Patti Smith - Radio Ethiopia (1976)
After
the success of Horses, Patti Smith had something to prove to reviewers
and to the industry, and Radio Ethiopia aimed at both. Producer Jack
Douglas gave "The Patti Smith 'Group", as it was now billed, a hard rock
sound, notably on the side-opening "Ask the Angels" and "Pumping (My
Heart)," songs that seemed aimed at album-oriented rock radio. But the
title track was a ten-minute guitar extravaganza that pushed the group's
deliberate primitivism closer to amateurish thrashing. Elsewhere, Smith
repeated the reggae excursions and vocal overlaying that had paced
Horses on "Ain't It Strange" and "Poppies," but these efforts were less
effective than they had been the first time around, perhaps because they
were less inspired, perhaps because they were more familiar. A
schizophrenic album in which the many elements that had worked so well
together on Horses now seemed jarringly incompatible, with Radio
Ethiopia Smith and her band encountered the same development problem the
punks would -- as they learned their craft and competence set in, they
lost some of the unself-consciousness that had made their music so
appealing. (by William Ruhlmann)
Personnel:
Jay Dee Daugherty (drums, percussion)
Lenny Kaye (bass, guitar, vocals)
Ivan Kral (guitar, bass)
Patti Smith (guitar, vocals)
Richard Sohl (keyboards)
Tracklist:
01. Ask The Angels (Kral/Smith) 3.07
02. Ain´t It Strange (Kral/Smith) 6.35
03. Poppies (Smith/Sohl) 7.05
04. Pissing In A River (Kral/Smith) 4.41
05. Pumping (My Heart) (Daughtery/Kral/Smith) 3.20
06. Distant Fingers (Lanier/Smith) 4.17
07. Radio Ethopia (Kaye/Smith) 10.00
08. Abyssinia (Kaye/Smith/Sohl) 2.10
09. Chicklets (Kral/Smith) 6.22
just was reminded of this...
worth owning...
...
