Wednesday, November 1, 2006

DEDICATED TO LUNA "KELTNER":

1. Was Patti Smith ever regarded as the best artist in rock music?

Possibly yes, but I do not think that would be a consensus view. In 1975, Smith’s album Horses was second in the prestigious Village Voice “Pazz and Jop” poll. Perhaps you have heard of the album that ended up third on that list? It’s called Born to Run.

1975 was an astonishingly strong year for music. Every other artist with an album in the Top Ten in that poll in 1975 is already in the Hall! More than half of the artists in the Top 30 are in the Hall.

Although 1975 was clearly the peak of her critical success, Smith received grades of A- or better from noted critic Robert Christgau on 5 of her 11 albums.

2. Was Patti Smith ever the best band in rock music in her genre?

This question on the Keltner list often gives me trouble. In what genre does Smith’s music belong?

Punk rock? You could perhaps make the case that she was at the top of that genre in 1975, but she would not be regarded as the best punk rocker in any other year. She was among the first American punks to get a record contract.

“Poetic” rock? That’s not really a standard genre, but it seems to fit Smith like a glove and she would certainly be a standard bearer in that genre, given her Rimbaud influenced songs.

Female hard rock? On the one hand, this fits her well since there were very few women in music then who rocked as hard as she did. On the other hand, Smith defined herself as an artist, not a “female” artist. Yet, as allmusic.com notes “in the process, she obliterated the expectations of what was possible for women in rock, and stretched the boundaries of how artists of any gender could express themselves.”

3. Was Patti Smith ever considered the best at her instrument or role?

No, I don’t think that Smith was ever considered the best at her instrument.

If you define “role” to include creating a prototype for women in rock, then you’d have to give Smith a resoundingly positive response to this question (see #4).

4. Did Patti Smith have an impact on a number of other musicians?

Emphatically yes. Her bio on allmusic.com begins “Punk rock's poet laureate, Patti Smith ranks among the most influential female rock & rollers of all time.”

5. Was Patti Smith good enough to have an unusually long career?

If we compare Smith to the typical musician, the answer is clearly yes. If we compare Smith to the typical member of the Hall, the answer is less clear. She had a very strong period from 1975 to 1979. She then had intermittent success with albums in 1988, 2002, and 2004. I think you would have to give Smith the benefit of the doubt on this question, but it’s a close call.

6. Is Patti Smith the very best artist in history that is not in the Hall of Fame?

No. Even among this year’s nominees, many people would put R.E.M. ahead of her.

7. Are most artists who have a comparable recording history and impact in the Hall of Fame?

I think the answer must be yes, but who is a good comparable for Smith? Joni Mitchell? The Ramones?

8. Is there any evidence to suggest that Smith was significantly better or worse than is suggested by her recordings?

Possibly. For about 15 years Smith stayed at home and raised her children, a truly laudable endeavor. From 1989 to 1994 she endured the deaths of her husband, her brother, and several other of her closest collaborators.

9. Is Smith the best artist within her genre who is eligible for the Hall of Fame?

Off the top of my head, no other artists within Smith’s “genre” come to mind as being more deserving, but I have not examined this question systematically.

10. How many #1 singles/gold records did Patti Smith have? Did Smith ever win a Grammy award? If not, how many times was Smith nominated?

Smith had NO #1 singles and only two songs that hit any of the charts. She had no gold records. This is clearly the weak point of her candidacy for the Hall.

Smith was never nominated for a Grammy (to the best of my knowledge). I’m not sure we should hold that against her.

11. How many Grammy-level songs/albums did PATTI SMITH have? For how long of a period did the band dominate the music scene? How many Rolling Stone covers did she appear on? Did most of the bands with this sort of impact go into the Hall of Fame?

Smith had 4 very strong albums from 1975 to 1979. She had many songs that received a lot of radio airplay. She dominated the scene during that 4-year period. I think that both the number of her strong albums and the length of time she dominated the scene are probably below average if we compare her to other members of the Hall (but see # 8 above). Nonetheless, for the reasons set forth in #1 and 2 above, I would say that most of the bands with the sort of impact Smith had go into the Hall of Fame.

12. If Patti Smith was the best artist at a concert, would it be likely that the concert would rock?

Damn straight. The allmusic.com site says she was “a powerful concert presence, singing and chanting her lyrics in an untrained but expressive voice, whirling around the stage like an ecstatic shaman delivering incantations.”

13. What impact did she have on rock history? Was she responsible for any stylistic changes? Did she introduce any new equipment? Did she change history in any way?

See #2, 3, and 4 above. Let’s just say that the Pretenders might appreciate what Smith accomplished.

She did not introduce any new equipment.

14. Did Smith uphold the standards of sportsmanship and character that the Hall of Fame, in its written guidelines, instructs us to consider?

See #8 above. Smith is full of integrity and kindness. That counts for a lot in my book.

I count 8 positive answers and only 2 clearly negative ones. Smith merits inclusion.

"Here I go and I don't know why
I spin so ceaselessly
‘Til I lose my sense of gravity"

Those words say as much about the power of desire as anyone ever has in pop music.

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