Rating: NNNN
By the time Patti Smith released Gung Ho, she was already thinking about her next move. I recall her talking about playing the guitar at home and returning to Harry Smith’s Anthology Of American Folk Music – an early touchstone – for inspiration. She chuckled at the notion of releasing a folk-blues record, but that’s really the basis of her new work. Listen closely to Trampin’ and you’ll hear elements of the eerie field hollers, hellfire gospel sermonizing and mountain folk mysticism that Harry Smith unearthed, only Smith tempers each poetic turn with her own characteristic earth mother empathy and Piss Factory passion. A quieter and gentler approach at times, but Smith clearly still burns with the revolutionary spirit.
