Two Times Intro: On the Road with Patti Smith

by Michael Stipe

Overview

"In Stipe’s startling photographs and 12 brief written homages, Patti Smith is depicted as a down-to-earth goddess, a part of and apart from her evolving entourage of musicians, artists, poets (Allen Ginsberg makes an appearance), and friends. This isn’t a traditional book of portraits . . . The overwhelming mood is one of disjunction, claustrophobia, exhaustion, temporariness--and the effect is raw and intimate . . . And [Stipe] is no longer the “dork nerd” teenager, but a fellow musician -- and from his proud, caring mien, even a protector."
--Publishers Weekly

"An energetic and gracious tribute to not only a great artist, but also to a powerful moment in her oeuvre -- and to those who contributed to it and shared in it."
--New York Journal of Books

"Stipe's personal friendship lends something greater to the overall vision of this book. It isn't simply a set of snapshots of performances, rather a collection of rare moments. The personal nature of the anthology makes it all the more enticing and enjoyable. Smith, in all her glory and awe-inspiring talent, is portrayed in the truest light."
--Verbicide Magazine

"A fascinating book . . . including appearances by Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Tom Verlaine, the members of Sonic Youth and more . . . and the short text tributes to Smith by these people, scattered throughout the manuscript, are well worth your time."
--Chicago Center for Literature and Photography

This book comprises Michael Stipe's intimate and evocative photos of Patti Smith on tour in 1995, along with other cultural celebrities who appeared with her, such as Allen Ginsberg. In addition to text by Stipe, William Burroughs, and Patti Smith, there is also commentary from Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Lenny Kaye, Tom Verlaine, and more.

Michael Stipe is a singer, photographer, film producer, and activist. He lives in Athens, GA, and New York, NY. R.E.M. formed in 1980 in Athens, GA, and is composed of Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe. Heralded by Rolling Stone as "America's Best Rock and Roll Band," R.E.M. rose from cult college radio status to sell more than seventy million albums worldwide and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781617750236
Publisher:	Akashic Books
Publication date:	08/30/2011
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Michael Stipe: Michael Stipe is a singer, photographer, film producer, and activist. He lives in Athens, Georgia and New York City. R.E.M. (http://www.remhq.com/) formed in 1980 in Athens, Georgia, and is composed of Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe. Heralded by Rolling Stone as "America's Best Rock and Roll Band," R.E.M. rose from cult college radio status to sell more than 70 million albums worldwide and be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

Read an Excerpt

Two Times Intro

On the Road with Patti Smith

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By Michael Stipe

AKASHIC BOOKS

Copyright © 2011 Michael Stipe
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-61775-023-6

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Chapter One

2x Re-Intro 2011 by Michael Stipe

This book and the small stories it touches upon mark a very important time in my life. It is, for me, funny and odd to look at it some thirteen years later, and to realize how much has, and has not, changed. People have moved on, some in life and some in death, and others have come in, or been born. Friendships and kinships have deepened and become profound and irreplaceable. Experience and art and music and inspiration have continued their march. The century is a new one and is already peopled with a generation offering insight, new opinion, and life-altering change.

Patti has gone on to produce some of the best music of her life, songs that capture her spirit and energy and love of life and history. It has been a pleasure and extraordinary thrill to see her grow back into this from the modest but exhilarating return to music and live performance that this book chronicles. The need to create is something that many of us share; to be able to watch her create, from this perspective, is blessed. To pull songs out of oneself, stories, narratives, to relay histories learned and lived, to do so with such humor, insight, and detail, is a true gift.

Patti carries in her work and actions a deep intelligence and profound love of life, all infused with levity, humility, chaos, and fine order; and her gift to us is sharing that in all its raw humanity, its curiosity, and ultimately, its grace.

With the worldwide success of Just Kids, the book of her and Robert Mapplethorpe's beginnings in New York City, Patti details the innocence of a distinctly important moment in time, and in a voice that no one has managed to sound before. She has brought us again to a new understanding of ourselves, which is the highest calling of an artist: to speak of their times and to do so in a manner that illuminates and alters the course of the present.

I am thrilled and humbled by the attention Two Times Intro has received, and I thank everyone involved in its being reprinted today. Special thanks are due to Anthony Arnove, Susan Bodine, David Belisle, and Oliver Ray, and to Johnny Temple and Akashic Books for their interest in publishing this book.

Michael Stipe April 2011

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Two Times Intro by Michael Stipe Copyright © 2011 by Michael Stipe. Excerpted by permission of AKASHIC BOOKS. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

Michael Stipe, REM frontman and rock star legend in his own right, becomes a self-declared “dork nerd” when talking about Patti Smith. “I first met Patti Smith in the autumn of 1975.... Somebody had left a music magazine, Cream, under the desk there was a haunting photograph of a young Patti Smith, leaning against a wall, staring down the camera, all scary and beautiful.” In Stipe’s startling photographs and 12 brief written homages, Patti Smith is depicted as a down-to-earth goddess, a part of and apart from her evolving entourage of musicians, artists, poets (Allen Ginsberg makes an appearance), and friends. This isn’t a traditional book of portraits—the images are eerie, smudged, and only a few are of Patti Smith herself. The subjects are rarely identified; there are no captions, and the book has no page numbers. A disproportionate number of the photographs are set in bathrooms. The overwhelming mood is one of disjunction, claustrophobia, exhaustion, temporariness—and the effect is raw and intimate. The photo of Stipe braiding Smith’s hair is representative: she giggles shyly, looking years younger than her chronological age. And he is no longer the “dork nerd” teenager, but a fellow musician—and from his proud, caring mien, even a protector. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly