US punk icon reveals link to Rumi before Istanbul show

ISTANBUL (AA) - American singer-songwriter Patti Smith on Wednesday revealed an unexpected link between the 13th century poet and philosopher Mevlana Rumi and the punk scene of 1970s New York.

"We wrote things often [by] making his poems into songs or reading them to each other," Smith, 69, told reporters in Istanbul ahead of a sell-out concert.

Jalaluddin Rumi - his title mevlana means scholar - was a Sufi mystic born in present-day Afghanistan in 1207. His legacy of poems is particularly popular across western, central and southern Asia and he is buried in Konya, central Anatolia.

Smith, who was a central figure in the New York punk movement, said Rumi was a favorite among music fans at legendary venue CBGB.

She also spoke about her last visit to Istanbul, shortly after the city was hit by a catastrophic earthquake in 1999. “I remember it was terrible to see all the distraction and [I] really felt with the people,” she said from the stage of the Zorlu Center, where she will perform Thursday night.

Turning to the pleasure of returning to Istanbul, Smith, known as the punk poet laureate for her fusion of rock and poetry, added: “There is a very vibrating cultural force in Istanbul and something to treasure and to expand.”

Smith shot to fame in 1975 when her debut album Horses was released.

“We are still very organic band,” she said. “We work very simply, exactly as we did when we first wrote Horses - still with [guitarist] Lenny Kaye, still with my same drummer.

“We are going to do Horses exactly as it is on the album and in exact sequence. We are not changing anything except to leave possibilities for improvisation - and when you have possibilities for improvisation anything can happen.”

Referring to her last concert in January, Smith said drummer Jay Dee Daugherty was battling cancer at the time. “He had to go through a lot of treatment and now he is cancer-free. Tomorrow night will be his first concert cancer-free, so it is going to be very moving for us all,” she said, dressed in a black jacket, faded black jeans and purple boots.

Smith also spoke about the changes in the music industry since she began listening to records. “I have seen the whole birth and evolution of rock and roll, for instance from the early 50s to our present times,” she said. “And I have seen things go from EPs to singles to albums, cassettes and CDs and I have to say that the present way that music is distributed seems very foreign to me.”