Patti Smith Celebrates Beatle George Harrison at Sarasota's Selby Gardens
The new exhibition at Selby Gardens is George Harrison: A Gardner’s Life as part of the Jean & Alfred Goldstein Exhibition Series. It is on view from now until June 29th at the downtown Sarasota campus. For those who didn’t know, George loved music but he also loved gardening and spent much of his time after the Beatles disbanded toiling in the earth.
Selby’s artist in residence, musician & poet Patti Smith came to honor the opening of George’s exhibition with her music, stories and reading poetry from Olivia Harrison’s book dedicated to George and their life together entitled “Came the Lightening”. Patti was introduced by Selby CEO Jennifer Rominiecki. George’s wife also traveled to Sarasota to lecture on art & nature and share about George’s passion of gardening. She was in the audience for Patti’s performance.
It was a sold-out crowd for Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and who is named one of the greatest artists of all time, Patti Smith is a true renaissance woman. She opened with spoken word of “Grateful” and played a cover of the Beatles, “If I Needed Someone.” She was accompanied by her son Jackson Smith on guitar and longtime bandmate Tony Shanahan on guitar and keyboards. She is humble, humorous and brings wisdom to the sold out crowd in the evening balmy breeze and a bright full moon on beautiful Sarasota Bay. She jokes as she looks through her notes about being well prepared as the audience laughs along.
Patty Smith
She performed a cover of a solo George Harrison tune, “Isn’t It A Pity.”
Source: Vicky Sullivan/suncoastpost.com
