Outside Society

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee Patti Smith raises the curtain on 'Outside Society', a new collection of her signature songs on the Arista and Columbia labels. The landmark 18-song release marks the first single-CD collection to span Patti's entire body of recorded work. The chronologically arranged tracks move from 1975 (her debut album, 'Horses', with "Gloria" and "Free Money") through 2007 ('Twelve', with her cover of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit").

The music on 'Outside Society' is newly remastered by award-winning engineer Greg Calbi and Patti Smith band member Tony Shanahan. The CD booklet features brief recollections of each song written by Patti, who personally supervised the choices. Of "Because The Night," for example, Patti writes: "Bruce Springsteen gave me a great gift in allowing me to lend verses to his beautifully constructed anthem. My contribution was written for my future husband, Fred 'Sonic' Smith. Though we have performed it hundreds of times, the strong response it draws always makes it fresh and exciting to sing."

The release of 'Outside Society' caps the year and a half of critical praise and adulation that has greeted the publication of Patti's New York Times non-fiction bestseller 'Just Kids' (Ecco, January 2010). In her autobiographical memoir, wrote the Times, "the godmother of punk recalls her time with Robert Mapplethorpe and their yearnings for a life in art in New York City."

The release of 'Outside Society' also precedes the Polar Music Prize gala in Sweden on August 30th, 2011. Patti Smith and the Kronos Quartet were selected as Laureates to receive the prestigious award from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. "By devoting her life to art in all its forms," said the Polar Music Prize committee, "Patti Smith has demonstrated how much rock'n'roll there is in poetry and how much poetry there is in rock'n'roll. Patti Smith is a Rimbaud with Marshall amps. She has transformed the way an entire generation looks, thinks and dreams. With her inimitable soul of an artist, Patti Smith proves over and over again that people have the power."

The establishment recognition of 'Just Kids' has won an enormous new following for Patti Smith - and 'Outside Society' now provides the perfect entry point into her music for those new fans.

Writing about "Trampin'," the final track on 'Outside Society', Patti muses in autobiographical style reminiscent of 'Just Kids': "This unique spiritual, originally sung by Marion Anderson, was performed live in the studio with my daughter Jesse. It sings for the weary traveler seeking a home after years of work, words, and wandering."