I thought someone had already posted about the upcoming covers album, Twelve, from Patti Smith. I can't find the post.

I just read that the album includes a cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit "with Sam Shepard on banjo. She also does Jimi Hendrix's "Are You Experienced", "Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise", Neil Young's "Helpless," and Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World".

From EW.com:

PopWatch Blog

In the studio with Patti Smith
Jan 31, 2007, 08:15 PM | by Michele Romero

On Monday, I dropped out of the sky and landed behind the mixing board at Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village. Patti Smith had just come out of the cold to finish up her new record, a covers album, called Twelve, and she was smiling and eager to chat as she rolled out a chair and sat me down in front of mission control. Hmm, I wonder what happens if I touch this button...

Pinching myself: No, this was not a dream.

I love Patti Smith for a million reasons. I'm knocked down by the infinite depth of her voice and the way her live performances can suck you in and spit you out. I love her love of art and literature and the fact that Belgian designer Ann Demeulemeester beaded Patti Smith lyrics onto strips of black ribbon on shirts I cannot afford. (Thanks, career In journalism!) I had highbrow fantasies of sitting with Patti talking about Rimbaud over coffee in Paris.

Instead, we talked about sideshow freaks on TV. Benny, her publicist, gave her a set of the HBO series Carnivale on DVD, and Patti was as psyched about this gift as I was drooling to hear some of her new songs. She liked the 1930s, she said, jumping up and down a little, and she liked the way Carnivale was filmed. Then she smiled wide and confessed to having a crush on one of the show's actors.


Thank you, HBO, for my next simile, which is that Patti's band and crew are like her own version of a travelling family of carnies. She turned up to the studio with her long term photographer friend, Steven Sebring, who has just finished a documentary about her (check out some clips on his site). Patti's lovely 21-year-old daughter, Jesse, who really does officially have the coolest mom ever, was also milling about. I was told Jesse sings on the album and that she plays piano, and that Patti's son, Jackson, plays guitar on Twelve but was back in Detroit working with his own band. The album notes also reveal that Sam Shepard plays banjo on Patti's version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," accompanied by his son, Walker. Add on her amazing band (Lenny Kaye! Tony Shanahan! Jay Dee Daugherty!), and it is indeed a Carnivale of soulful souls.

(OH MY GOD—I cannot wait to hear SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT).

A word about Electric Lady. The studio has an insanely great history. The Abstract Expressionists (um, hello, ghost of Willem de Kooning!) hung out there before the rock stars took over. On this day, I saw a metal case in the hall that had the word "Interpol" stenciled on its side, so either Inspector Clouseau and his secret police were hunting down the Pink Panther in another room or Carlos D. and company were cranking out an eagerly anticipated opus down the hall.

The control room was totally purple. Since Jimi Hendrix built the place in 1970, I thought, "Oh, I get it, 'Purple Haze.'" (Patti does a version of his "Are You Experienced" on Twelve.) But Patti's producer, Emery Dobyns, said he thought Prince had recorded there years ago and had customized the studio in his favorite hue.

Patti played me three songs that day: Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise" (you'll know the melody, sampled by Coolio on "Gangsta's Paradise"), Neil Young's "Helpless," and, remarkably, Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World." Patti's version of the TFF hit is beautiful, and the earnest ache in her voice commanded my ears to pay attention and listen to the lyrics for probably the first time since the '80s narcotized my eardrums. I told her that her voice seemed more powerful than ever—it really is a unique instrument. You know that voice. It isn't anyone else's. She explained that listening to opera superstar Maria Callas taught her to sing with gut feeling. The trick was not to fall apart during the take because it would ruin the song, but you could cry afterwards.

(I wanted to cry right then and there.)

So how did Patti Smith choose to cover an '80s Britpop song? She was sitting in a café, she said, thinking about the war and the world when she heard this song come over the speakers. She said she'd never heard of Tears for Fears, but she thought, "That's it, everybody does want to rule the world."

I'll talk to her again soon for an article that will run in the magazine. But until then, I leave you with a little bonus Patti Smith cover that did not make her disc. Here is my Youtube search jackpot: Patti Smith doing Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life" on the '70s TV show, Kids Are People Too.

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2007/01/in_the_studio_w.html#more

Here is the link to her doing Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life".

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agl4IvNnQPo[/youtube]

This is just weird! Not necessarily a bad weird, but just plain WEIRD!

I wish I could tell Smith that I always think of the '80s Era San Francisco (replete with breeze off the Bay and the Pacific Ocean and the last vestiges of the '60s hanging on in the air. Well, it's kind of a spiritual thing in my mind) whenever I hear "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" and how, back at that time, we all were transitioning from an idealistic mindset to one of pure survival because of how many things changed back then.
Actually, I think this project sounds like a neat thing for her. I just think she's a really cool egg-as well as a good one.

