Rock & Roll High School With Pete Ganbarg

This week on Rock & Roll High School, we're joined by rock & roll pioneer Gary U.S. Bonds.
Long before the British Invasion, Gary U.S. Bonds was one of the defining voices of early rock & roll. Bursting onto the charts with classics like "New Orleans," "Quarter to Three," "School Is Out," and "Dear Lady Twist," he became one of the biggest hitmakers of the early 1960s, helping bridge the worlds of rhythm & blues and rock with a sound that influenced generations of artists.
In this conversation, Gary looks back on his remarkable career—from growing up in Norfolk, Virginia and breaking through with legendary producer Frank Guida, to navigating the changing music industry, and enjoying an extraordinary second act in the 1980s thanks to his friendship with Bruce Springsteen and Little Steven Van Zandt. Bruce and Steve produced Gary's acclaimed albums Dedication and On the Line, wrote songs for him, and helped introduce his music to an entirely new generation of fans.
We also discuss Gary's friendships with fellow rock & roll pioneers, the stories behind his biggest records, and what it was like to witness—and help create—the birth of rock music from the very beginning.
More than sixty years after his first hits, Gary U.S. Bonds remains one of the true architects of American rock & roll. His stories are as vibrant as the music itself, making this a fascinating conversation with a genuine living legend.
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Legendary guitarist, producer, author, music historian, and cultural curator Lenny Kaye joins us this week on Rock & Roll High School.
For more than five decades, Lenny has occupied a singular place in popular music. As the longtime guitarist and closest musical collaborator of Patti Smith, he helped shape the sound of one of rock's most influential artists and has remained by her side since the earliest days of the Patti Smith Group. He is also the compiler of the groundbreaking 1972 anthology Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968, a collection that helped spark the garage-rock revival and laid much of the foundation for punk rock as we know it.
In this conversation, we trace Lenny's remarkable journey—from his childhood in New Jersey and his early years as a music journalist and record-store clerk, to the creation of Nuggets, the birth of the Patti Smith Group, and a lifetime spent documenting, preserving, and advancing rock & roll culture.
We also discuss Goin' Local, Lenny's long-awaited debut solo album, arriving July 17, 2026. Written across decades and featuring contributions from Patti Smith and other longtime friends and collaborators, the album represents a deeply personal statement from an artist whose influence on modern music extends far beyond the stage.
Whether you know him as Patti Smith's guitarist, the architect of Nuggets, author of some brilliant books about music, or one of rock's most respected historians and tastemakers, Lenny Kaye's impact on music is impossible to overstate. This is a conversation decades in the making.
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All of us at Rock & Roll High School are very saddened to learn of the passing of our friend and former guest Clive Davis. This is a new edit of our conversation with the legend himself, originally recorded shortly after Clive’s 90th birthday in 2022.
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Vernon Reid has spent more than four decades pushing the boundaries of what rock music can be.

Best known as the founder, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the groundbreaking band Living Colour, Reid helped redefine hard rock in the late 1980s by fusing rock, metal, funk, jazz, punk, and hip-hop into a sound that was entirely their own. Living Colour's debut album Vivid became a cultural phenomenon, powered by the Grammy-winning hit "Cult of Personality," while establishing the band as one of the most important and influential acts of their era.

But Reid's impact extends far beyond Living Colour. In 1985, alongside the late cultural critic, writer, and musician Greg Tate, he co-founded the Black Rock Coalition, an influential organization dedicated to expanding opportunities for Black artists in rock and alternative music. Over the years, Reid has collaborated with an astonishing range of artists, including Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, Public Enemy, Carlos Santana, and Meshell Ndegeocello, while also building a celebrated career as a composer for film, television, theater, and multimedia projects.

Reid remains as creatively active today as ever. He was among the artists who participated in Ozzy Osbourne's landmark Back to the Beginning concert, celebrating the legacy of Ozzy and Black Sabbath alongside an all-star lineup of rock and metal musicians. More recently, he released Hoodoo Telemetry, an adventurous new solo project that further demonstrates his continuing appetite for musical exploration and sonic innovation.

In this conversation, Vernon reflects on his early jazz and rock musical influences, the formation and breakthrough of Living Colour, the mission behind the Black Rock Coalition, and the artistic philosophy that has guided his remarkable career. We also discuss creativity, technology, social commentary, guitar playing, and why curiosity remains the driving force behind one of modern music's most innovative and uncompromising artists.

A true original, Vernon Reid continues to challenge expectations and expand the possibilities of contemporary music.
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Few artists have lived as many lives in music as Judy Collins.
Emerging from the folk revival of the early 1960s, Judy became one of the era's defining voices, recording timeless interpretations of songs by artists such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, and Leonard Cohen, while helping introduce many of them to a wider audience. Her recording of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" became a signature hit, and her career has since spanned more than six decades of music, activism, writing, and performance.
In this episode of Rock & Roll High School, Judy joins Pete Ganbarg for a wide-ranging conversation about her extraordinary journey: growing up in a musical family, discovering folk music, the Greenwich Village scene, friendships with artists including Joan Baez, Stephen Stills, and Leonard Cohen, and the stories behind some of the most important songs of her career, including "Amazing Grace," and "Send In The Clowns."
They also discuss Judy's work as an author and filmmaker, her remarkable longevity as a performer, and her upcoming Sweet Judy Blues Farewell Tour, which begins July 4, 2026 and will continue into 2027.
At 87 years old, Judy Collins remains a singular voice in American music — reflective, insightful, and still creating. This is a conversation with a true living legend.
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