Easter (album)

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Easter
Studio album by The Patti Smith Group
Released	March 3, 1978
Recorded	Record Plant Studios, New York, House of Music, West Orange, New Jersey, 1977
Genre	Rock/Punk
Length	39:44
Label	Arista Records
Producer(s)	Jimmy Iovine
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Lester Bangs (not clear) link Robert Christgau (A-) link Rolling Stone (not rated) link
The Patti Smith Group chronology
Radio Ethiopia (1976)	Easter (1978)	Wave (1979)

Easter is a 1978 album by The Patti Smith Group. Produced by Jimmy Iovine, it is regarded as the most commercial of their albums, owing to the success of the song "Because the Night" (co-written by Smith and Bruce Springsteen), which reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Contents 1 History 2 Namechecking references 3 Track listing 4 Bonus track (1996 reissue) 5 Personnel 5.1 Additional personnel 6 Charts 7 Covers

[edit] History

The first album released since she had suffered a neck injury while touring for Radio Ethiopia, Easter has been called the most commercially accessible of the Patti Smith Group's catalogue. Unlike its two predecessors, Easter incorporated a diversity of musical styles, though still including classic rock'n'roll ("Rock N Roll Nigger," one of Smith's most famous songs, "25th Floor/High on Rebellion," "Till Victory"), folk on "Ghost Dance'" spoken word on "Babelogue" (which concludes with the musical intro to "Rock N Roll Nigger" becoming louder and louder) and pop on the title track.

The cover photograph is by Lynn Goldsmith and liner notes photography by Cindy Black and Robert Mapplethorpe.

Smith's cover of "Privilege (Set Me Free)" made it into the UK charts.

Easter is the only 1970s album of Smith's that does not feature Richard Sohl as part of the Patti Smith Group; Bruce Brody is credited as the keyboard player. Sohl does contribute keyboards to the track "Space Monkey," however.

"Rock N Roll Nigger" is included on the soundtrack of Natural Born Killers.

[edit] Namechecking references

In the 1996 remaster, Smith namechecks the following people/places/things in the liner notes:

• Alain Delon - 1960s French actor
• Pier Paolo Pasolini - 1960s Italian poet and film director
• Bernardo Bertolucci - 1960s Italian writer and film director
• Jean-Luc Godard - 1960s Franco-Swiss filmmaker
• 42nd Street and Ninth Avenue, New York, in the 1970s a crime-ridden zone of drugs, prostitution and grindhouses
• August 16, 1977 - date of Elvis Presley's death
• Ghost Dance - nineteen century religious movement among some Native American tribes
• Arthur Rimbaud - nineteen century French poet
• Frédéric Rimbaud - Arthur's brother
• r.e.f.m. - radio ethiopia field marshal ref
• Privilege (film) - 1967 British movie
• Jean Shrimpton - 1960s British model and actress
• Paul Jones - 1960s British musician and actor
• The Rolling Stones - no further reference necessary
• Charles Baudelaire - nineteenth century French poet
• CBGB - music club (1973-2006)
• Little Richard - African-American singer-songwriter

[edit] Track listing

1. "Till Victory" (Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye) – 2:50
2. "Space Monkey" (Smith, Ivan Kral, Tom Verlaine) – 4:06
3. "Because the Night" (Smith, Bruce Springsteen) – 3:25
4. "Ghost Dance" (Smith, Kaye) – 4:44
5. "Babelogue" (Smith) – 1:30
6. "Rock N Roll Nigger" (Smith, Kaye) – 3:25
7. "Privilege (Set Me Free)" (Mark London, Paul Jones, Mike Leander) – 3:29
8. "We Three" (Smith) – 4:18
9. "25th Floor" (Smith, Kral) – 4:03
10. "High on Rebellion" (Smith) – 2:37
11. "Easter" (Smith, Jay Dee Daugherty) – 6:15

[edit] Bonus track (1996 reissue)

1. "Godspeed" (Smith, Kral) – 6:09

[edit] Personnel

• Lenny Kaye – fender stratocaster, bass, vocals
• Ivan Kral – les paul electric guitar, bass, vocals
• Jay Dee Daugherty – drums, percussion, musical consultant
• Patti Smith – vocals, fender duo sonic
• Bruce Brody – keyboards, synthesizers

[edit] Additional personnel

• Richard Sohl – keyboards on 2
• Allen Lanier – keyboards on 2
• John Paul Fetta – bass on 1, 7
• Andi Ostrowe – additional percussion on 4
• Jim Maxwell – bagpipes on 11

[edit] Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1978	Billboard Pop Albums	20

Single

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1978	"Because the Night"	Billboard Pop Singles	13

[edit] Covers

• Shock rocker Marilyn Manson would release a cover of "Rock n Roll Nigger" on the Smells Like Children EP. His live performances of the song drew considerable controversy.
• 10,000 Maniacs covered "Because the Night" 1n 1993.