Thursday, February 4, 2010

Patti Smith talks about new book on PBS Friday

This Friday, Feb. 5, musician and author Patti Smith will appear in her first television interview about her new book, Just Kids, on PBS' "Tavis Smiley." Smith has been making headlines for her tell-all memoir that chronicles her close relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Check your local listings for air times.

In the interview, Smith discusses her intimate relationship with photographer Mapplethorpe and his struggle to come to terms with his sexuality:

"Well Robert and I started almost immediately as boyfriend and girlfriend. You know, back then, in 1967, for twenty-year olds, we didn't even use the phrase 'lovers.' He was my boyfriend. And we had a very classic, traditional relationship. You know, physically and emotionally, we were together. But after about a year and a half or a year, Robert, any feelings he had, you know, about this nature, he had either suppressed because he was a Catholic boy, and alter boy, he was an ROTC, his father was a military man. And also, in the early 60s and even mid-60s people were still keeping their persuasions hidden. And it just got to the point where he couldn't hide it or suppress it anymore.

But he really didn't want us to break up. I mean, we were really happy with one another. And it caused us a certain amount of pain. We had our normal, it wasn't a thing where we were fighting or yelling with each other, it was pain. We sat and cried with each other, you know, many, many, many times. And he even, to his credit, in '69, after exploring all aspects of his desires, really wanted us to try again. And we tried again for almost a year. But, you know, he was who he was. His nature was what it was."

Patti Smith is a poet, musician and author who by some accounts kick-started the punk rock movement of the 1970s with her first single, Hey Joe/Piss Factory. Smith's revolutionary sound landed her a record deal with Clive Davis at Arista Records, who released her first album, Horses.

Riding the popularity of punk rock, Smith toured the U.S. and released a second album, Radio Ethiopia. However, a fall from a stage in Florida left Smith with several broken vertebrae and forced her to take a break from touring. During that time, Smith wrote poetry and formulated her album Easter, which bore her hit single, Because the Night.

Following the success of that single, Smith withdrew from the rock scene and moved to Detroit with Fred "Sonic" Smith, whom she later married. Smith resurfaced in the 1990s, with the album Gone Again. Since then, she has released four more albums and become active in politics, writing two protest songs. Smith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Her latest book, Just Kids, is in stores now.

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