Editing Lenny Kaye

{{short description|American guitarist, composer, and writer (born 1946)}}
{{BLP sources|date=February 2017}}
{{close paraphrasing|article|source=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203151456/http://lennykaye.com/bio.html|date=October 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name            = Lenny Kaye
| image             = Lenny Kaye and guitar 1978.jpg
| caption        = Kaye performing with [[Patti Smith]] in 1978
|alt = Kaye playing guitar wearing aviator sunglasses
| background      = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name      = Lenny Kusikoff
| alias           = Lenny Kaye Connection
| birth_date            = {{birth date and age|1946|12|27}}
| origin          = [[New York City]], U.S.
| instrument      = Guitar, bass, vocals
| genre           = {{hlist|[[Rock music|Rock]]|[[protopunk]]|[[Punk rock|punk]]|[[garage rock]]}}
| occupation      = {{hlist|Musician|songwriter|record producer|[[Music journalism|music journalist]]}}
| years_active    = 1964–present
| label           = [[Giorno Poetry Systems]],<br />[[Arista Records|Arista]], [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
| associated_acts = [[Patti Smith]], [[R.E.M.]]
| website             = [https://web.archive.org/web/20080907103240/http://lennykaye.com/ LennyKaye.com]
}}
'''Lenny Kaye''' (''[[Birth name|né]]'' '''Kusikoff'''; 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: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era|Nuggets]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oceanstar.com/patti/bio/kaye.htm |title=Lenny Kaye |access-date=March 5, 2008}}</ref>

== Early life and education==
Kaye was born to [[Jews|Jewish]] parents<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/nyregion/13punk.html|title=Punk, and Jewish: Rockers Explore Identity|first=Ralph|last=Blumenthal|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 12, 2009}}</ref> in the [[Washington Heights, Manhattan|Washington Heights]] area of [[Upper Manhattan]], New York City. His father changed the family name from Kusikoff to Kaye when Lenny was one-year old.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dk4WpiMjt4cC&q=%22lenny+kaye%22+kusik&pg=PT125|title = The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB's: A Secret History of Jewish Punk|isbn = 9781569762288|last1 = Beeber|first1 = Steven Lee|date = April 2007| publisher=Chicago Review Press }}</ref> He grew up in [[Queens]] and [[Brooklyn]].

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.<ref>[http://www.mtvhive.com/2012/07/05/lenny-kaye-patti-smith-suzanna-vega-corin-tucker/ Wolk, Douglas. "Lenny Kaye, Silent Partner to Patti Smith, Suzanna Vega and Corin Tucker" ''MTV Hive'' July 5, 2012]</ref> 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]].<ref>[https://atom.library.miami.edu/asm0326 Finding aid: "Collection ASM0326 - Lenny Kaye Science Fiction Fanzine collection" University of Miami Library Special Collections; accessed 11-14-2021]</ref>

Kaye graduated from [[Rutgers University]], where he majored in American history, in 1967. 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.<ref name="lennykaye.com">{{cite web |url=http://lennykaye.com/bio.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203151456/http://lennykaye.com/bio.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 3, 2008 |title=Lenny Kaye |access-date=March 10, 2008 }}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Lenny Kaye-1978.jpg|thumb|Kaye performing with [[Patti Smith]] and her group in [[Germany]] in 1979]]

Kaye's uncle was songwriter [[Larry Kusik]], who wrote lyrics to "[[Romeo and Juliet (1968 film)|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 [[Recorded In Hollywood|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 (magazine)|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 (state)|New York]] and [[Pennsylvania]], an experience captured on ''Live 1966'', an album released by [[Norton Records]].<ref name="lennykaye.com"/>

He began writing for ''[[Jazz & Pop]]'' magazine, and later for ''[[Fusion (music magazine)|Fusion]]'', ''[[Crawdaddy (magazine)|Crawdaddy]]'', ''[[Melody Maker]]'', ''[[Creem]]'' and ''[[Rolling Stone]]''.<ref>{{citation |title=Correspondence, Love Letters & Advice |author=Lenny Kaye |publisher=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=June 22, 1968 }}</ref> He became music editor for ''[[Cavalier (magazine)|Cavalier]]'', a men's magazine, where he also wrote a monthly column until 1975. He served as the New York correspondent for ''[[Disc (magazine)|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 (album)|Horses]]'' (1975), ''[[Radio Ethiopia]]'' (1976), ''[[Easter (Patti Smith Group album)|Easter]]'' (1978), and ''[[Wave (Patti Smith Group album)|Wave]]'' (1979).

Kaye authored a 1972 anthology of [[garage rock]] during the 1960s, ''[[Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/nuggets-original-artyfacts-from-the-first-psychedelic-era-1965-1968-mw0000599845|title=Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 - Various Artists &#124; Songs, Reviews, Credits &#124; AllMusic|website=[[AllMusic]] }}</ref> With David Dalton, he co-authored the book ''Rock 100'', a 1977 overview of leading rock stars from the 1950s into the 1970s.

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 (band)|James]], [[Soul Asylum]], [[Kristin Hersh]], and [[Allen Ginsberg]]. He coproduced [[Suzanne Vega]]'s first two albums and her 1987 hit single, "[[Luka (song)|Luka]]", which was nominated for a [[Grammy Awards|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''.<ref name="lennykaye.com"/>

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]]''.

In mid-February 2018, Kaye took over the night shift on [[Underground Garage]], replacing [[Richard Manitoba]].{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

==Discography==
* "Crazy Like a Fox" b/w "Shock Me" (as Link Cromwell; Hollywood Records, 1966)
* ''I've Got a Right'' (Giorno Poetry Systems, 1984)
* "Child Bride" b/w "The Tracks of My Tears" (Mer Records, 1980)
* ''[[Daddy Rockin Strong: A Tribute to Nolan Strong & The Diablos]]'' (The Wind / Norton Records, 2010); track: "I Wanna Know"
* ''[[Uma Estrela Misteriosa Revelará o Segredo]]'' (Relicário, 2024)

{{Further|Patti Smith discography}}

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Lenny Kaye}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080907103240/http://lennykaye.com/ Official website] (archived from 2008)
* {{AllMusic}}
*{{Discogs artist}}
* {{IMDb name}}
*{{MusicBrainz artist}}
* [http://eclypsoprints.blogspot.com/2011/12/lenny-kaye.html Lenny Kaye]

{{Patti Smith}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaye, Lenny}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:American male guitarists]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American male songwriters]]
[[Category:American music journalists]]
[[Category:American rock guitarists]]
[[Category:American rock songwriters]]
[[Category:American punk rock guitarists]]
[[Category:Guitarists from New York City]]
[[Category:Jewish American rock musicians]]
[[Category:Jews in punk rock]]
[[Category:Musicians from Manhattan]]
[[Category:Patti Smith Group members]]
[[Category:People from Washington Heights, Manhattan]]
[[Category:Musicians from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Musicians from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Record producers from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Rutgers University alumni]]
[[Category:The Minus 5 members]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]