WSJ: Patti Smith's 'Horses' Turns 50

How the kid from blue-collar New Jersey became the Godmother of Punk

Released 50 years ago this month, “Horses” was Ms. Smith’s debut album. Though it reached only No. 47 on the Billboard 200 chart, the LP was critically hailed and has since been praised as the formal start of mainstream punk. In 2009, it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry, and in 2021 it was induc…