This November marks the 50th anniversary of the release of Patti Smith’s acclaimed and influential debut album, Horses. In celebration of the milestone, the legendary punk poet will release an expanded edition of Horses on October 10.
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The reissue, which can be pre-ordered now, will be available as a two-CD set and a two-LP vinyl collection. Both releases will feature a newly remastered version of the original album, and an extra disc of outtakes and other rarities.
The bonus disc features Smith’s original RCA audition demo recordings of “Gloria: In Excelsis Deo” and “Redondo Beach.” It also contains a few previously unreleased songs, “Snowball” and “Distant Fingers,” and unheard alternate takes of “Birdland,” “Kimberly,” “Break It Up.”
“Snowball” has been released as the first advance single from the Horses reissue. It’s available now via streaming services. The track is highlighted by hypnotic riffing by Patti’s longtime guitarist Lenny Kaye.
More About Smith and the Horses Album
By the time Smith recorded the album, she already had already gained notoriety as a talented poet.
Being heavily influenced by the beat writers, Smith helped serve as a bridge between the beat and hippie eras and New York City’s punk-rock scene. Musically, Horses was influenced by garage rock, art rock, and jazz.
The album begins with Smith’s updated and extended version of the Van Morrison-written Them classic “Gloria,” which begins with the intense and poetic Smith-penned intro “In Excelsis Deo.”
Horses was produced by former Velvet Underground member John Cale. Smith was backed by the original members of her band, the Patti Smith Group, which featured Kaye, drummer Jay Dee Daugherty, guitarist/bassist Ivan Kral, and pianist Richard Sohl. Television frontman Tom Verlaine co-wrote and played guitar on the track “Break It Up.” Blue Öyster Cult member Allen Lanier co-wrote and contributed guitar to “Elegie.”
Smith’s Comments About the Horses Reissue
In a recent post on her Substack page, Smith discussed the Horses reissue. Patti reported that 6,500 copies of the vinyl reissue will be available.
She noted that the bonus disc “was compiled after much labor.” Smith added that it features “[u]nearthed recordings, a couple live pieces from [the New York City punk club] CBGB, youthful efforts gathering dust, little bits scavenged from half a century ago.”
She also reflected on the making of the album.
“When we recorded Horses I hoped to communicate with like minds, the misfits, disenfranchised, those scraping away off the beaten track,” Patti said. “I am quite moved that the community I hoped to find, found us as well and those that survived are still at work.”
About Smith’s Upcoming Tour Dates and Book
On September 16, Smith will play a one-off show with her quartet in Rome. Then, Patti and her full current band will launch a 50th anniversary Horses tour, starting with a European leg running from an October 6 concert in Dublin through an October 20-21 stand in Paris.
She’ll then bring the trek to the U.S. in November. That leg is plotted out from a November 10 performance in Seattle through a November 29 concert in Philadelphia. Check out all of her tour dates at PattiSmith.com.
Smith also is preparing a new memoir titled Bread of Angels that will be published on November 4. The book will feature Patti delving into various periods of her life, including her childhood in Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey; her teenage years, when she began to develop a passion for art and music; her emergence as a punk icon; hiatus from music and her time raising a family in Michigan; and more.
You can pre-order Bread of Angles at PenguinRandomHouse.com.
Horses (50th Anniversary) Two-CD Track List:
Disc 1
- “Gloria: In Excelsis Deo”
- “Redondo Beach”
- “Birdland”
- “Free Money”
- “Kimberly”
- “Break It Up”
- “Land”: “Horses”/“Land of a Thousand Dances”/“La Mer(de)”
- “Elegie”
Disc 2
- “Gloria: In Excelsis Deo” (RCA Demo)*
- “Redondo Beach” (RCA Demo)
- “Birdland” (Alternate Take)*
- “Snowball”*
- “Kimberly” (Alternate Take)*
- “Break It Up” (Alternate Take)*
- “Distant Fingers”*
- “The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game”*
- “We Three”*
* = previously unreleased.
(Photo by Frank Stefanko)
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