I Love The Smell Of Punk In The Morning- “Gloria”- Patti Smith.

Patti Smith an early pioneer of punk rock- has been called the poet laureate of punk rock. Over the years she has been a major influence on a number of artists inspiring the likes of Michael Stipe, U2, The Smiths. The Go Betweens, Courtney Love, The Waterboys- the list seems endless even Madonna has cited Patti Smith as a role model.

The first song on the first Patti Smith album- is “Gloria”- a song written by Van Morrison back in his days with Them. The first part of the Patti Smith cover- ‘In Excelsis” was written by Smith- the second part the Morrison cover kicks in. The album is comes from Horses is widely considered to be one of the most influential punk rock albums ever. Even with little airplay back in 1975 the album was able to crack the Top 50 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart.  For the year critics voting in The Village Voice poll ranked it the second best album of the year only behind Bob Dylan/ The Band’s- The Basement Tapes. Rolling Stone has ranked Horses at #44 on their 500 Greatest Albums Ever list- even Time Magazine has it in their 100 Greatest Albums list.