Spector and Smith, Making Rock History
Last year, famed 1960s crooner Ronnie Spector released The Last of the Rock Stars, her first full-length CD in 20 years. One of the guest artists on that disc is another female rock legend: Patti Smith. Both will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday.
We searched our archives and found past interviews with both musicians.
The Ronettes
Spector and Smith, Making Rock History
Classic Ronettes:
'Be My Baby'
'Baby, I Love You'
'Walking in the Rain'
There were plenty of girl groups in the 1960s— The Supremes, the Shirelles — who harmonized and wore glamorous gowns. But the Ronettes, from left: Ronnie Bennett (Spector), Nedra Talley and Estelle Bennett, were raised in New York's Spanish Harlem. They projected the image of tough street kids with their skin-tight dresses and beehive hairdos. With Ronnie's intense, quavering voice and the studio wizardry of legendary producer Phil Spector, it was their sound that made them stars.
Patti Smith
Spector and Smith, Making Rock History
Two From 'Horses'
'Gloria'
'Kimberly'
One From 'Easter'
'Because the Night'
As a vagabond poet in the early 1970s, Patti Smith wanted to kick some life into the rock scene. Smith did just that in 1971, when she staged a poetry reading backed by Lenny Kaye on guitar. Soon, she had a regular gig at CBGB's in New York. Her first album, Horses, released in 1975, propelled Smith into the vanguard of art rock. It was a combination of surreal, stream-of-consciousness poetry and raw, garage-band rock.