Patti Smith at the University of Houston

Patti Smith presented several excerpts from her autobiography “Just Kids” last night, April 19 at the University of Houston’s Cullen Performance Hall. She also performed a few songs, fielded questions, and recited a poem.

She told us about her first encounter with Allen Ginsburg—he bought her a sandwich and a cup of coffee and mistook her for a “very pretty boy.” She liked Gilda Radner’s portrayal of her on SNL and said, “It’s true, I do brush my arm hair.” There were recounts of Jim Carroll, Jeff Buckley, and several of Robert Maplethorpe. “Greatful” was written after a vision she had of Jerry Garcia. “You know, like you would see Jesus in a potato chip,” she said. She recalled the first time she heard her Springsteen collaboration “Because the Night” playing to the public. She then sang it a cappella and we sang along.

“Oh, take their picture,” a woman who spotted them in Greenwich Village one afternoon urged her husband. “I think they’re artists.” “Oh, go on,” the husband said. “They’re just kids.”
~ Patti Smith: “Just Kids”