Editing Horses (album) (section)

==Recording==
[[File:John Cale 1980.jpg|alt=A photograph of John Cale performing|thumb|right|[[John Cale]] (pictured in 1980) was chosen by Smith to produce ''Horses''.]]

Arista arranged for Smith to begin recording her debut album in August 1975.{{sfn|Thompson|2011|p=117}} At Smith's suggestion,<ref name="OBrien">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/how-we-met-5603186.html |title=How We Met |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |location=London |date=August 25, 1996 |access-date=September 11, 2016 |last=O'Brien |first=Lucy |author-link=Lucy O'Brien}}</ref> the label planned to book studio time for Smith with producer [[Tom Dowd]] at [[Criteria Studios|Criteria]] in Miami,{{sfn|Thompson|2011|p=117}} but Dowd's close association with rival label [[Atlantic Records]] stalled these plans.<ref name="OBrien"/> Smith had a change of heart and instead set out to enlist Welsh musician [[John Cale]], formerly of the New York City rock band [[the Velvet Underground]], to produce ''Horses'' after she was impressed by the raw sound of his solo albums, such as 1974's ''[[Fear (John Cale album)|Fear]]''.<ref name="Reynolds"/> Cale accepted, already familiar with Smith's band and being acquainted with the band's bassist [[Ivan Král]].{{sfn|Thompson|2011|pp=117–118}}

''Horses'' was recorded at [[Electric Lady Studios]] in New York City, with Smith retaining the same backing band with whom she performed live at the time—[[Jay Dee Daugherty]] on drums, [[Lenny Kaye]] on guitar, Ivan Král on bass guitar, and [[Richard Sohl]] on keyboards.<ref name="Reynolds"/><ref name="Williams">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/patti-smith-s-horses-lenny-kaye-viv-albertine-and-more-pay-homage-to-the-iconic-album-10284809.html |title=Patti Smith's Horses: Lenny Kaye, Viv Albertine and more pay homage to the iconic album |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |date=June 1, 2015 |access-date=September 11, 2016 |last=Williams |first=Holly |author-link=Holly Williams (writer)}}</ref> For the album, Smith and her band recorded several songs that were already fixtures of their sets at CBGB, including "[[Gloria (Them song)|Gloria]]", "[[Redondo Beach (song)|Redondo Beach]]", "Birdland", and "Land".<ref name="Kaye">{{cite magazine |title=A Sea of Possibilities |magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]] |location=London |issue=263 |date=October 2015 |last=Kaye |first=Lenny |author-link=Lenny Kaye |pages=72–74, 76–77}}</ref> [[Allen Lanier]] of [[Blue Öyster Cult]] and [[Tom Verlaine]] of Television participated in the recording sessions as guest musicians, performing on the songs "Elegie" and "Break It Up", respectively.{{sfn|Thompson|2011|p=121}}

[[File:Cutting card from Patti Smith's album, Horses.jpg|alt=A notecard with handwriting|thumb|left|A cutting card from the ''Horses'' recording sessions]]

The first studio session was held on September 2.<ref name="Kaye"/> Cale later recalled that the band initially "sounded awful" and played out of tune due to their use of damaged instruments, compelling him to procure the band new instruments before commencing recording.{{sfn|Howard|2004|p=193}}{{sfn|Thompson|2011|p=119}} The differences between the work process of Cale, who was an experienced recording artist, and the process of Smith, who at that point was primarily a live performer, became apparent in the early stages of recording and were a source of tension between the two artists, who frequently clashed in the studio.<ref name="Reynolds"/>{{sfn|Thompson|2011|pp=118–120}} Lenny Kaye also highlighted the irreconcilable differences between their musical visions for the album, with Cale picturing "a more arranged record, one fleshed out with intriguing sound palettes and melodic lines", and Smith and her band preferring a more spontaneous approach to playing their material, akin to their live performances.<ref name="Kaye"/> The final album was ultimately informed by both perspectives, making use of [[multitrack recording|multitracking]] and [[overdubbing]] on its more structured songs, while still capturing the [[musical improvisation]] that typified the band's live act.<ref name="Kaye"/> Cale wished to augment the band's approach on certain songs with [[string instrument]]s, but Smith vehemently opposed this idea.{{sfn|Thompson|2011|pp=120–121}} Lanier, who was Smith's boyfriend at the time, did not get along with Cale, nor—particularly so—with Verlaine, who had previously dated Smith.<ref name="OBrien"/>{{sfn|Thompson|2011|p=121}} This tension culminated with Lanier and Verlaine getting into a physical altercation during the final session, held on September 18.{{sfn|Thompson|2011|p=121}}

For several years after the album's release, Smith often downplayed Cale's contributions to ''Horses'' and suggested that she and her band had ignored his suggestions entirely.<ref name="Reynolds"/> In a 1976 interview with ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', Smith described her experience:

{{blockquote|My picking John was about as arbitrary as picking [[Arthur Rimbaud|Rimbaud]]. I saw the cover of ''[[Illuminations (poetry collection)|Illuminations]]'' with Rimbaud's face, y'know, he looked so cool, just like [[Bob Dylan]]. So Rimbaud became my favorite poet. I looked at the cover of ''Fear'' and I said, 'Now there's a set of cheekbones.' In my mind I picked him because his records sounded good. But I hired the wrong guy. All I was really looking for was a technical person. Instead, I got a total maniac artist. I went to pick out an expensive watercolor painting and instead I got a mirror. It was really like ''[[A Season in Hell]]'', for both of us. But inspiration doesn't always have to be someone sending me half a dozen [[Rosa 'American Beauty'|American Beauty]] roses. There's a lotta inspiration going on between the murderer and the victim. And he had me so nuts I wound up doing this nine-minute cut that transcended anything I ever did before.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/patti-smith-her-horses-got-wings-they-can-fly-62311/ |title=Patti Smith: Her Horses Got Wings, They Can Fly |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |location=New York |issue=203 |date=January 1, 1976 |access-date=September 11, 2016 |last=Marsh |first=Dave |author-link=Dave Marsh}}</ref>}}

Cale said in 1996 that Smith initially struck him as "someone with an incredibly volatile mouth who could handle any situation", and that as producer on ''Horses'' he wanted to capture the energy of her live performances, noting that there "was a lot of power in Patti's use of language, in the way images collided with one another."<ref name="OBrien"/> He likened their working relationship during recording to "an immutable force meeting an immovable object."<ref name="OBrien"/> Smith would later attribute much of the tension between herself and Cale to her inexperience with formal studio recording, recalling that she was "very, very suspicious, very guarded and hard to work with" and "made it difficult for him to do some of the things he had to do."<ref name="OBrien"/> She expressed gratitude for Cale's persistence in working with her and her band, and found that his production made the most out of their "adolescent and honest flaws".<ref name="OBrien"/>