menu Home chevron_right
MUSIC VIDEOS

Patti Smith – Horses, 50 Years Later｜Vinyl Monday

Abigail Devoe | January 6, 2026



My sins, my own.

Welcome (or welcome back) to Vinyl Monday! This is my series where I give the who/what/when/where/why and how I feel about classic albums in my collection. This week, we celebrate Patti Smith’s sky-shattering debut, Horses. Subscribe for more Vinyl Monday!

Keep in touch:
Instagram: @abigaildevoe https://www.instagram.com/abigaildevoe/
My website: https://www.abigaildevoe.com
Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@abigaildevoe
SpunIt (it’s Letterboxd for vinyl geeks): spunit://spunit.io/friendProfile?profile=sZN9N7hTusP0ifQ20TdlzbBvtHd2
I cohost the Dolls Podcast!: https://open.spotify.com/show/4JsH0rsXUNjgvFLIbwYgnK?si=798d0d6d67864c4e
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unveiling-the-legends-dolls-of-the-60s-70s/id1749327932

Timestamps:

intro – 0:00
art/packaging/personnel – 0:44
Horses – 5:07
track listing/release – 15:42
my thoughts – 20:41
thanks for watching! – 43:59

Music:
Intro Music: Yeah Yeah Yeah (Long) by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/…) Artist: http://audionautix.com/
Outtro Music: Ticket To Nowhere Man by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/…) Artist: http://audionautix.com/
Vinyl Monday logo by Callum: https://www.youtube.com/@clynaack

#vinyl #vinylcommunity #pattismith

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Written by Abigail Devoe

Comments

This post currently has 38 comments.

  4. @sarahwelty9223

    January 6, 2026 at 3:13 pm

    Patti Smith's manager Jane Friedman was in a relationship with John Cale for several years and she sang some backing vocals on a few of his songs. But their relationship ended when John Cale was having an affair with wno eventually became his third wife.

  5. @sg24336

    January 6, 2026 at 3:13 pm

    I've heard this album so many times that it does nothing for me anymore. However, when I was in my twenties, it really, really blew my mind. I became obsessed with her. Got every album, taped every bootleg concert album I could find (this was before YouTube and Napster). If I met someone and they didn't know who she was (or didn't like her music), I wanted nothing to do with that person. She's all I listened to for about a year.

  6. @exittomenu

    January 6, 2026 at 3:13 pm

    Horses changed the molecular chemistry in my brain

    Patti was my gender before i had the concept that i was trans, she straddled that andro line so well that i could easily stealth myself into that presentation, her singing was such that even my baritone could match and scream with. Im getting teary eyed even typing this realizing just how formative this album was for me

    I began as an artist with the album on loop, drawing for hours on end what the rhythms guided
    As i grew into a musician her work was a blueprint for the primal rock and roll i wanted to make.

    I never became a rockstar but patti smith made me a woman, and that is enough for me

  7. @karllux-d6g

    January 6, 2026 at 3:13 pm

    What a brilliant analysis of an eternal (and almost devastating) classic. Any album can be a life-changer, depending on the subject avowing it, but with this one here, i guess there are many millions of souls claiming the same. I got into it in 76, when I was 13, often airing on the main national classic Rock station, when they used to play half the albums with no problem at all.

  9. @charlesclinton3305

    January 6, 2026 at 3:13 pm

    As the child of people who ran with the punks during the 80s, I had heard of Patti Smith and Horses long before renting the CD from the library. I did not expect it to sound the way it does. I think I must have expected The Ramones or The Clash, not something like what it is. I think that's why I gravitate towards "Free Money" because it sounds the most punk. Also, I would never have any idea what Redondo Beach was about from hearing it and not being told what it meant.

  13. @davea6787

    January 6, 2026 at 3:13 pm

    Hi Abbie!

    Great review, thanks! My memory of Horses landing here in Australia is that it was really well received by those of us who would shortly get right into The Saints/Radio Birdman etc – sort of the literate punk/hard rock underground. My friend Marg bought the album first, and it was passed around and taped by everyone in our circle. We all loved it.

    My partner and I were lucky enough to see Patti and her band play Horses live in Melbourne a few years ago. It was intense and euphoric. And the next morning, in Readings Bookshop in Carlton, big surprise – in walked Patti and Lenny. Patti was going to do a book signing for Just Kids. I took a chance and approached them before they were set up. I got to speak to Patti, and tell her how much her music meant to me, and to Lenny too. They were generous with their time and they both signed my copy of the book. I was so stoked I was high on it for days.

