• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Sep 06, 2011 Web Exclusive By David Brusie

Publishing this biography only a year after Patti Smith’s brilliant memoir Just Kids was either a good or bad idea: Dancing Barefoot could appeal to fans of Smith’s book or simply pale in comparison.

The answer is somewhere in between. Those who liked the subjective Just Kids might enjoy Thompson’s cut-and-dry take, which describes Smith’s rise from semi-obscure poet to full-fledged rock star. Even without comparing the book to Smith’s telling, however, this approach makes her story sound humdrum and eventual.

But what a story: After a happy New Jersey childhood despite a near-fatal bout with scarlet fever, Smith moves to New York City with no money or home. She meets Robert Mapplethorpe, who proves to be her artistic and personal soulmate, and they make art and live together at the infamous Hotel Chelsea. With the help of guitarist and Nuggets curator Lenny Kaye, she puts her poetry to music, navigates the New York music scene, and, with The Patti Smith Group, becomes one of the most respected rock musicians and writers of her generation. She obsesses over Rimbaud and Brian Jones, releases the brilliant debut Horses, survives a neck-breaking stage accident, and has a Springsteen-co-written hit in “Because the Night.” Along the way, cameos abound: Allen Ginsberg, Television’s Tom Verlaine, Salvador Dali, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan.

And all of this simply… happens. Thompson isn’t emotionless; he puts his emotions into seemingly random places: he passionately describes an early Smith CBGB show (“Smith’s poetic interludes were spellbinding, Verlaine’s guitar was incendiary”) but her astonishing career path seems inevitable.

Similarly, Thompson inserts editorial comments in strange spots, such as an out-of-nowhere slam of Paul Simon’s “The Boy In the Bubble,” which Smith recorded for a covers album (“Peter Gabriel would add his own unique vision to the same tune, which seems odd because it really wasn’t that great a song to begin with”).

Though Thompson is clearly a Patti Smith fan, he is surprisingly even-handed with her output and behavior. He rightly derides a press conference at which Smith, unprovoked, yells obscenities and starts a food fight, and he gives a handful of examples of Smith’s ego and controlling nature.

For those who simply want to know more about Patti Smith’s music, Dancing Barefoot is a good enough place to start. For others, there’s Just Kids—and the music itself. (www.chicagoreviewpress.com)

Author rating: 5/10