Patti Smith

Was he the first person who completely believed in your work?

I'd say so, yes.

You've said that Mabel Thorpe helped you make the transition from psychotic to serious art student.

What did you mean by that?

Well, I'm never quite sure of what I meant.

You know, when people ask me to explain what I said 20 years ago or something, it's... I couldn't exactly say what I meant, but I... Probably, when I met him, I felt like my work was really an extension of my neuroses.

And instead of an extension of intelligence.

And he...

by helping me believe in myself as a person and gaining respect for my own intelligence shifted the emphasis where the work came from.

I really did start writing and drawing when I was younger to relieve myself from certain emotional tensions.

Like what?

Well, I mean,

Whatever tensions people have when they're growing up, whether it be fear or sexual tensions or parental tension, youthful paranoia, I don't know.

Name it.

I think he gave you the money to record your first record, the 45 that had Hey Joe on one side and Piss Factory on the other.

Tell me the story of that.

Well, it's really simply Robert, you know, for a long time I had helped him financially, and Robert's situation got more solid.

He had a really benevolent and wonderful patron, Sam Wagstaff, and...

Through Sam Wagstaff, Robert was able to finance our first independent, well, our only independent single.

And that's all the story was.