Tag Archives: Patti Smith

“Jukebox: Photographs 1967 – 2023” Due Soon

blues, folk, Music, punk, reggae, rock, soul, , , , , , , , ,
Jukebox cover
Cover of Goldberg’s new book, “Jukebox: Photographs 1967 – 2023.”

My new book, “Jukebox: Photographs 1967 – 2023,” gathers together more than 50 years of photographs of musicians I’ve taken. The book, due from HoZac Records and Books (www.hozacrecords.com) in late July, is 10 inches by 9 inches with one photograph on each page (with just a couple of exceptions). There are about 250 photos in the book.

The book’s Foreword is written by acclaimed music book author Joel Selvin. There is a limited edition of 150 hard cover books; only 99 of those are left. They can be preordered now only at the HoZac Records and Books website.

The softcover version of the book can be preordered here.

Many of the photographs have never been seen including shots of Jerry Garcia at his house in Larkspur that I took when I was 17 in 1970.

The book includes photos of the Who from 1970, the Rolling Stones from 1975, Patti Smith from 1975 and 2022, Professor Longhair on stage and at his hotel room in 1977, the great director Nicholas Ray (“Rebel Without a Cause,” “Johnny Guitar”) in 1977, Townes Van Zandt in 1978, Emmylou Harris in 1978 and 2017, Bettye LaVette in 2023, the Sex Pistols at their last show in 1978, plus Debbie Harry, Crime, Tom Verlaine, John Cale, Lou Reed, the Blue Oyster Cult, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Muddy Waters, the Ramones, Tom Waits, Frank Zappa, Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Bob Dylan, Toots and the Maytals, the Meters, Neil Young, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead and many more.

Two photos of Jerry Garcia at the Dead guitarist’s house that I took in 1970.

“Good photographs are designed to make you feel like you are ‘there,’ and those are the kind of photographs Michael Goldberg takes. His live shots make you feel like part of the audience, while his audience shots make you a member of the band, basking in the adulation. His best portraits make you feel like you’ve just shared a secret with the subject. This is a wonderful overview of 50 years of great musicians from rock, blues, and folk and should be in your library right now!” said Roberta Bayley, formerly chief photographer for Punk magazine; photographer for her book, Blondie Unseen; photographer for the first Ramones album cover.

“Who knew intrepid Rolling Stone interviewer Michael Goldberg was a shutterbug? Here’s the abundant evidence – fifty years of snapping candid backstage moments and dramatic live performances from his privileged behind-the-scenes access. Who didn’t he shoot? Come for the big names – Stones, Dead, Van, The Band; stay for the beautiful faces from the distant past – Tim Buckley, Professor Longhair, Sal Valentino. An extraordinary portfolio from any shooter, let alone one we know primarily as a writer,” said Joel Selvin, author of numerous books including Hollywood Eden andThe Haight: Love, Rock, and Revolution The Photography of Jim Marshall.

The Haight Street Art Center in San Francisco will present “Jukebox: the Music Photographs of Michael Goldberg,” a selection of photographs drawn from my new book, “Jukebox: Photographs 1967 – 2023.” The show will run from July 25 through September 22, concurrent with “We Are the One: San Francisco Punk, 1970s –1980s,” which I curated, and there will be an opening party on August 2. Books will be available and I will be signing them.

The Haight Street Art Center is located at 215 Haight Street in San Francisco. More info at haightstreetart.org or call 415-363-6150.

How Jack Kerouac Influenced Bob Dylan & More

Bob Dylan, books, Bruce Springsteen, essay, Grateful Dead, Jack Kerouac, jazz, lyrics, Michael Goldberg, Music, non-fiction, Patti Smith, poetry, Review, Tim Buckley, Tom Waits, Writing, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cover of the upcoming “Kerouac On Record.”

In a 12,000 word essay, “Bob Dylan’s Beat Visions (Sonic Poetry),” that appears in the upcoming book, “Kerouac On Record: A Literary Soundtrack,” I explore how Bob Dylan was profoundly influenced by the Beat writers, and especially Jack Kerouac.

The book is being published by Bloomsbury and will reach book stores online and off on March 8, 2018. Rock’s Back Pages will be publishing an excerpt from my essay, and the April issue of Mojo magazine (see full review below) includes a rave review that says in part: “Among the strongest in a strong lot are Michael Goldberg’s examination of Dylan’s lit roots and Kerouac’s own musicological piece — ‘The Beginning Of Bop’ – that attempts to capture jazz in words – and succeeds.”

