Newsweek's Brian Braiker interviews the high priestess of punk, Patti Smith. She is my idol. I am her biggest fan EVAR, and have been since, like, age 12. If there is an emoticon for bowing, consider it inserted. Snip:
What's your take on the possible closure of CBGB?
Patti Smith: I have various thoughts on it. I have the Jackie Onassis spirit of preservation of our historic architecture. One of the things that has drawn so many people down to the Bowery area–the people living there and the housing and shops and all of the revitalization of that area–was CBGB. In those days the Bowery was skid row, there was nothing there but bums. People just didn't go there. It wasn't real dangerous; it was winos and hobos. They set the big trash cans on fire at night so they could warmWhat does the club mean to you?
I went down there on Easter 1974, [guitarist] Lenny Kaye and I went there to see [the rock band] Television, and there were about 11 people there. It was like a dream come true, the whole situation. It was a little bar, there weren't any grown-ups; you didn't feel that the mafia was there. You weren't forced to drink expensive stuff you didn't want. And Television was a revelation. It was for me a pivotal night of my life, walking into CBGB and seeing Television. It resonated all the possibilities of our youth, what we were doing, what we were attempting to do.What was that?
Our philosophy was that rock and roll should be a cultural voice and not glamorized. It didn't belong to the rich and famous; it belonged to the people. It was the perfect place for us to excite each other and incite people and develop what we were doing. It's sad for me to see CBGB's close down because it really hasn't changed at all, that's the other beautiful thing. The same murals are up on the wall. It hasn't gotten any better. The sound system hasn't really gotten much better. The smell hasn't gotten much better. It's the same place. Actually I think Lenny and I are going to play there on May Day. It's just a little job. We're just going to play to thank CBGB's, thank the walls, thank the stage. We're just doing it to touch those walls again.
