Rock Stories #8: Patti Smith & John Allen Cassady

A deathbed confession

John Allen Cassady, son of Neal and Carolyn, praises the ultimate punk poet and recounts a chat with Patti Smith with their old friend Allen Ginsberg very much on the agenda…

On November 12th, 2024, Patti Smith was awarded the prestigious Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal, presented to her by Clive Davis, who signed her to Arista Records in 1975. Also receiving the Award, Yoko Ono. Well, she's still urging the World to ‘Give Peace a Chance’, so I guess she deserves something. And Sandra Bloodworth (no, not Bullock, ha ha). She was the Director of the MTA Arts & Design outfit in NYC that cleaned up the subways.

I met Patti only once but it was a wild night. I was sitting in my kitchen at my house in Santa Cruz, CA, years ago now, when a bunch of my friends barged in and said, ‘Patti Smith is playing in Carmel tonight! Put your shoes on. Let's go!’

Carmel? I knew that she was ‘in the house’ because there was a giant tour bus in the back of the parking lot. It was a ‘warm-up’ gig between bigger shows in LA and SF. She sounded good, but she looked a little ‘Beat’.  Ha ha. We were sitting in the balcony and, just before her encore, a gal with a badge and a clipboard came up to me and said, ‘Patti wants to meet you.’ Wha? How did she know that I was even there? I'll never know.

The young woman with the clipboard led me back to a building, behind the venue. Patti gave me a little hug and I noticed that there were tables of food in the room. (the promoters give these rock stars about a year's worth of food at every show). ‘Are you hungry?’ she asked. I was kind of poor at the time, and I was tempted to say, ‘Can I get a doggie bag?’ I could have eaten for a week! (Ha ha). Instead I said, ‘No, I'm cool. Thanks though!’

We talked for hours, about her days in New York, CBGBs, Lou Reed, the works. I said, ‘You know, Patti, I was kind of jealous that you were at Allen Ginsberg's deathbed, and I wasn't.’ She said, ‘Well, Johnny, I was in New York, and you were in California. What was I supposed to do? Say, “Allen, can you hold on until Cassady can get here?”’ We laughed and laughed. She's the most, from Coast to Coast...

John Allen Cassady