Remembering Ivan Král
Co-writer for Patti Smith Group songs Dancing Barefoot and Pissing in a River. Today it is 6 years since we lost guitarist, Ivan Král.
On this day, February 2nd 2020, original Patti Smith Group guitarist Ivan Král sadly lost his battle with cancer.
Along with Richard Sohl, Ivan is one of the core band members who didn’t live to see the Horses 50th Anniversary tour. On the album Horses, he is credited as a co-writer on the songs ‘Birdland’ (with Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, and Richard Sohl) and ‘Kimberly’ (with Patti Smith and Allen Lanier).
Perhaps his most significant contribution to the band is on ‘Dancing Barefoot,’ which he co-wrote with Patti Smith. The second single from 1979’s album Wave, it has since become one of the band’s most recognised songs. It remains a mainstay in Patti Smith live sets, and was part of the encore for the Horses 50th Anniversary tour.
The song has been covered by bands including Simple Minds, U2, Pearl Jam, First Aid Kit, The Feelies, and The Mission. In 2010, it ranked number 331 on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.
In 2023, the song was used as the opening theme for the Emmy nominated television miniseries Daisy Jones & the Six.
One of my favourite live Patti Smith Group versions of the song is this rare recording filmed in black & white at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, on May 11, 1979. Not nearly as refined as the more famous 1979 Rockpalast show in Germany, this was Patti on home turf, giving what feels like a more intimate performance as she, fittingly, sits barefoot on the edge of the stage.
After Patti Smith went into semi-retirement, Král joined Iggy Pop on his 1980 album ‘Soldier.’ He became co-writer and guitarist on Pop’s follow-up record, ‘Party.’ It featured the single ‘Bang Bang,’ which was later covered by David Bowie on his 1987 album ‘Never Let Me Down’.
Ivan Král’s full Leather Saints story will come on another day, but on this the six year anniversary of his passing I wanted to take a moment to remember his contribution to the Patti Smith Group.
I was also saddened to recently learn of the passing of Amos Poe, who co-directed cult punk documentary The Blank Generation with Ivan.
Released in 1976, the film was composed of footage shot on 16mm of the Patti Smith Group, Richard Hell, Talking Heads, Blondie, and the Ramones. One of the earliest Punk films, Rolling Stone Magazine named it number 7 on its list of ‘25 Greatest Punk Rock Movies of All Time’ in 2021. Král would continue to work with Amos as composer on his next three films. Though the two later fell out over ownership rights to these films.
Poe died on Thursday December 25th, 2025, age 76, after a long battle with cancer. Though outside of Just Kids, his is a story I’d like to return to in the future, once I’ve had time to fully research his life and work. But for now I wanted to pay tribute to his key role in documenting the early punk movement. Rest in peace.
Please support the work of photographers Richard E. Aaron, Jody Caravaglia and Fernando Natalici. Patti Smith’s Just Kids remains available in most bookshops and online in the UK, US, and in Europe.
A wonderful read, as always, and as I did not know about Amos Poe's passing, thank you for including mention given the connection involving The Doom Generation.
Great clip of the band. I love seeing things from this era. Ivan lived in Seattle for a few years in the 1990s, and owned a business at the Pike Market, believe it or not. Like alot of musicians working a day job. Seems like a long time ago!