Lightning Striking: Ten Transformative Moments in Rock and Roll by Kaye, Lenny

"We have performed side-by-side on the global stage through half a century.... In Lightning Striking, Lenny Kaye has illuminated ten facets of the jewel called rock and roll from a uniquely personal and knowledgeable perspective."

-Patti Smith

An insider's take on the evolution and enduring legacy of the music that rocked the twentieth century

Memphis 1954. New Orleans 1957. Philadelphia 1959. Liverpool 1962. San Francisco 1967. Detroit 1969. New York, 1975. London 1977. Los Angeles 1984 / Norway 1993. Seattle 1991.

Rock and roll was birthed in basements and garages, radio stations and dance halls, in cities where unexpected gatherings of artists and audience changed and charged the way music is heard and celebrated, capturing lightning in a bottle. Musician and writer Lenny Kaye explores ten crossroads of time and place that define rock and roll, its unforgettable flashpoints, characters, and visionaries; how each generation came to be; how it was discovered by the world. Whether describing Elvis Presley's Memphis, the Beatles' Liverpool, Patti Smith's New York, or Kurt Cobain's Seattle, Lightning Striking reveals the communal energy that creates a scene, a guided tour inside style and performance, to see who's on stage, along with the movers and shakers, the hustlers and hangers-on--and why everybody is listening.

Grandly sweeping and minutely detailed, informed by Kaye's acclaimed knowledge and experience as a working musician, Lightning Striking is an ear-opening insight into our shared musical and cultural history, a magic carpet ride of rock and roll's most influential movements and moments.

Author: Lenny Kaye
Publisher: Ecco Press
Published: 01/11/2022
Pages: 512
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.40w x 1.80d
ISBN: 9780062449207

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 10/15/2021 pg. 20
Publishers Weekly 10/25/2021
Kirkus Reviews 11/01/2021
Library Journal 11/01/2021 pg. 86
Shelf Awareness 01/11/2022