Patti Smith Drops Surprise Live Album Recorded at Electric Lady Studios

The seven tracks include five of Smith’s classics as well as covers of Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder.
Patti Smith Drops Surprise Live Album Recorded at Electric Lady Studios

The seven tracks include five of Smith’s classics as well as covers of Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder.

Words: Margaret Farrell

August 26, 2021

Today, Patti Smith dropped a surprise EP for the live series that Spotify and New York City’s Electric Lady Studios have put together. The release includes performances of “Birdland” (from her first album Horses, recorded at the studio in 1975), “Ghost Dance,” and “Broken Flag,” along with covers of Bob Dylan’s “One Too Many Mornings” and Stevie Wonder’s “Blame It on the Sun.”

“We are very proud to be part of Spotify’s Live at Electric Lady series, our favorite recording studio,” Smith said in a press release. “It was a unique challenge and offered us an exciting and innovative platform. We are grateful to Spotify for their generous support and willingness to present a live performance with all its possibilities of risk and revelation.”

Electric Lady’s GM/Partner Lee Foster, added: “Prior to recording, I had been discussing cover song options to present to Patti with Tony Shanahan, Patti’s MD and longtime bassist/pianist. We’d yet to mention to Patti that we’d hoped to record a cover during the session, so she was unaware at the time. Days went by and Tony and I couldn’t find the right song together. Then, as we’d just begun to agonize over it, he called me excitedly and asked, ‘Is ‘Blame It On the Sun’ from Talking Book [Stevie Wonder’s 1972 album recorded at Electric Lady]?’ I looked quickly to confirm and told him yes. For no reason at all that morning Patti had texted him to say that the song was stuck in her head and that she wanted the band to learn it. Kismet.”

Listen to the whole EP below.