Patti Smith’s debut punk album Horses was released in 1975.
The album came out on November 10, 1975, through Arista Records. Smith recorded it with her backing band at Electric Lady Studios in New York, and former Velvet Underground member John Cale produced it.
Horses emerged during the formative New York punk scene. Smith and her group had performed regularly at CBGB, including a two-month residency with Television in early 1975. The album combined punk rock’s stripped-down energy with poetry, avant-garde ideas, and art-rock influences.
Horses is sometimes described as the first major-label punk-rock album. It is also commonly confused with Patti Smith’s later albums Radio Ethiopia and Easter, but neither was her debut. Its opening track, “Gloria,” helped make the record especially influential in punk history.