Patti Smith Opens Up About Her Lifelong Love of Poetry Ahead of NJ Festival Appearance

Oh, yeah. It was in ‘70, ‘71. At the time, I was living with Sam Shephard, and I had to do a poetry reading. I wanted it to be different, a little more energetic, and he suggested I find a guitar player to work on a couple of songs or a couple of poems. So it was really Sam Shepard’s idea. And I had met Lenny, and I asked him if he would do that, and we performed it. I did my poetry,…