Outside Society: Looking Back 1975-2007

by Patti Smith

Overview

Patti Smith won the National Book Award in the nonfiction category for Just Kids, her best-selling memoir about her years in the New York of the 1960s and '70s, and her long intimate and collaborative relationship with her best friend, the late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. The book was released in paperback earlier in 2011, and is currently being developed for a feature film with Smith working on the screenplay. Sony Legacy, in its turn, is focusing anew on her musical career: Outside Society is the first single-disc collection of her work to span both her Arista and Columbia years from 1975 through 2007. While Smith fans no doubt have everything contained here -- of the 18 tracks collected , each album is represented -- this disc serves as an excellent introduction to Smith's ever evolving, non-compromising art which combines high-stakes poetry with rock & roll. While her two most familiar songs -- "Because the Night" (written in collaboration with Bruce Springsteen) and her version of the Byrds' So You Wanna Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star," are here; so are other singles: "People Have the Power," "Up There Down There," "Dancing Barefoot," and "Frederick." In addition, her own signature version of Van Morrison's "Gloria" is included, as are more unlikely selections like "Ain't It Strange" and "Pissing in a River" from the highly controversial and enduringly visionary Radio Ethiopia album. Smith, however, is not an artist who can merely be relegated to the dustbin of rock's gloried past, as more recent additions, such as "1959," "Summer Cannibals," the radio edit of "Lo and Beholden," and the title track from Trampin' attest. A nice addition to the set is the radio edit of her version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," recorded as a tribute to Kurt Cobain, which appeared on the album Twelve. The liner notes offer Smith's own reflection on her songs. ~Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	08/23/2011
Label:	Arista / Columbia / Legacy / Sony Legacy / Sony Music
UPC:	0886979431522
Rank:	146762

Tracks

1. Gloria
2. Free Money
3. Ain't It Strange
4. Pissing in a River
5. Because the Night
6. Rock N Roll Nigger
7. Dancing Barefoot
8. Frederick
9. So You Want to Be a Rock n Roll Star
10. People Have the Power
11. Up There Down There
12. Beneath the Southern Cross
13. Summer Cannibals
14. 1959
15. Glitter in Their Eyes
16. Lo and Beholden [Radio Edit]
17. Smells Like Teen Spirit [Radio Edit]
18. Trampin'

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Patti Smith   Primary Artist
Patti Smith Group   Primary Artist
John Cale   Organ
Jeff Buckley   Vocals
Michael Stipe   Vocals (Background)
Bruce Brody   Piano
Tom Verlaine   Guitar,Soloist,Guitar (Electric)
Wade Raley   Vocals (Background)
Rick Kiernan   Musical Saw

Technical Credits

Fred "Sonic" Smith   Composer,Producer
Dave Grohl   Composer
Greg Calbi   Mastering
Lenny Kaye   Composer,Producer
Jay Dee Daugherty   Cover Portrait
John Cale   Producer
Rob Santos   Executive Producer
Van Morrison   Composer
Jimmy Iovine   Producer
Bruce Springsteen   Composer
Gil Norton   Producer
Malcolm Burn   Producer
Patti Smith   Composer,Producer
Roger McGuinn   Composer
Oliver Ray   Composer
Todd Rundgren   Engineer,Producer
Tony Shanahan   Compilation Producer,Composer,Producer
Kurt Cobain   Composer
Chris Hillman   Composer
Ivan Kral   Composer
Krist Novoselic   Composer
Jack Douglas   Producer
Daugherty   Producer
Mark Neuman   Project Manager
Lynn Goldsmith   Photography
David Bett   Art Direction
Lisa Buckler   Project Manager
Edward Boatner   Arranger