Horses (album)
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Horses is the debut album by Patti Smith released in November 1975, produced by John Cale. The most innovative track is "Land", a radical reworking of Chris Kenner's "Land of a Thousand Dances". "Gloria" is a similar reinterpretation of the old Van Morrison classic.
Legacy and influence
While Horses's commercial success was modest – it peaked at #47 on the U.S. Pop Albums chart – its impact has been far greater.Smith has been called an early pioneer of punk rock, such as by allmusic's William Ruhlman, who said that it "isn't hard to make the case for Patti Smith as a punk rock progenitor based on Horses" [link], while PopMatters' David Antrobus chose it as his favorite album and considered it a life-changing classic [link]. Michael Stipe bought the album as a high school student and says it "tore my limbs off and put them back on in a whole different order." [link]
Accordingly, in 2003, VH1 named Horses the 28th greatest album of all time.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 44 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
An episode of Millennium, "The Time Is Now", would later use the song "Land" in a bizarre "music video" sequence depicting a character's descent into madness.
Track listing
- "Gloria" (Patti Smith, Van Morrison) – 5:54
- * "In Excelcis Deo" (Smith)
- * "Gloria (Van Morrison version)" (Morrison)
- "Redondo Beach" (Smith, Richard Sohl, Lenny Kaye) – 3:24
- "Birdland" (Smith, Sohl, Kaye, Ivan Kral) – 9:16
- "Free Money" (Smith, Kaye) – 3:47
- "Kimberly" (Smith, Allen Lanier, Kral) – 4:26
- "Break It Up" (Smith, Tom Verlaine) – 4:05
- "Land" (Smith, Chris Kenner) – 9:36
- * "Horses" (Smith)
- * "Land of a Thousand Dances" (Kenner)
- * "La Mer(de)" (Smith)
- "Elegie" (Smith, Lanier) – 2:42
Bonus track (1996 reissue)
- "My Generation" (Live) (Pete Townshend) – 3:16 at The Agora, Cleveland, January 26 1976
Samples
Personnel
- Patti Smith – guitar, vocals
- Richard Sohl – Piano
- Lenny Kaye – lead guitar
- Ivan Kral – guitar, bass, vocals on 8
- Jay Dee Daugherty – drums, musical consultant
Additional personnel
- John Cale – bass on 8
- Tom Verlaine – guitar on 5
- Allen Lanier – guitar on 7
- Robert Mapplethorpe – photography (cover)
- Richard Aaron – photography
- Frank d'Augusta – assistant engineer
- Danny Fields – photography
- Bernie Kirsh – mastering Engineer
- Bob Ludwig – mastering
- Bob Irwin – mastering
- Vic Anesini – mastering
- Bob Heimall – design
- Edie Baskin – photography
- Sherri Whitmarsh – design
- Bob Gruen – photography
- Chuck Krall – photography
Charts
Album| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Billboard Pop Albums | 47 |
Trivia
- Scottish musician KT Tunstall has said that her song Suddenly I See was inspired by the cover of this album. [link]
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