All you need to do is wrap your head around the fact that Jefferson Airplane/Starship went from "White Rabbit" to "We Built This City"...

And all respect to Patti, but who really needs to hear "Smells Like Teen Spirit" with banjo?

It's funny you mention Jefferson Airplane/Starship. I remember that Grace Slick said in an interview that she likes the song "You Light Up My Life". I think that interview was with Rolling Stone back in 1978 or 1979. I was thinking about that when I watched the clip of Patti Smith.

I want to hear her cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit". I think it's cool that Sam Shepard is playing banjo on it. I'm not sure I'll enjoy it. I'm definitely getting the CD.

I saw her back in '70 something at (I think) The Bottom Line and she did this song. It was a nice performance, without a trace of irony. I look forward to this album as I always liked her singing, even when the material was so-so.

I saw Patti in 1978 at the old Schaefer Music festival at the skating rink in Central Park. She said there were two current hits that she really liked: "You're the One That I Want" and "You Light Up My Life," which she then sang for us. I think I have a vinyl bootleg with her version on it.

I really enjoyed her cover of "When Doves Cry" on Land. I'll be eager to hear the new album.

I want to hear her version of "Spirit" - just like I wanted to hear Tori Amos doing the song years ago. Should be interesting.

I love the idea of this album, getting an opportunity to hear material through her vision.

She has recorded a very emotional version of Black Peter the night Garcia died. It would be great if she gave that performance a wider audience. Hope she puts it on the album.

Patti's version of "Black Peter" did show up on the Stolen Roses GD tribute CD, issued in 2000. But it is OOP already, so it would benefit her fans to include it on this new CD.

I started a list for a possible Patti Smith "odds & sods" collection, but never got passed the planning stage. She does have enough non-lp recordings for a good set.



http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004VW5V/?tag=imwan-20

Here 'tis, coming out on April 24th:



>> Both a stopgap release until Patti Smith writes another album's worth of material and a way to keep her name in front of the public after her highly publicized 2007 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this set of a dozen covers finds the singer/poet in an unusually reflective mode. Some of the sources are obvious for those familiar with Smith's influences (the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan), some less so (Paul Simon, Nirvana, Jefferson Airplane, Neil Young), and a few come out of left field (the Allman Brothers Band, Stevie Wonder, Tears for Fears). Smith's innate class and approach guarantees there's nothing awful here, but there also isn't much that stamps these versions with her own vision. She does little more than deliver the words in her unique spoken/sung voice and--except for adding a banjo and her own poetry to an acoustic "Smells Like Teen Spirit"--keeps the arrangements close to the originals. At times she seems distant from the material, running through the Doors' "Soul Kitchen" and Young's "Helpless" with an oddly soulless detachment. Likewise, her band seems to be on autopilot, playing with little emotional involvement or attempts to bring fresh interpretations to tunes that are, with the exception of Dylan's "Changing of the Guard," surprisingly unimaginative choices. Considering the raging and extreme overhaul Smith did on Van Morrison's "Gloria" and the Who's "My Generation" in her younger days, this quieter, gentler approach seems flaccid, even bland in comparison. <<

Audio samples and complete tracklisting:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NDEXIE/?tag=imwan-20

Anyone know what the bonus track is on the Target edition?

I'm not sure about the Target edition.

A chain in my area is offering a bonus 7" disc called "Two More" with two tracks not on "Twelve". She covers Lou Reed and the Decemberists.

Here is the description:

New album "TWELVE" streets 4/24

Get the Indie exclusive 7" with purchase titled "Two More"
which features two non-album tracks including:

"A perfect day" (Lou Reed)
"Here I dreamt I was an Architect" (The Decemberists)

You can listen to samples here:

http://www.plan9music.com/Promo/808%22

7" WTF? Damn. I hope Perfect Day turns up on cd somewhere. Anyone willing to put it on disc or mp3 for me I would greatly appreciate.


iggyjett@aol.com

Just great, I already got a copy of the CD at 'Rama. Maybe there'll be a CD single with bonus tracks.

I love PERFECT DAY and am pulling my hair out trying to find out if it will be anywhere else.

Has anyone found out what extra track Target has? I'll probably go to Target this evening.

Yeah, it's R.E.M.'s EVERYBODY HURTS.

Anyone able to get he 7" w/ PERFECT DAY? I will gladly pay to have someone convert it to cd or mp3 for me.

I don't have a working turntable. If I did, I would get the 7" and burn a copy. If I do manage to find the songs through a trade or download, I will share.

I hope they do come out on a CD single.

anybody going to the shows at the Bowery tonite?

J&R gave a free ticket with the purchace of the new cd (11.99)

I also would pay someone for the transfer of the songs from 7" vinyl. I really HATE this bonus track practice -- it's enough to make me almost want to stop collecting music! Almost!