Nice to be mentioned in the same sentence as Kerouac!

In addition my Dylan piece, I also have an interview with writer (and one time rock critic) Richard Meltzer in which he talks at length about Kerouac.

The book also contains essays on the influence of Kerouac on a number of musicians including Tom Waits, the Grateful Dead, Jim Morrison, Van Morrison, Patti Smith and others. And there are excellent pieces about the influence of jazz on Kerouac’s writing style.

As we get closer to the publication date I’ll share more about this fascinating book.

Here’s the Mojo review in full:

Review in the April issue of Mojo.

  • A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post –

Audio/Video: Patti Smith does Bob Dylan – ‘Changing of the Guards,’ ‘Boots of Spanish Leather’ + Smith/Dylan do ‘Dark Eyes’

audio, Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan live, covers, live, Music, Patti Smith, song, streaming music, Video, , , , , , , , , , ,

Photo via Ken Regan’s website. Photo by Ken Regan.

Bob Dylan has long been one of Patti Smith idols. Today I thought I’d feature some of her covers of Bob Dylan songs, plus a duet she did with Dylan in 1995.

I’ve also included versions of the songs by Dylan>

Patti Smith, “Changing of the Guards,” 2007:

Bob Dylan, “Changing of the Guards,” live version 1978 (sound starts ten seconds in):

Bob Dylan, “Changing of the Guards,” off Street-Legal, 1978:

Changing of the Guards by Bob Dylan on Grooveshark

Patti Smith, “Boots of Spanish Leather,” 2011:

Bob Dylan, “Boots of Spanish Leather,” 1964:

Boots of Spanish Leather by Bob Dylan on Grooveshark

Patti Smith, “Drifter’s Escape,” 2012:

Bob Dylan, “Drifter’s Escape,” 1967:

Drifter's Escape by Bob Dylan on Grooveshark

Patti Smith & Bob Dylan, “Dark Eyes,” Boston, Dec. 10, 1995:

1995-12-10-Boston-Dark Eyes by Bob Dylan & Patti Smith on Grooveshark

Patti Smith & Bob Dylan, “Dark Eyes,” New York, Dec. 11, 1995:

1995-12-11-New York City-Dark Eyes by Bob Dylan & Patti Smith on Grooveshark

Patti Smith & Bob Dylan, “Dark Eyes,” New York, Dec. 14, 1995:

Patti Smith & Bob Dylan, “Dark Eyes,” Philadelphia, Dec. 15, 1995

1995-12-15-Philadelphia-Dark Eyes by Bob Dylan & Patti Smith on Grooveshark

Patti Smith & Bob Dylan, “Dark Eyes,” Philadelphia, Dec. 17, 1995

1995-12-17-Philadelphia-Dark Eyes by Bob Dylan & Patti Smith on Grooveshark

Bob Dylan, “Dark Eyes,” Empire Burlesque, 1985:

Dark Eyes by Bob Dylan on Grooveshark

[I just published my rock ‘n’ roll/ coming-of-age novel, “True Love Scars,” which features a narrator who is obsessed with Bob Dylan. To read the first chapter, head here.

Or watch an arty video with audio of me reading from the novel here.

–- A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-

Video: Patti Smith & Band, Brussels Summer Festival – Aug. 8, 2014 – ‘Dancing Barefoot,’ ‘Because The Night, ‘ ‘Gloria,’ & More

audio, concert, live, Music, news, Patti Smith, streaming music, True Love Scars, Video, , , , , , , , , , , ,

A few nights ago Patti Smith performed at the Brussels Summer Festival Place des Palais, Bruxelles.

Below are video clips of many of the songs.

Patti Smith, “Ain’t It Strange,” Brussels Summer Festival Place des Palais, Bruxelles August 8, 2014:

“Dancing Barefoot”:

“Redondo Beach”

“April Fool”

“Pissing in a River,” excerpt:

“My Blakean Year”:

“Beneath the Southern Cross”:

“Ain’t It Strange

Because the Night”:

“People Have the Power”

“Banga”

“Gloria” & “Rock N Roll Nigger”:

Plus:

Patti Smith, “Ghost Dance” at the Burg Herzberg Festival, Alsfeld, Germany, August 1, 2014:

And Patti Smith, “Perfect Day” at the Haldern Pop Festival, Haldern, Germany, August 7, 2014:

[I just published my rock ‘n’ roll/ coming-of-age novel, “True Love Scars,” which features a narrator who is obsessed with Bob Dylan. To read the first chapter, head here.

