To me the essential canon is
Horses,
Radio Ethiopia and a (recording of a) live radio broadcast of a show she did at the Boarding House in San Francisco in 1976, which was when she was at the height of her powers IMO. She mixed poetry and rock and roll so fluidly, and while she made reverential references to Dylan, Lou Reed and The Stones, it was clear that, for pure inspiration and passion, she was the equal of any of them.
I'm also very fond of her classic rendition of
Hey Joe, with Tom Verlaine playing some insane guitar and Patti referencing Patty Hearst and the SLA in the intro, have you heard that? She turned everything on its head...
