Beautiful presence, humor and intact voice, the American singer, musician and writer gave Monday evening at the Théâtre de l’Odéon in Paris a unique literary performance mixing memories and music around the publication of her latest work. At 76 years old, Patti Smith remains very inspiring.
A few days after the publication in France of his latest work, A book of days (Gallimard) Patti Smith came to present it on stage at the Théâtre de l’Odéon, Monday October 2, 2023, during a unique literary performance in English (without subtitles), of the same type as those which mixed poetry and music with her debut in New York fifty years ago. “Happy to be in this place”where she had already given a public reading of her formidable autobiographical story Just Kids in the company of Isabelle Huppert in 2010, this time the artist proposed “a little journey inside the Book of days“.
One photo and one note per day
This work, made up of a selection of 366 photos, one per day (+ one for those born on February 29), briefly captioned, was born, she recalls, during the pandemic. She mixed in “old polaroids, photos from (his) archives and those of (her) cellphone”, which she feeds her Instagram account. She exhibits her personal pantheon, the great figures who mattered to her, from William Burroughs to Nico, from Jackson Pollock to Frida Kahlo – including a number of tombs and beds of deceased artists who inspired her and whom she loves follow the steps – as well as the little things and favorite objects of your daily life.
As for the texts, which mix memories and personal meditations, “it’s a version of my daily practice”explains the adopted New Yorker on stage: “every morning I drink coffee, if possible in a café, and I write. We find many of these notes in the book.
Humor and kindness
Patti Smith, 76 years old, as in herself with her long white hair and her biker boots with buckles, is surrounded on stage by her two children (whom she had with her husband, MC5 guitarist Fred “Sonic ” Smith), Jessie on keyboards and Jackson on guitar, reinforced by his faithful musician Tony Shanahan on guitar and bass. They will provide with her, who also grabs the six-string several times, the promised musical interludes. At the back of the stage, a large screen on which certain pages of the book which will punctuate the evening must be projected.
Except that during the first quarter of an hour, the projection misfires. Nothing comes. Patti does not give up, and shows humor: “C‘is a Rothko’she jokes in front of the empty screen, excusing in advance the person responsible by emphasizing with kindness that “error constitutes a quarter of what I do”. In fact, her fly inadvertently remaining open throughout the performance is one… that she did not fail to note on her Instagram account (below).
A handful of hits and covers to celebrate its icons
A Francophile if ever there was one, the American singer, musician, poet and writer could have chosen to flatter her audience by unrolling the numerous “aesthetic and emotional ties” who “linked to French culture”and which surface in its Book of days where we come across Rimbaud (her great love, for whom she inaugurated a “trail” in the Ardennes the day before) as well as Godard, Cocteau, Simone Weil, Antonin Artaud, Jean Genet and Guillaume Apollinaire. Too simple. Instead, she dug into her book for this performance to accomplish at once.the sacred duty of remembrance” and introduce the beautiful handful of songs, often presented as tributes, that she would perform.
So, the musical part begins with the song Gratefully, in the form of a salute to Joan Baez (whose photo from the book appears on the screen) and to “all the activists of yesterday, today and tomorrow “. When singing, his voice is the same as before and the magic happens instantly. Inhabited, without forcing, she takes us into her world and miraculously cleanses us of all the dross of the day. Will follow in particular Dancing Barefoot for Nico, the covers One Too Many Mornings by Bob Dylan in homage to Zim and Guiding Light of Television for Tom Verlaine, but also Because The Night (co-written with Springsteen) dedicated to her husband Fred “Sonic” Smith and the always galvanizing People Have The Power in the end, which still resonates in people’s heads for a long time.
Memories of Godard, Burroughs and “Horses”
These musical interludes are interspersed with off-camera details and tasty memories concerning the photos that scroll on the screen. Of William Burroughs, she says: “it was very affectionate with me, which I was very proud of”. She remembers her work with Jean-Luc Godard on Socialism Movie (2010) and how he had invited her and her guitarist Lenny Kaye aboard a boat… which turned out to be a huge cruise ship, the Costa Concordia (of sinister memory), which had taken them from Cyprus to Alexandria, where she finally had permission to take a Polaroid of the filmmaker.
She also says that the release of her first album Horses had been set for October 20, 1975, the anniversary of Arthur Rimbaud’s birth, but her record company Arista had to warn her of an unfortunate setback, the release being rescheduled for November 10. “Perfect, it’s the day Rimbaud died.”, she congratulated herself. To which the boss of Arista, Clive Davis, replied, taken aback: “But how do you do it?”.
This Book of Days, she sees it as “arrows that aim at the heart of things.” We can also receive it as an invitation to slow down and draw inspiration. Because there are both familiar landmarks and lesser-known figures like Albertine Sarrazin, “little saint of non-conformist writers”, which we now really want to read. Her Book of Days thus turns out to be a collection of small white pebbles to find the path to wonder.
“A Book of Days” by Patti Smith was released on September 28 by Gallimard
“Une Saison en Enfer 1873” by Arthur Rimbaud, edition expanded with texts and photos by Patti Smith, was also published on September 28 by Gallimard.