    Thanks for your work Abbie.

    Cheers, Dave from South Australia

  16. @eclecticselections2222

    January 6, 2026 at 3:13 pm

    Took me three days to get around to watching and another four to comment! But another fantastic video and you reminded me of a classic album and incredible Artist who really opened my eyes as a teenager! Time to get "Horses" back on the Stereo it's been way too long! Keep up the incredible work Abi!

  23. @sjbang5764

    January 6, 2026 at 3:13 pm

    I saw Patti Smith in 1975. I had to see the woman responsible for Horses. To say she was amazing is an understatement. Your review is so well done, I really enjoyed your insights.

  25. @michaelevans898

    January 6, 2026 at 3:13 pm

    60's Art Major — I read the NYC music tabloids and "Creem" magazine in the early 70's because they were more current than "Rolling Stone." Lenny Kaye and Patti Smith were two of my favorite writers and reading Patti Smith's poetry in "Creem," validated my high opinion of her art.
    I was on the road in the USA and Europe when "Horses" was released, so only heard snippets, but the CBGBs bands were regularly performing in Amsterdam, including the Patti Smith Group, before I returned to the USA — where the effect of her originality endured into the next decade, not to mention the influence of her peers.

  26. @Gerry-p9r

    January 6, 2026 at 3:13 pm

    I just watched a video of Patti Smith performing a moving version of Neil Young’s After The Gold Rush on his birthday last week. All Patti and Neil fans should check this out right now. It’s ragged but it’s real ( like they are).
    I’ve also heard her do good versions of Soul Kitchen and Within You, Without You.

  31. @stevelafler

    January 6, 2026 at 3:13 pm

    Horses made a real Splash in Fall '75 at the Southwest Towers on UMass campus. Room mate Robbie got a promo copy from the late great Jimmie Mac of WBCN Boston. It was a SEA CHANGE in Rock N Roll, both an update on Dylan and THE precurser of the whole CBGB's punk scene. Patti later opened for The Grateful Dead, of all bands?!, at the UMASS spring concert 1979 (Patty played some clarinet that day…)

    G

  33. @dogranch

    January 6, 2026 at 3:13 pm

    Just want to say that out of the hundreds or thousands of gigs that I’ve seen, Patti Smith at the Cats Cradle in 1997 still stands as one of the all time best. The show has been bootlegged, probably not too difficult to find, and if you’re a fan I encourage you to check it out.

  34. @MarkPatrick-sp3sp

    January 6, 2026 at 3:13 pm

    Abigail, thank you for reviewing Patti Smith's HORSES album. I've seen videos of Patti performing on various TV shows over the years like SNL and Letterman, but never took time to listen to her albums. Thanks to you and your words, I'm going to browse her vast discography starting today. Thank you again.

    PS: Have you ever thought about writing a book?

  36. @rickdrais9737

    January 6, 2026 at 3:13 pm

    Ooo. Berlin coming. I've always loved the fact that Bob Ezrin remixed the orchestral backing of Sad Song from Berlin as the backing track for Comfortably Numb. As for Patti? My all-time favortite Patti song has to be Dancing Barefoot. Oh god, I fell for you…

  37. @GuyWinter-b8z

    January 6, 2026 at 3:13 pm

    This is a fantastic channel because I never know what I'm going to discover. When I heard the clip of Today's The Day by Maureen Gray, I had to find out who she was as I had never heard of her and now I'm working my way through her catalogue. Thank you.

Comments are closed.

Related
How a New York Hotel Collapse Led to the Legendary CBGB’s
Poetic Wax | April 17, 2026
Related
catching up with the 2025 grammys
Mic The Snare | April 16, 2026
Related
Hawkwind (Interview) New Album | Ginger Baker | In Search of Space | ...
Classic Album Review | April 16, 2026

This area can contain widgets, menus, shortcodes and custom content. You can manage it from the Customizer, in the Second layer section.

 

 

 

Go to album
  • play_circle_filled

    92.9 : The Torch

  • play_circle_filled

    AGGRO
    'Til Deaf Do Us Part...

  • play_circle_filled

    SLACK!
    The Music That Made Gen-X

  • play_circle_filled

    KUDZU
    The Northwoods' Alt-Country & Americana

  • play_circle_filled

    BOOZHOO
    Indigenous Radio

  • play_circle_filled

    THE FLOW
    The Northwoods' Hip Hop and R&B

play_arrow skip_previous skip_next volume_down
playlist_play