Installment Vol. 2, Page 3

During the winter of 1975, Tom Verlaine of "Television" and an underground poet named Patti Smith became friends. I heard they used to rendezvous, for tea and knishes at "Yonah Schimmel's" an old Lower East Side eatery, a few blocks from CBGB.

Patti had started to sing and read poetry with her side kick, Lenny Kaye at "Max's Kansas City". Finally a band was formed around Patti that incuded J.D. Doherty, Ivan Krall, and of course, Lenny Kaye. They needed a place to play before an audience especially since Clive Davis, owner of Arista Records, was very interested in seeing her and possibly signing her to a recording contract. (Lucky for CBGB) Patti's manager, Jane Friedman (Jane had been a public relations wiz for the previous few years with clients like Stevie Wonder, and was quickly becoming a respected artist's manager) came to me one day with the proposal that Patti play CB's with Television as the opening band. (At that time every band played two rotating sets.) In the 70's, establishments stayed open till 3 or 4 a.m. - 4am was the legal closing time.

That first night, their performances were so well received that we agreed to have "The Patti Smith Group" four nights a week, two sets a night, till further notice. Well, they stayed seven weeks!! Clive Davis and staff came down several times and eventually signed the band right out of CBGB's. The performances were truly a wonderful experience for the staff and myself. The band was great, Patti was great; every show was special. Their audiences, because of her notoriety, were composed of writers, artists, musicians, and other celebrities (all fans). It was a most unusual crowd ranging from punks to professors. The audience reflected "HER". Andy Warhol, Allen Ginsburg, and Allen Lanier from the "Blue Oyster Cult"(the 3 A's) were here repeatedly as well as Lou Reed, John Cale and many others. It must have been inspiring for Patti and the band and again I must say, it sure was exciting for all of us.

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