romantic, swooning for Lorca and Blake, or the firebrand with no respect for an on-air seven-second delay. Patti Smith on Patti Smith is a compendium of profound and reflective moments in the life of one of the most insightful and provocative artists working today.

Author Biography

Aidan Levy has written for the the Daily Forward, JazzTimes, and the Nation. He is the author of Dirty Blvd.: The Life and Music of Lou Reed.  He lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Part I • 1972-1979: Gloria in Excelsis Deo
The Poetry of Performance: An Interview with Patti Smith | Victor Bockris
August 15, 1972 | Red Room Books (US)
Patti Smith: Somewhere, Over the Rimbaud | Susin Shapiro
December 1975 | Crawdaddy (US)
Patti Smith: Poetry In Motion | Robin Katz
December 13, 1975 | Sounds (UK)
Patti Smith: Her Horses Got Wings, They Can Fly | Dave Marsh
January 1976 | Rolling Stone (US)
Interview with Patti Smith | Mick Gold
May 10, 1976 | Original Interview (Audio, UK)
Patti Smith: Misplaced Joan Of Arc | Michael Gross
August 1976 | Blast (US)
Patti Smith: Patti Cracks Noggin, Raps On Regardless | Vivien Goldman
February 5, 1977 | Sounds (UK)
Delicate Delinquent | Legs McNeil (Transcribed by Steve Taylor)
February 1977 | Punk (US)
Horse Latitudes: The Possession of Patti Smith | John Tobler
April 1978 | ZigZag (UK)
High on Rebellion: Patti Smith Speaks, Part 2 | John Tobler
June 1978 | ZigZag (UK)
It’s Hot: A Patti Smith Interview | Peggy Thompson
May 12-19, 1978 | Georgia Straight (Canada)
Guest Deejay Patti Smith | Howie Klein
May 14, 1978 | KSAN (Radio, US)
Patti Smith: Straight, No Chaser | Nick Tosches
September 1978 | Creem (US)
The Patti Smith Group | Andy Schwartz
June 1979 | New York Rocker (US)
When Patti Rocked | William S. Burroughs 
Conducted March 1979, published April 1988 | Spin (US)
Part II • 1988-1996: Dream of Life
Patti Smith Resurfaces | Jim Sullivan
August 27, 1988 | Boston Globe (US)
Patti Smith: The Power and The Glory, The Resurrection and The Life | Gerrie Lim
July 1995 | BigO (Singapore)
Patti Smith | Thurston Moore
Winter 1996 | Bomb (US)
Patti Smith: She is Risen | Holly George-Warren
May 1996 | Option (US)
The ATN Q&A: Patti Smith (Parts 1 and 2) | Michael Goldberg and Jaan Uhelszki
June 1996 (Issue 2.06) | Addicted to Noise (US)
The Rebel: Patti Smith | Ben Edmonds
August 1996 | MOJO (UK)
John Cale and Patti Smith: How We Met | Lucy O'Brien
August 25, 1996 | Independent (UK)
Part III • 1997-2009: Blakean Years
The Progressive Interview: Patti Smith | John Nichols
February 1997 | The Progressive (US)
In These Viral Times: An Exclusive Interview with Patti Smith | Laurie Fitzpatrick
November 1997 | A&U (US)
Patti Smith Returns to Ground Zero | Fred Mills
January 30, 1998 | Goldmine (US)
Patti Smith Talks About Gung Ho | Jody Denberg
January 21, 2000 | Arista Records, Broadcast on KGSR (Radio, US)
Patti Smith on Allen Ginsberg | Jerry Aronson
February 15, 2001 | The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg (DVD, US)
Patti Smith Strikes a Strong Note for a Peaceable Kingdom | Ed Masley
June 6, 2004 | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (US)
An Interview with Patti Smith on Auguries of Innocence | Lawrence French
November 2005 | KUSF (Radio, US)
Patti Smith Discusses Twelve on Words and Music | Rita Houston
April 11, 2007 | WFUV (Radio, US)
Exit Interview: Patti Smith | Richard Rys
July 22, 2008 | Philadelphia (US)
Patti Smith and Steven Sebring on Patti Smith: Dream of Life | Anthony DeCurtis
December 30, 2009 | POV (TV, US)
Part IV • 2010-2018: Devotion
Jonathan Lethem and Patti Smith | Jonathan Lethem
November 3, 2010 | Pen World Voices Festival of International Literature (Transcript, US)
Patti Smith: Warrior Poet | Paul Zollo
January/February 2011 | American Songwriter (US)
Patti Smith Discusses Banga on Words and Music | Eric Holland
June 5, 2012 | WFUV (Radio, US)
Patti Smith at the Louisiana Literature Festival | Christian Lund
August 24, 2012 | Louisiana Literature Festival (Transcript of Video, Denmark)
Patti Smith: Making the Past Present | Daniel David Baird
March 2013 | Border Crossings (Canada)
Patti Smith’s Eternal Flame | Alan Light
Conducted 2007, published February 12, 2015 | Medium Cuepoint (US)
Patti Smith Says M Train Is the Roadmap to Her Life | Shadrach Kabango
October 15, 2015 | Q (Video, Canada)
Patti Smith Looks Back On Life Before She Became The Godmother Of Punk | Terry Gross
October 23, 2015 | Fresh Air (Radio, US)
Patti Smith on Devotion | Margery Eagan and Jim Braude
September 28, 2017 | WBGH (Radio, US)
Patti Smith on Climate Change and the One Thing Donald Trump Is Afraid Of | Kristin Iversen
October 18, 2017 | Nylon (US)
All the Poets (Musicians on Writing): Patti Smith | Scott Timberg
September 29, 2017 | LA Review of Books (US)
Patti Smith on “Because The Night” at 40: How Her Bruce Springsteen Collaboration Is “A Whole Life in A Song” | Hilary Hughes
June 21, 2018 | Billboard (US)