Patti Smith - So You Want To Be A Rock and Roll Star

[GazulMarie]

You are great Patti!!

[jityr2]

We all need to pitch in and protest SOPA and PIPA. They're threatening to prevent us from watching good videos like this. And much more.

[MaceMn]

She rocks

[mharrin5507]

wiggers

[amberfwn]

God I love this song, especially by Patti!

[PearlandOrchid]

I have covered Patti Smith numbers in my previous band Presently she and I are friends I'm really grateful for the friendship She inpires me

[smilelikeUmeanit90]

WOW!! OMG I LOVE HER, SHE SOOO COOL

[gwyllem]

Guitarist is hot.



[jimbomania001]

Patti je t'aime éternellement

[SLACKER614]

long live the Byrds!

[scaramoochscaramooch]

didnt the drummer get killed by a hit and run driver near vegas??? 

[BognarRegis]

@scaramoochscaramooch when did that supposedly happen?

[koboldfranz]

@maguirearch she was and is good!! at that time 1978..it wasnt mainstream..mainstream at this time were..genesis..the who..deep purple and so on..but patti it was american punk..like b 52s, ramones or talking heads..you know? but patti had the feeling and sound and voice.. i love her then and now! great stll underastimeted artist! her interpretation of the bosses (because the night...bruce springsteen) is legend!! i love patti o)

[Maguirearch]

Didnt Know Smith was so good I thought she was a bit avant garde for me but she is more mainstream that I thought.

[YouzTube99]

My guess is that the out of tune stuff was done on purpose. Check the beginning of the vid. Patti seems mischievous and there's a lot of tuning -- or detuning -- going on in the background.

Keep in mind that as a poet, she's keenly aware of words and the original point of this song, which was a satire on how easy it is to become a rock star: "Just get a guitar and learn how to play". What better way to add a bit of fun to that than playing out of tune?

[spudcustardx1]

@YouzTube99

Its in tune fine to me, but I'm her age, just read her book and she is a really nice person. I love the fact that she is balls'y as hell and a real lady as well

Spud

[Rickencaster]

...Patti plays a very rare Rickenbacker 480/481?. ...but totally out of tune! Nevertheless I love it!

[jnuttle765]

deep down inside i wish it was me who was invited to todd's house to see patti smith and meatloaf jam to "so you want to be a rock and roll star" might be the coolest story ever.

[curiousnomad]

She has some f@#king balls.

[ikkoti]

Alright everyone. This is shit, right? Guitars outta tune, singer outta coke, the band outta style. The Byrds' version (on Turn! Turn! Turn! cd) was way cooler.

[MrSKINFLICK]

@ikkoti maybe that version was intended to be as it sounded ! rock´n´roll sometimes is not about playing exact clean versions of the orginal !

[ikkoti]

@MrSKINFLICK You got that right MrSkinflick. I listen to the Stooges, Richard Hell and G.G. Allin every day but this version to me is pretentious, somebody trying but failing to sound nasty and raw.

[MrSKINFLICK]

@ikkoti: ah no, that was not my intention. i experienced the whole Patti concert back then in 1979 (April) live on German TV and it was wholly awesome. dunno why this version of the Byrds sounds so weird, but punk is like that sometimes....i wanted to say: maybe the boys of Patti Smith Group intentionally mistuned their guitars. one has not always to be there just for enjoyment only...and and think it´s no blasphemy to play a Byrds´ song like that.............

[genericgeorge]

@ikkoti Younger Than Yesterday cd

[ikkoti]

I'm sad to tell you but this is shit compared with any live version of the song by the byrds.

[comingandgoing]

@ikkoti

Plllllllleeeeze, apples to oranges-they are both great. Patti brought it gritty and nasty not nice.

[ikkoti]

@comingandgoing No, it's just like any high school band performing.

[missZiggy549]

wave, my favorite Patti album.

[whitefeet1]

Johnny Winter was on the bill? That musta been some night!!

[dd21424]

Patti does a great cover on this one , but I am a big fan of her music , i agree she kicks butt..........

[louiseduvee]

She kicks ass!

[barrottceaver]

Excellent clip! Thank you very much for posting, I feel 20 years younger!

[cherlyndria]

I love the studio version of this song that she did. It kicks some major butt. I am trying to remember what album it came out on. They quit playing it on the radio. I used to blast it everytime it came on the radio. She totally rocked the song.

[louiseduvee]

Wave

[TaraTownsend]

"Wave"

[ijustlovetea]

This must have been right after Wave came out.

[HippieJimi]

HOW...can ya not Love Patti....really....if she ain't cool....I don't know who is...Jimi..

[jrosenum1]

This cool fresh performance, I like you: Jolie

[citroen66]

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers did a good (live) version of this song, but Patti gives give it an extra kick. PS -- rocker, chanteuse, poet.

[FlashFace]

Totally and utterly compelling. Nice one, Patti!

[carolesmagicworkshop]

Patti does the best version of this song I think***

[mmarley]

Even though Patti is a political wack-job, she has a great rock voice and the energy in this song is incredible. Honestly, with the exception of the lousy lead guitar, the band is pretty tight.

[herracaligari]

I kind of like that political wacko part.

[dcarr84]

Bozo the clown would have been better than Bush, Seriously.

[Exumaishere]

@dcarr84 You dumb fuck. Seriously.

[chillyswillys]

el que tenga oídos...

esa manta

única

tan bader-meinhoff

con ese rock

ese año

todavía

ea ea

[BognarRegis]

You're right it was written by The Byrds. Then again there are people who think that Downtown Train is a Rod Stewart song.

[granamyer]

Maybe Im wrong but I think this song was writen by The Byrds

[norkannen]

Rockpalast 1979. First time i saw Patti on telly and live on telly. Omg she rocks.

[diddywahdaddy]

Same here, it blew my socks or whatever off and then some. And this was the first tune of the show...wow! But GAWD, that guitar of Lenny Kaye is so very out of tune, esp in the beginning. And I'm not very posh about these things normally. Stubborn individualism, or just very stoned?

[einrobstein]

One of my fav Patti Smith songs, but that guitar solo was seriously weak (by the lead guitarist).

[donnaperrault]

It's punk.

[Reint25]

Yeah, especially because his guitar is som out of tune. But believe me, the notes he does play are great, and also: Lenny Kaye is a great guitarist, played lead on almost all of the Patti Smith-albums.