Easter (Patti Smith Group album)

Easter
Studio album by Patti Smith Group
Released	March 3, 1978 (1978-03-03)
Recorded	August 1977
Studio	Record Plant (New York, New York) House of Music (West Orange, New Jersey)
Genre	Art punk glam rock new wave
Length	39:44
Label	Arista
Producer	Jimmy Iovine
Patti Smith Group chronology
Radio Ethiopia (1976) Easter (1978) Wave (1979)
Singles from Easter
"Because the Night" Released: 1978 "Privilege (Set Me Free)" Released: 1978

Easter is the third studio album by the Patti Smith Group. It was released in March 1978 by Arista Records. Produced by Jimmy Iovine, the album is regarded as the group's commercial breakthrough, owing to the success of the single "Because the Night" (co-written by Bruce Springsteen and Smith), which reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100^[1] and number five on the UK Singles Chart.^[2]

History[]

	"Because the Night" Menu 0:00 "Rock N Roll Nigger" Menu 0:00
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The first album released since Smith had suffered a neck injury while touring for Radio Ethiopia, Easter has been called the most commercially accessible of the Patti Smith Group's catalogue. Unlike its two predecessors, Easter incorporated a diversity of musical styles, though still including classic rock and roll ("25th Floor/High on Rebellion", "Rock N Roll Nigger"), folk ("Ghost Dance"^[3][4][5]), spoken word ("Babelogue") and pop music ("Because the Night"). Easter is the only 1970s album of Smith's that does not feature Richard Sohl as part of the Patti Smith Group; in one interview at the time, Smith stated that Sohl was sick and this prevented him from participating in recording the album. Bruce Brody is credited as the keyboard player, though Sohl makes a guest appearance contributing keyboards to "Space Monkey", along with Blue Öyster Cult keyboardist Allen Lanier. The cover photograph is by Lynn Goldsmith and the liner notes photography by Cindy Black and Robert Mapplethorpe.

Religious imagery[]

In addition to the religious allusion of its title, the album is replete with biblical and specifically Christian imagery. "Privilege (Set Me Free)" is taken from the British fame- and authoritarianism-satirizing film Privilege; its lyrics are adapted from Psalm 23. The LP insert reproduces a First Communion portrait of Frederic and Arthur Rimbaud, and Smith's notes for the song "Easter" invoke Catholic imagery of baptism, communion and the blood of Christ. A solitary hand-drawn cross is placed below the group member credits on the sleeve insert, and the last sentence of the liner notes is a quote from Second Epistle to Timothy 4:7 -- "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course ..."

Beyond Christian themes, the song "Ghost Dance" references the Ghost Dance Native American religious revival of the late 19th century.

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Chicago Tribune	[7]
Christgau's Record Guide	A−[8]
Los Angeles Times	[9]
Pitchfork	8.8/10[10]
Q	[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[12]
Sounds	[13]
Spin	[14]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	6/10[15]

Easter was highly acclaimed upon its release. Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh called the album "transcendent and fulfilled".^[16] In Creem, Nick Tosches deemed Easter to be Smith's best work, "truer and surer and less uneven than her previous albums".^[17] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice felt that the music "is as basic as ever in its instrumentation and rhythmic thrust, but grander, more martial", and that "most of these songs are rousing in the way they're meant to be."^[18] Lester Bangs, however, began his review of the album in Phonograph Record, "Dear Patti, start the revolution without me", and contended that while Horses had changed his life, Easter "is just a very good album."^[19] Easter placed at number 14 in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll of the best albums of 1978,^[20] while NME ranked it the 46th best album of the year.^[21]

Track listing[]

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Till Victory"	Patti Smith Lenny Kaye	2:45
2.	"Space Monkey"	Smith Ivan Král Tom Verlaine	4:04
3.	"Because the Night"	Smith Bruce Springsteen	3:32
4.	"Ghost Dance"	Smith Kaye	4:40
5.	"Babelogue"	Smith	1:25
6.	"Rock N Roll Nigger"	Smith Kaye	3:13

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
7.	"Privilege (Set Me Free)"	Mel London Mike Leander Psalm 23	3:27
8.	"We Three"	Smith	4:19
9.	"25th Floor"	Smith Král	4:01
10.	"High on Rebellion"	Smith	2:37
11.	"Easter"	Smith Jay Dee Daugherty	6:15

1996 CD reissue bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"Godspeed"	Smith Král	6:09

Personnel[]

Patti Smith Group

• Patti Smith – vocals, guitar
• Lenny Kaye – guitar, bass guitar, vocals
• Jay Dee Daugherty – drums, percussion
• Ivan Král – bass guitar, vocals, guitar
• Bruce Brody – keyboards, synthesizer

Additional personnel

• Richard Sohl – keyboards on "Space Monkey"
• Allen Lanier – keyboards on "Space Monkey"
• John Paul Fetta – bass guitar on "Till Victory" and "Privilege"
• Andi Ostrowe – percussion on "Ghost Dance"
• Jim Maxwell – bagpipes on "Easter"
• Tom Verlaine – arrangement on "We Three" (in 1974)
• Todd Smith – head of crew

Technical

• Jimmy Iovine – production, mixing
• Shelly Yakus – mixing
• Greg Calbi – mastering
• Thom Panunzio – engineering
• Gray Russell – engineering
• Charlie Conrad – engineering
• Joe Intile – engineering

Design

• Lynn Goldsmith – cover photography
• Robert Mapplethorpe – insert photography
• Cindy Black – insert photography
• John Roberts – insert photography
• Maude Gilman – insert design

Liner notes[]

In the insert with the original LP release (reproduced in the 1996 reissue), Smith's self-penned liner notes refer, among other things, to:

• Arthur Rimbaud – 19th century French poet, sometime companion of Paul Verlaine. Lived in Ethiopia for the last 11 years of his life.
• Frédéric Rimbaud – Arthur's brother.
• 42nd Street and Ninth Avenue, New York – 1970s crime-ridden zone.
• Privilege – 1967 British movie.
• Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones – A concert movie released in 1974.
• Alain Delon – French actor.
• Pier Paolo Pasolini – 1960s Italian poet and film director.
• Bernardo Bertolucci – 1960s Italian writer and film director.
• Jean-Luc Godard – 1960s Franco-Swiss filmmaker.
• August 16, 1977 (1977-08-16) – date of Elvis Presley's death.
• Ghost Dance – 19th century religious movement among some Native American tribes.
• r.e.f.m. – Radio Ethiopia Field Marshal.
• Jean Shrimpton – 1960s British model and actress.
• Paul Jones – 1960s British musician and actor.
• Charles Baudelaire – 19th century French poet.
• CBGB – New York music club.
• Little Richard – 20th century American singer-songwriter.
• New Jersey.
• The UN's declaration of 1979 as International Year of the Child.

Charts[]

Chart (1978)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[22]	80
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23]	43
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[24]	20
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[25]	10
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[26]	34
UK Albums (OCC)[27]	16
US Billboard 200[28]	20

Chart (2019)	Peak position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[29]	194

Certifications and sales[]

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)[31]	Gold	204,900[30]
United Kingdom (BPI)[32]	Silver	60,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history[]

Date	Label	Format	Catalog no.
March 1978	Arista Records	LP	4171
1996		CD
2007	Sony BMG		37929
2008		"Original Album Classics" CD box set	88697313832

References[]

External links[]

• Easter at Discogs (list of releases)
• Easter at MusicBrainz (list of releases)