INSTANT KARMA
AN AUDIENCE WITH... JOE BOYD
The folk-rock super-producer talks Syd, Sandy, 6am calls from Kubrick and ping-pong with John Cale
Interview by SAM RICHARDS
ANDREA GOERTLER
“Syd had a strange kind of authority. Whenever he said anything, everybody listened”
JOE Boyd has produced some pretty significant albums in his time – Liege & Lief, Bryter Layter, Fables Of The Reconstruction – but his most impressive achievement may be his new book, And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain: A Journey Through Global Music. Its 900 pages fly by in a rush of interconnected anecdotes: Paul Simon venturing into Soweto; João Gilberto inventing bossa nova in his sister’s bathroom; Chris Blackwell becoming reggae’s biggest champion after being rescued by a Rastafarian fisherman.
It’s a lot of fun to read. Was it the same to write? “Oh no, I wish. I mean, it took me 17 years!” Boyd was driven forward by his constant discovery of these little musical eureka moments. “When I read that John [Lennon] and George [Harrison] got their lesson in Indian music from [Roger] McGuinn and [David] Crosby sitting in Zsa Zsa Gabor’s bathtub, I thought that was a pretty good moment that I would definitely try and make a bit more of.”
Book done, Boyd is keen to return to his lifelong mission of producing and championing undersung artists from across the globe. “My wife is very knowledgeable about Balkan music, so we’ve done two records in Bosnia with Damir Imamović, we’ve done a record in Albania. And we’re talking about a project with some good young musicians doing an overlooked type of American tradition.” First, though, there are your questions…