Patti Smith - 'Teenage Perversity And Ships In The Night' (1976)

Versions:
LP

Tracklisting:

Side One:
1. Real Good Time Together
2. Privilege (Set Me Free) (listed as 'Watching The Breeze')
3. Ain't It Strange (listed as 'Strained On Strange')
4. Kimberly
5. Redondo Beach
6. Pale Blue Eyes/Louie Louie (listed as 'Sort Of Louie Louie')

Side Two:
1. Pumping (My Heart) (listed as 'The Smooth Stone Beyond')
2. Birdland (listed as 'Radio Ethiopia')
3. Gloria/In Excelsis Deo
4. My Generation

Best Tracks:
Birdland
Gloria
Ain't It Strange
Privilege

Currently listening to: LP

Teenage Perversity And Ships In The Night was the first Patti Smith record I ever got. It's a bootleg, recorded at The Roxy in Los Angeles in January 1976. My copy has a plain white cover, with the tracks listed in pen (and, mostly, with incorrect track names) on the insert. It's cost me $5 when I was 16. And, it ignited a passionate obsession with Patti Smith that continues to this day.

As a teenager, I listened exclusively to music made between 1965 and 1975, mostly classic rock stuff. The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix - that sort of thing. And, of course, my beloved Janis. The great music being made at the time (this was the early mid-90's) was, for better or worse, lost on me until much later. But, I was always hungry to discover new music. Once I started digging around for something a bit more obscure, I discovered The Velvet Underground, The Stooges and, of course, Patti Smith. Not that those three are particularly obscure. However, in the dull suburbia of my teenage years, they were. They were also incredibly exciting.

I got Teenage Perversity And Ships In The Night and The Stooges' Fun House within a week of each other. As wanky as it is to say, they were both life changers. Life hasn't been quite the same since that fateful week in 1998.

I first heard of Patti on a documentary about the early punk scene in New York. They played a clip of her singing 'Land'. It was like nothing I'd ever heard before. I became obsessed with knowing more about this woman. My local record store had just started stocking vinyl and had Teenage Perversity And Ships In The Night. I was dubious. I wasn't sure if this plain sleeved record would satisfy my curiosity. But, it was only $5. I took the chance. I bought it.

I'm so very glad I did.

This record served as a perfect introduction to Patti Smith. It was recorded between Horses and Radio Ethiopia, and heavily features tracks from both. It's a great, energetic performance. So much so that it took me a little while to get used to the recorded versions of these songs, particularly the Radio Ethiopia tracks. The version of 'Birdland' here is absolutely brilliant. It was the moment I decided I loved this woman. It perfectly encapsulates what I love about early Patti Smith. Patti improvises the beginning of it (including a hilarious rap about not caring about destroying the ozone layer), then goes into a story about an incestuous relationship between a father and a son - it fits the story of the song surprisingly well, and gives the song a darker edge than the Horses version.

Here it is, for those interested.

The versions of 'Gloria' and 'Privilege' here are still my favourites. They're easily on par with the recorded versions. I also loved 'We're Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together' - another song that was featured on the documentary I'd seen. It took me a long time to work out that, to my disappointment, it had never been released on any of Patti's albums - though, it is a standard on just about every bootleg from this period, as is her great version of 'Pale Blue Eyes'. Both are still favourites.

Not long after I bought this record, I got Horses - which, I shouldn't have to tell you, is brilliant. It feels like Horses should be the perfect introduction to Patti. And it probably is. For me, though, Teenage Perversity And Ships In The Night did the job nicely. It's a great record. It's a shame that no official live album has ever been released from this period. That said, it hardly matters. There's a few great vinyl bootlegs (this, I Never Talked To Bob Dylan and Live At The Bottom Line, the latter two will get their own blogs later), that serve their purpose, probably better than any official release would.