Penn Jillette’s Wild Secret Rock ‘n’ Roll Past with Lou Reed and The Ramones
While best known as one half of superstar Las Vegas illusionist duo Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette harbors a wild secret rock ‘n’ roll past. Growing up in Greenfield, Massachusetts, Jillette’s musical awakening was sparked by television before evolving into a deep dive into avant-garde and punk scenes.
From The Monkees To The Mothers Of Invention
"I was indoctrinated by American corporations as part of an orchestrated plan to move us into rock ‘n’ roll," Jillette told an interviewer in 2014. Seeing The Monkees on television led him directly to Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Dylan. Once he secured a driver’s license, Jillette drove 100 miles to Boston to catch the Mothers of Invention, calling that 1973 tour one of the finest rock tours ever.
New York Punk And Playing Bass On Broadway
The arrival of punk rock offered another watershed moment. After missing an early chance to see the Sex Pistols due to a show conflict, Jillette immersed himself in the New York scene, forming friendships with the Ramones, becoming very good friends with Lou Reed, and going out with Debbie Harry for years. Harry later featured Jillette on her album Tattoo Of Blood and credited him in her 2019 autobiography with inventing an "orgasmatron" hot tub called the ‘Jill-Jet’.
Jillette’s musical pursuits eventually led him into noise and avant-garde circles via producer Kramer. Jillette described finishing up his show on Broadway, hopping in a limo, and heading downtown to CBGBs to play bass in punk bands alongside Half Japanese, Maureen Tucker, or Lou Reed. His underground rock credentials also extended to the studio, including a guest appearance spitting lyrics on industrial metal supergroup Pigface’s 2003 album track "The Horse You Rode In On."
Patti Smith and Carlos Santana Contributes to New John Coltrane Book
A new publication titled Coltrane: The Definitive Visual Celebration of the Legend is set for release on September 1. Edited by John Coltrane’s son, Ravi Coltrane, the centenary book pairs photography of the late saxophonist with essays from various artists reflecting on his lasting impact on music.
Alongside contributions from Patti Smith and Carlos Santana, the volume features essays by Wayne Coyne, Dev Hynes, Phil Lesh, and Julie Mehretu. The collection examines Coltrane’s influence across landmark albums such as Blue Train, Giant Steps, A Love Supreme, and Ascension, decades after the musician’s death in 1967 at age 40.
In her contribution, Patti Smith reflects on listening to Coltrane as a religious experience and how his music resonated with her through different periods of her life. Carlos Santana’s essay details his initial, overwhelming reaction to hearing A Love Supreme during the turbulent 1960s, describing how he reconciled the calm expression on the album’s cover with the intensity of the music.
“The first time I heard ‘A Love Supreme,’ it was really an assault on my senses,” Santana writes in the book’s excerpt. “It could’ve been in another language, from another galaxy. The first thing that moved me was Coltrane’s volume and intensity. It fit the times we were living in as the 1960s had a very present, violent darkness that came from the Vietnam War, the riots, social unrest, and assassinations.”
Santana also notes how Coltrane’s approach to balancing accessible melodies with complex explorations influenced his own career trajectory, pointing to his ability to transition between crowd-pleasing numbers and deep musical explorations.
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