Or watch an arty video with audio of me reading from the novel here.

Of just buy the damn thing:

–- A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-

Books: Patti Smith Reviews (Loves) New Haruki Murakami Novel

book, books, essay, Fiction, Music, Patti Smith, Review, , , , , ,

This is a first for Patti Smith.

After rave reviews of her memoir, Just Kids, she’s now on the front page of the New York Times Sunday Book Review with an essay about the new Haruki Murakami novel, “Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage.”

Smith is an excellent writer, she knows Murakami inside and out, and her review is a joy to read.

Here’s the first few graphs”

A devotional anticipation is generated by the announcement of a new Haruki Murakami book. Readers wait for his work the way past generations lined up at record stores for new albums by the Beatles or Bob Dylan. There is a happily frenzied collective expectancy — the effect of cultural voice, the Murakami effect. Within seven days of its midnight release, “Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage” sold over one million copies in Japan. I envision readers queuing up at midnight outside Tokyo bookstores: the alienated, the athletic, the disenchanted and the buoyant. I can’t help wondering what effect the book had on them, and what they were hoping for: the surreal, intra-dimensional side of Murakami or his more minimalist, realist side?

I had a vague premonition this book would be rooted in common human experience, less up my alley than the alien textures woven throughout “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.” Yet I also sensed strange notes forming, coiling within a small wound that would not heal. Whichever aspect of himself Murakami drew from in order to create “Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage,” it lies somewhere among the stones of his mystical labors.

He sits at his desk and makes this story: a young man’s traumatic entrance into adulthood and the shadowy passages he must subsequently negotiate. His protagonist’s name, Tsukuru, means “to make,” a metaphor for the writer’s process. He is 36 years old and builds and refurbishes train stations, continuously observing how to improve them. He has the touching habit of sitting in them for hours, watching trains arrive and depart and the symphonic flow of people. His love of railway stations connects him with each stage of his life — from toys, to study, to action. It is the one bright spot in an existence he imagines is pallid.

In a sense, Tsukuru is colorless by default. As a young man he belonged to a rare and harmonious group of friends wherein all but he had a family name corresponding to a color: Miss White, Miss Black, Mr. Red, Mr. Blue. He privately mourned this, sometimes feeling like a fifth leaf in a four-leaf clover. Yet they were as necessary to one another as the five fingers of a hand. As a sophomore in college, without explanation, he is suddenly and irrevocably banished from the group, cut off and left to drop into a murky abyss. Belonging nowhere, he becomes nothing.

Read the entire review here.

[I just published my rock ‘n’ roll/ coming-of-age novel, “True Love Scars,” which features a narrator who is obsessed with Bob Dylan. To read the first chapter, head here.

Or watch an arty video with audio of me reading from the novel here.

Of just buy the damn thing:

–- A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-

Video: Historic 1974 Early Footage of Patti Smith – ‘Paint It Black,’ ‘Piss Factory’ & More

audio, concert, live, Music, news, Patti Smith, song, streaming music, Video, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Patti Smith, 1974, Max’s Kansas City.

In 1974 Patti Smith performed at Max’s Kansas City backed by Lenny Kaye and Richard Sohl.

These videos find Smith performing songs that she soon dropped from her set, including “Picture Hanging Blues” and “We Three.”

The video was shot by photogrpaher Bob Gruen.

Although the quality is crude, this is amazing and if you dig Patti Smith you’ve got to see it.

“Paint It Black”:

“Land”:

“Hey Joe”:

“I’m Wild About That Thing”:

“Picture Hanging Blues”:

“Piss Factory”:

“The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game”:

“We Three”:

“We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together”:

[In August of this year I’ll be publishing my rock ‘n’ roll/ coming-of-age novel, “True Love Scars,” which features a narrator who is obsessed with Bob Dylan. To read the first chapter, head here.]

– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-

Video: Patti Smith Performs ‘Gloria,’ ‘Because the Night’ in Switzerland, April 4, 2014

audio, live, Music, news, Patti Smith, song, streaming music, Video, , , , , , , , , ,

Patti Smith Performed at Les Docks in Lausanne, Switzerland last night, April 4, 2014.

Two songs from her set.

“Gloria”:

“Because the Night”:

-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –

Audio: Patti Smith Live in Detroit, Dec. 12, 1976 – complete show

audio, concert, live, Music, Patti Smith, song, streaming music, , , , , , , ,

Photo via Patti Smith’s Facebook page.

