Gung Ho

Release

Gung Ho was released on March 21, 2000, by Arista Records. The title refers to a Chinese phrase meaning "work together" adopted by the US Marines during World War II as a morale-building slogan. It is the first Patti Smith album to not include her on the cover (it shows, instead, a picture of her father, Grant Smith).

The song "New Party" was used as the official song for the 2000 Ralph Nader's presidential campaign.

Smith wrote the song "Grateful" in tribute to Jerry Garcia on August 9, 1995, the day of his death.

As of February 2004, Gung Ho had sold 49,000 copies in the United States according to Nielsen Soundscan.

Critical reception

Gung Ho was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 73, based on 16 reviews.

Gung Ho was included in Rolling Stone's "Top 50 Albums of 2000".

The song "Glitter in Their Eyes" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 2001.

Personnel

Band

Patti Smith – vocals, guitar, photography

Lenny Kaye – guitar

Jay Dee Daugherty – drums

Oliver Ray – guitar

Tony Shanahan – bass, keyboards

Additional personnel

Danton Supple – engineer (Sear Sound recording studio, NYC); mixing (The Church Studios, London and Eden Studios, London)

Gil Norton – production; mixing (The Church Studios, London and Eden Studios, London)

Grant Hart – piano, Farfisa, "Persuasion"

Grant Smith – album cover model, Townsend, Australia, 1942

Jackson Smith – guitar solo, "Persuasion"

Jake Davies – computer engineer (Sear Sound recording studio, NYC)

Mark Phythers – computer engineer (Sear Sound recording studio, NYC)

Margery Greenspan – art direction

Michael Stipe – backing vocalist, "Glitter in Their Eyes"

Paul Angelli – mastering engineer (Sterling Sound, NYC)

Ben E. Franklin – penny whistle, "Libbie's Song"

Rebecca Weiner Tompkins – violin, "Libbie's Song"