Patti Smith

A few weeks ago I was mightily disappointed in myself for missing the news that Patti Smith was appearing at Farringford Hotel, once home of Tennyson, here on the Isle of Wight.  With only about 200 tickets on sale, they apparently sold out in minutes.  Having scoured the net, visiting Wightbay regularly and brooding over the lack of progress in tracking down a ticket, I was fortunate enough to visit Vaguely Sunny’s website.  Information there pointed me to another source and now I can look forward to a great evening in June.  Patti will be singing and reading poetry.  The event recalls an incident in the late 70s when I bought an import picture sleeve 45 of Patti’s version of Gloria from a record store in my then home town of Reading.  Imagine my dismay when I got home and found that there was paper in the vinyl itself, making the disc unplayable!  This was then compounded by the shop refusing me a refund for what were plainly goods of unmerchantable quality.  Trading Standards sorted out the issue for me and I was able to collect a refund a week later, though of course no longer welcome at the one store that had good stock! Laying in bed this morning, listening to Gloria on CD over the headphones, I am struck by what a great version Patti’s is and how her voice seems almost elastic in its phrasing – a real gem.