Interview with Lenny Kaye

Lenny Kaye has been Patti Smith’s long term guitarist, friend and collaborator, ever since they first began together in the early 1970s. He grew up between New York and New Jersey, graduating in American History from Rutgers University, where he later taught a course in the Department of American Studies on the History of American Rock, which became famous because of the large number of students who wanted to enroll in it. A very prolific writer and musician, he has produced an important number of records, as well as collaborated with numerous music magazines. He is the author of two books, Waylon Jennings: An Autobiography (1996) and You Call it Madness, The Sensuous Song of the Croon (2004). Nuggets (1972), his anthology of 60s garage music, is famous for defining the genre. This interview took place when he was visiting Spain in November 2012 with the Patti Smith Group. In it, we discussed the New York scene of the 70s, music, literature, drugs, politics, and many other things.