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Easter
Studio album by Patti Smith Group
Released	March 1978 (1978-03)
Recorded	The Record Plant, House of Music, West Orange
Genre	Punk, rock
Length	39:44
Label	Arista
Producer	Jimmy Iovine
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Crawdaddy! May 78 Creem Jun 78 Lester Bangs May 78 Melody Maker 4 Mar 78 Q Nov 96, p.154 Robert Christgau (A-) link Rolling Stone (not rated) 20 Apr 78
Patti Smith Group chronology
Radio Ethiopia (1976) Easter (1978) Wave (1979)
Singles from Easter
"Because the Night" Released: 1978 (1978) "Privilege (Set Me Free)" Released: 1978 (1978)

Easter is a 1978 album by Patti Smith Group. Produced by Jimmy Iovine, it is regarded as the group's commercial breakthrough, owing to the success of the single, "Because the Night" (co-written by Smith and Bruce Springsteen), which reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The album was highly acclaimed upon its release. Writing in Rolling Stone, Dave Marsh called the album "transcendent and fulfilled." ^[1] In Creem, Nick Tosches described it as "an album of Christian obsessions, especially those of death and resurrection," and called it Smith's "best work." ^[2] Lester Bangs, on the other hand, began his famous pan of the album, "Dear Patti, Start the Revolution without me." Bangs contended that while Horses had changed his life, Easter "is just a very good album." ^[3] It garnered significant support in the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll of the best albums of 1978. ^[4]

Contents 1 History 2 Track listing 2.1 Side one 2.2 Side two 2.3 Bonus track (CD reissue) 3 Liner Notes 4 Covers 5 Personnel 6 Charts 7 Release history 8 References 9 External links

The first album released since she 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'n'roll ("Rock N Roll Nigger," one of Smith's most famous songs, "25th Floor/High on Rebellion," "Till Victory"), folk on "Ghost Dance'" spoken word on "Babelogue" (which concludes with the musical intro to "Rock N Roll Nigger" becoming louder and louder) and pop on the title track.

In addition to the obvious religious allusion of its title, the album is replete with biblical and specifically Christian imagery. "Privilege (Set Me Free)" is essentially a prayer; the songwriting credit for it cites 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 are a quote from 2 Timothy 4:7 -- "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course..."

The cover photograph is by Lynn Goldsmith and liner notes photography by Cindy Black and Robert Mapplethorpe.

Smith's cover of "Privilege (Set Me Free)" made it into the UK charts.

Easter is the only 1970s album of Smith's that does not feature Richard Sohl as part of the Patti Smith Group; Bruce Brody is credited as the keyboard player. Sohl does contribute keyboards to the track "Space Monkey," however.

1. "Till Victory" (Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye) – 2:45
2. "Space Monkey" (Smith, Ivan Kral, 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

1. "Privilege (Set Me Free)" (Mel London, Mike Leander "w/23rd psalm") – 3:27
2. "We Three" (Smith, arr. Tom Verlaine) – 4:19
3. "25th Floor" (Smith, Kral) – 4:01
4. "High on Rebellion" (Smith) – 2:37
5. "Easter" (Smith, Jay Dee Daugherty) – 6:15

• "Godspeed" (Smith, Kral) – 6:09

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 - nineteen century French poet
• Frédéric Rimbaud - Arthur's brother
• 42nd Street and Ninth Avenue, New York, in the 1970s a crime-ridden zone of drugs, prostitution and grindhouses
• Privilege (film) - 1967 British movie
• Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones - A concert movie released in 1974
• Alain Delon - 1960s 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 - date of Elvis Presley's death
• Ghost Dance - nineteen century religious movement among some Native American tribes
• r.e.f.m. - radio ethiopia field marshal ref
• Jean Shrimpton - 1960s British model and actress
• Paul Jones - 1960s British musician and actor
• Charles Baudelaire - nineteenth century French poet
• CBGB - music club (1973-2006)
• Little Richard - African-American singer-songwriter
• New Jersey
• The UN's declaration of 1979 as International Year of the Child

• 10,000 Maniacs covered "Because the Night" in 1993.
• Marilyn Manson released a cover of "Rock N Roll Nigger" on the Smells Like Children EP. Their live performances of the song drew considerable controversy.

• Lenny Kaye – Fender Stratocaster, bass, vocals
• Ivan Kral – Gibson Les Paul, bass, vocals
• Jay Dee Daugherty – Drums, percussion
• Patti Smith – Vocals, Fender Duo-Sonic
• Bruce Brody – Keyboards, synthesizers

• Richard Sohl – Keyboards (on "Space Monkey")
• Allen Lanier – Keyboards (on "Space Monkey")
• John Paul Fetta – Bass (on "Till Victory" & "Privilege")
• Andi Ostrowe – Additional percussion (on "Ghost Dance")
• Jim Maxwell – Bagpipes (on "Easter")

Additional personnel

• Todd Smith - Head of crew
• Jimmy Iovine – production, mixing
• Shelly Yakus – Mixing
• Greg Calbi – Mastering
• Thom Panunzio – Engineering
• Gray Russell – Engineering
• Charlie Conrad – Engineering
• Joe Intile – Engineering
• Lynn Goldsmith – Cover photography
• Robert Mapplethorpe - Insert photography
• Cindy Black - Insert photography
• John Roberts - Insert photography
• Maude Gilman - Insert design

Album

Chart (1978)[5][6][7]	Position
US Billboard Pop Albums	20
UK Albums Chart	16
Norway	10
Sweden	34

Singles

Single	Chart (1978)[8][9][10]	Position
Because the Night	US Billboard Pop Singles	13
Because the Night	UK Singles Chart	5
Because the Night	Austrian Top 40	21
Because the Night	Irish Singles Chart	16
Because the Night	Sweden	9
Privilege (Set Me Free)	UK Singles Chart	72
Privilege (Set Me Free)	Irish Singles Chart	13

Year	Label	Format	Catalog
1978	Arista	LP	4171
1996	Arista	CD
2007	Sony BMG	CD	37929

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ [4]
5. ^ Billboard albums at All Music Guide
6. ^ UK charts
7. ^ Albums charts
8. ^ Billboard singles at All Music Guide
9. ^ Singles charts
10. ^ Irish Singles Chart

• Easter at All Music Guide
• Easter at Discogs
• Easter at Last.fm
• Lyrics

v • d • e Patti Smith
Studio albums	Horses (1975) · Radio Ethiopia (1976) · Easter (1978) · Wave (1979) · Dream of Life (1988) · Gone Again (1996) · Peace and Noise (1997) · Gung Ho (2000) · Trampin' (2004)
Related articles	Discography