Patti Smith - music and writing

In May 2007 Patti Smith played in the Cumbrian town of Ulverston. She was participating in a poetry festival nearby and the gig was a rare opportunity to see her playing live with her band in the north of England. By some stroke of luck we had managed to get seats in the front row of the balcony and strangely there were several empty seats in the row behind, the gig most probably having sold out within days of tickets going on sale. 

Her show featured many of the tracks from the covers album Twelve which she had just released. Coincidentally it was a cover version of one of her songs which introduced me to her music, namely Dancing Barefoot by The Mission. I recall midway through the gig Patti removing her jacket to squeals of delight from members of the audience with herself being somewhat bemused that people still saw her as some kind of sex icon now in her late 50s. 

Ulverston is probably best known for being the birthplace of Stan Laurel who crossed the ocean to find fame and fortune in America with his partner-in-comedy Oliver Hardy. I don't recall Patti name-checking many comedians in her book but there are plenty of authors, poets, artists and musicians, both living and dead, who grace the pages of this memoir. 

I must admit to not having read any of her previous books but her writing style, especially towards the end, can be somewhat flowery and esoteric. The final chapter reminded me of a line in the Alex Cox film 'Repo Man' where Otto the punk is in conversation with odd job man Miller in the car pound. Miller is rather an eccentric character who is trying to explain some theory or other to Otto by talking about a plate of shrimp. Otto, in response, comes out with the line, "Did you do a lot of acid Miller, back in the hippie days?"

But "Bread of Angels" is far from being the ramblings of an acid casualty. Rather, Patti is someone who is extremely well-read, has a particularly good memory and cannot help but see the world through the pens, paintbrushes and musical instruments of all the culture she has absorbed (and created) over the last seven or eight decades. 

Other reviewers will give you a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of her book but I was inspired to write this after reading a review by Molly Morrison on the indiependent.co.uk website. She is obviously a big fan of Patti's writing, which stretches across the generations, and shows that if you put the technology to one side, we are still the same human beings who get the urge to write poetry or prose, make music, create paintings or make sculptures out of stone or wood.

I have recently downloaded the 50th anniversary release of Patti's debut album Horses which is probably a good place to start if you are new to her music. I'd also recommend Twelve. Her version of George Harrison's Within You Without You is up there with Wayne Hussey singing Dancing Barefoot. 

Colin Bertram
18/01/2026