The Patti Smith's first compilation ever, is due March 19

NEW YORK (Top40 Charts) - Patti Smith's Land 1975-2002, the influential artist's first compilation ever, is due March 19 on Arista Records, presents 17 songs selected as favorites by fans plus a second disc of 13 previously unreleased demos, outtakes and live cuts, closing with Notes to the Future. Smith recited the poem on New Year's Day in St. Mark's Church in New York, revisiting the venue of her 1971 public debut.

The two-CD collection includes one disc of singles and album tracks, chosen by fans, and a second disc of previously unreleased material, including demo versions of songs, alternative takes, live cuts, poetry readings, and other rarities.
The release will coincide with a national tour with her band; dates and venues have not been firmed up yet. In addition to classics (Dancing Barefoot, Gloria) and latter-day turns (Summer Cannibals, Glitter in Their Eyes), voters picked When Doves Cry, a concert staple represented on LAND in a studio track recorded last year. Smith favors the Prince hit for its biblical imagery ("even if that wasn't the writer's intent") and its current relevance.

Smith and bandmates Lenny Kaye, Oliver Ray, Tony Shanahan and Jay Dee Daugherty will tour this spring. A Web site, www.pattismithland.com, launches in March with prose, poems, lyrics and "a wealth of ephemera," Smith says.