Here Patti Smith performing at the Masonic Temple in Detroit, Michigan, December 12, 1976.

Set list:

1. We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together – 00:50
2. Kimberly – 03:37
3. Redondo Beach – 08:07
4. Free Money – 13:31
5. Poppies – 17:50
6. Ask The Angels – 25:20
7. Pissing In A River – 29:00
8. Pumping (My Heart) – 35:02
9. Ain’t It Strange – 39:02
10. Band Of Gold – 48:26
11. Radio Ethiopia – 51:46
12. Rock ‘n’ Roll Nigger – 59:55
13. Gloria – 01:09:42
14. My Generation (special guest: Rob Tyner)- 01:16:17

-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –

Audio: Bjork, Patti Smith, Lykke Li Perform at ‘Let’s Protect the Park’ Benefit Concert in Iceland

audio, concert, environment, live, Music, news, Patti Smith, streaming music, Video, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Patti Smith and Darren Aronofsky at screening of “Noah.”

On March 18, 2014 at at Harpa in Reykjavík, Iceland, a benefit concert, Let’s Protect the Park, was held featuring Bjork, Patti Smith, Lykke Li and others.

Over $300,000 was raised for Icelandic environmental organizations.

Darren Aronofsky’s “Noah,” which was filmed in Iceland, was screened that night.

Listen to over an hour of the concert, including a beautiful set by Patti Smith.

Plus a fan-shot video of all the artists performing the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage.”

– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post –

Audio: Patti Smith Talks About Singing With Bob Dylan – ‘like drinking the purest water’

audio, Bob Dylan, interview, live, Music, Patti Smith, song, streaming music, Video, , , , , , , , , , ,

Bob Dylan and Patti Smith at the Beacon Theater, 1995.

I’ve been going through old interviews recently, putting together a collection of my music journalism, and I came across an interview that Jaan Uhelszki and I did with Patti Smith.

In August of 1996, two months after the release of her first album in eight years, Patti Smith sat down for an interview with us for my online magazine, Addicted To Noise.

Patti had a history with both myself and Jaan. She’d known Jaan when Jaan worked at Creem, and I’d interviewed Patti in 1975, before the release of her debut album, Horses.

We had a long conversation with Patti. I’ve pulled out the part where she talks about Bob Dylan. She had gone out on the road with Dylan at the end of 1995. At one point during the interview she said that she felt Bob Dylan was a big reason for why she became an artist.

Patti Smith: I’ve always felt that if there wasn’t a Bob Dylan I don’t know if… I think you have to give back what you’re given. I’ve been inspired and influenced by a lot of great people and I think it’s important, if you have any gifts at all, you have–if you’re given a gift, you have to give of it. One can’t hoard it. I think that is one thing Fred [‘Sonic’ Smith] and I were really talking about after being pretty reclusive for so long, that we did have a certain responsibility and I often, I deeply encouraged Fred, who was one of the most gifted people I ever knew to share his gifts with others and it’s regrettable it didn’t happen.

Some people are very comfortable with their gifts, somebody like Robert Mapplethorpe was very comfortable with them and used them daily. Worked daily. Other people are plagued by their gifts and I feel myself I have a little more of a better balance of comfortable plagued-ness, I have a little bit of plagued, I often feel dogged yet most of the time I feel blessed.

Jaan Uhelszki: The Dylan tour. How did it come about and did you stay in touch with him after you first met him at the Bottom Line in the seventies?

Patti Smith: No I hadn’t talked to him in some time. Really as I gleaned from Bob himself, he really felt that it would be good for me to come back out. He thought that I should come back out, and he said really nice things from onstage. I think that he feels I was a strong influence on things, and he thinks I should be out here–out in the front. He was very encouraging to me. I wasn’t really ready to work then, I really didn’t have a band. We’d been recording but I wasn’t really prepared to do anything. But I was so happy that he asked, that we decided to do it and you know we were a little rusty and rag tag but the people seemed happy and he was happy. My main mission on that small tour–it was only ten dates–was to crack all the energy, to crack all the atmosphere and get the stage ready for him. So we had our time before him and that was my prime directive was to get the night as magic as possible, so when he hit the stage, ’cause he hits a lot of them, that maybe it would feel a little more special than normal. And I think we did a pretty good job and I know that he was happy.

— continued —

Use this link or the one below below to get to the rest of this post.

-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-

Pages: 1 2