Patti Smith – Page 2 – The Music's Over

Died On This Date (November 4, 1994) Fred “Sonic” Smith / The MC5

themusicsover November 4, 2009 0 Comments

Fred “Sonic” Smith
September 14, 1949 – November 4, 1994

Fred “Sonic” Smith was the founding guitarist for Detroit proto punk band, the MC5. Formed in 1964 with Wayne Kramer, Rob Tyner, Michael Davis and Dennis Thompson, the MC5 were one of the architects of garage rock and were a direct influence on punk rock. Their “Kick Out The Jams” remains one of rocks truest anthems to this day. After MC5 disbanded in 1972, Smith went on to form Sonic’s Rendezvous Band which included Scott Asheton of the Stooges. In 1976, Smith met punk poetess, Patti Smith while she and her band were in Detroit. They hit it off and eventually became romantically involved. They married in 1980 and both settled into a family life in the suburbs of Detroit. Fred and Patti Smith collaborated on record in the coming years, but were for the most part, retired from the music industry. Fred “Sonic” Smith was 45 when he died of a heart attack on November 4, 1994. Patti Smith went on to see some of her most productive and successful years back in the music business.

What You Should Own

Punk Rock Singer Songwriter

Died On This Date (September 11, 2009) Jim Carroll / Proto Punk Great; Wrote “The Basketball Diaries”

themusicsover September 11, 2009 1 Comments

Jim Carroll
August 1, 1950 – September 11, 2009

Jim Carroll was a poet, author, purse snatcher, glue sniffer, male prostitute, heroin addict, post-punk rocker, and one of the greatest basketball players New York City has ever known. His troublesome early life was documented in his own memoirs, written between the ages of 12 and 16. They were later anthologized in best-selling The Basketball Diaries, which was the inspiration of a somewhat fictionalized film of the same name, starring Leonard DiCaprio as Carroll. He published his first book of poetry at the age of 17 and within a few years he was working for Andy Warhol writing script dialog, and later, co- managing his theater. At one point while still a teenager, Carroll became the youngest person ever nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He formed the Jim Carroll Band in 1978 with the help of Patti Smith, and soon released Catholic Boy. It’s “People Who Died” was an instant underground hit and is considered a staple of the New York punk scene of the era. The songs eulogizes his real life childhood friends, the “characters” from The Basketball Diaries. Carroll recorded several more albums of music and spoken word over the next few decades, but in recent years he was mostly writing poetry and fiction. Jim Carroll suffered a fatal heart attack on September 11, 2009.