It’s super simple, but super effective. And that’s probably because the photographer was no less than Robert Mapplethorpe. He and Patti just so happened to be roommates, meeting for the first time on Patti’s first day in NYC.
Another thing I like about this cover is the punk theme – the black & white, the minimal titles, the skinny tie … There are interesting – and pretty sophisticated – themes of androgyny and confidence/reticence going on too. It was actually done on a Polaroid, in natural light, at a friend’s apartment.
Surprisingly, Mapplethorpe actually did no less than 43 covers, with several more of Patti’s, as well as ones for Joan Armatrading, Phillip Glass, and Peter Gabriel.
He is, of course, mostly known for his very transgressive and controversial homosexual – well, let’s call it what it is – pornography (I won’t be showing any of that here).
How to describe Patti Smith? She’s kind of one of those artists who no one listens to, but everyone acknowledges their importance. Indeed, she was more of a poet than a musician (and a little famous for being famous to boot). All that said, she is in the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame and made it onto Rolling Stone’s Top 100 … but also won a National Book Award and received a medal from the French.
Horses was Patti’s first album, and probably her best. Critics loved it, and it has been cited by acts such as The Smiths, REM, Courtney Love, and PJ Harvey.
Patti doesn’t really have any other great covers - most were just other portraits:
Here, though, are those that are not. I rather like the first one, and have always been fascinated the second:
That’s her dad, by the way.
Hard to believe, but even Patti gets a send up:
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