Lenny Kaye (néKusikoff; born December 27, 1946) is an American guitarist, composer, and writer, notable for his work with the Patti Smith Group, his contributions to music magazines, and his garage rock retrospective anthology Nuggets.[1]
He played the accordion, but by the end of the 1950s had dropped the instrument in favor of collecting records. In 1960, his family moved to North Brunswick, New Jersey, where Kaye attended high school. He participated in science fiction fandom and gained experience in writing, publishing his own science fiction fanzine, Obelisk, at the age of 15.[4] His personal collection of fanzines later formed the foundation of the Lenny Kaye Science Fiction Fanzine Library at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.[5]
In 1967, he graduated from Rutgers University, where he majored in American history. During college he had begun playing in bands, on a college mixer and fraternity circuit. His first gig was with the Vandals at Alpha Sigma Phi on November 7, 1964.[6]
Kaye's uncle was songwriter Larry Kusik, who wrote lyrics to "A Time For Us" and "Speak Softly Love". Kusik noticed Kaye's lengthening hair and musical commitment, and asked him to sing on a song that he co-wrote with Ritchie Adams ("You Were Mine").
Kaye recorded "Crazy Like A Fox" and its flip side song, "Shock Me", which were released as a 45, issued under the name of Link Cromwell, and leased to Hollywood Records, a division of Starday Records in Nashville; it was released in March 1966. It garnered a Newcomer Pick of the Week from Cashbox ("A rhythmic bluesy folk-rocker with a pulsating beat") and was issued in the UK and Australia. Kaye's group at the time, The Zoo, played the college circuit in New York and Pennsylvania, an experience captured on Live 1966, an album released by Norton Records.[6]
He began writing for Jazz & Pop magazine, and later for Fusion, Crawdaddy, Melody Maker, Creem and Rolling Stone.[7] He became music editor for Cavalier, a men's magazine, where he also wrote a monthly column until 1975. He served as the New York correspondent for Disc, a British weekly publication. He edited Rock Scene and Hit Parader.
While working at a record store on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, Kaye met poet and vocalist Patti Smith. On February 10, 1971, he backed her at a reading at St. Mark's Church on East 10th Street, opening for Gerard Malanga. They resumed performing in November 1973, and Kaye produced Smith's debut single, "Hey Joe/Piss Factory", and performed as part of her group throughout the 1970s, contributing to four of Smith's albums: Horses (1975), Radio Ethiopia (1976), Easter (1978), and Wave (1979).
Following the Patti Smith Group's final performance, for the time being, in September 1979, Kaye joined Jim Carroll and his band and fronted his own group, Lenny Kaye Connection. Over the years he has worked in studio capacities with Carroll, R.E.M., James, Soul Asylum, Kristin Hersh, and Allen Ginsberg. He coproduced Suzanne Vega's first two albums and her 1987 hit single, "Luka", which was nominated for a Grammy as "Record of the Year".
In 1995, he reunited with Patti Smith and has been a part of her band since, creating six studio albums, a retrospective, and celebrating the 30th anniversary of their debut album, Horses.[6]
He has been nominated three times for Grammy Awards in the liner notes category for boxed sets on the 1960s folk revival of Bleecker & MacDougal, the white blues band Crossroads, and the progressive rock band Elektrock. His book You Call It Madness: The Sensuous Song of the Croon, about the romantic singers of the 1930s, was published in 2004.
In 2010, Kaye contributed a solo recording for Daddy Rockin' Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong and the Diablos, released by The Wind/Norton Records. Kaye recorded a version of "I Wanna Know", a 1950s rhythm and blues ballad. He appeared on and wrote one song for The Fleshtones 2011 album Brooklyn Sound Solution, released by Yep Roc. He appeared on the R.E.M. songs "Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter" and "Blue", which appear on the band's 2011 album Collapse into Now.
