From the Publisher
His magnum opus, a rollicking tour through rock and roll history. . . . Touching on a dizzying array of famous and obscure musicians, bars, and clubs—and injecting the narrative with his own vivid memories of playing in such legendary places as Manhattan’s CBGB—Kaye brilliantly captures the ecstasy of what it was like to be there. . . . This memorable history is electrifying.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"An idiosyncratic, impassioned paean to rock ’n’ roll. . . . [Kaye has a] depth of historical knowledge that enables him to enumerate the sightings of the very phrase rock ’n’ roll. . . . The author engagingly chronicles his wide travels, visiting New Orleans, London, Memphis, and many other places in search of lost and otherwise magical chords. . . . If you’re a fan of rock music of whatever flavor, you need this book." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“I first knew him as a writer. Then guitarist, lifelong friend, and collaborator. We have performed side-by-side on the global stage through half a century and shared his love of the evolution of our mutual vocation. In Lightning Striking, Lenny Kaye has illuminated ten facets of the jewel called rock and roll from a uniquely personal and knowledgeable perspective. He draws from a lifetime of inspiration and experience. A youth plugging in his first electric guitar, a fan taking the dance floor, a propelling player, a humble guardian of history, and the writer I have always known him to be.” — Patti Smith
“Lightning Striking is a true testimonial and epic love letter to the soul saving power of rock and roll. Lenny Kaye writes with a guitar player’s rhythm and the image-strewn fevered prose of a beat poet, sharing arcane knowledge of the joy of a true believer. Read it and be inspired, as I was.” — Bobby Gillespie
"Guitarist Lenny Kaye writes about various you-had-to-be-there music scenes that each had a transformative impact on rock and roll. . . . Kaye’s personal reminiscences about performing with Patti Smith are among the highlights. Part history, part memoir, Lightning Striking is a fat, fun homage to the glory days of rock and roll and is full of vivid and revealing memories and anecdotes." — Booklist
Booklist
"Guitarist Lenny Kaye writes about various you-had-to-be-there music scenes that each had a transformative impact on rock and roll. . . . Kaye’s personal reminiscences about performing with Patti Smith are among the highlights. Part history, part memoir, Lightning Striking is a fat, fun homage to the glory days of rock and roll and is full of vivid and revealing memories and anecdotes."
Bobby Gillespie
Lightning Striking is a true testimonial and epic love letter to the soul saving power of rock and roll. Lenny Kaye writes with a guitar player’s rhythm and the image-strewn fevered prose of a beat poet, sharing arcane knowledge of the joy of a true believer. Read it and be inspired, as I was.
Patti Smith
I first knew him as a writer. Then guitarist, lifelong friend, and collaborator. We have performed side-by-side on the global stage through half a century and shared his love of the evolution of our mutual vocation. In Lightning Striking, Lenny Kaye has illuminated ten facets of the jewel called rock and roll from a uniquely personal and knowledgeable perspective. He draws from a lifetime of inspiration and experience. A youth plugging in his first electric guitar, a fan taking the dance floor, a propelling player, a humble guardian of history, and the writer I have always known him to be.”
Booklist
"Guitarist Lenny Kaye writes about various you-had-to-be-there music scenes that each had a transformative impact on rock and roll. . . . Kaye’s personal reminiscences about performing with Patti Smith are among the highlights. Part history, part memoir, Lightning Striking is a fat, fun homage to the glory days of rock and roll and is full of vivid and revealing memories and anecdotes."
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2021-10-13
Longtime Patti Smith Group guitarist and music journalist Kaye delivers an idiosyncratic, impassioned paean to rock ’n’ roll.
“You can’t be everywhere at once,” writes the author. True enough, but if he missed the Beatles at the Cavern Club or the first performances of Nirvana, Kaye has seen more than his share of shows. More, he has a Marcus-ian (Greil, that is, and not Herbert) depth of historical knowledge that enables him to enumerate the sightings of the very phrase rock ’n’ roll: one, perhaps improbably, in a gospel recording from 1910, a more secular one from 1922. Though a scholar of the many lightning-in-the-bottle moments of which he writes, Kaye is nothing if not an enthusiast; he hails the introduction to Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” rightly, as one of the most iconic guitar licks in history, adding, “please learn should you be in the vicinity of a C chord.” The author engagingly chronicles his wide travels, visiting New Orleans, London, Memphis, and many other places in search of lost and otherwise magical chords. He was there for some historically important moments, too, from the decline of the Sex Pistols to the rise of the Clash and the earliest stirrings of CBGB. Here, the writing turns distinctly autobiographical as Kaye recalls taking the stage with Patti Smith after grooving to the Ramones, “emulsifying rock and roll down to its primate, all downstrokes and lyrics one step removed from the asylum.” Frankie Avalon has a moment, as does skiffle, the latter of which begat the Beatles, which begat everything else—including, after 1964 and theEd Sullivan Show, the magical moment when Kaye “bought a cherry red Gibson Les Paul Special and a Magnatone 280 amp (true vibrato, the same kind Buddy Holly played) from a kid down the street who had given up the calling” and jumped into the fray.
If you’re a fan of rock music of whatever flavor, you needthis book.
