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Welcome to the official website of record producer and writer Joe Boyd.
Visit Joe at his You Tube channel and Facebook page!
The Audio Book of “White Bicycles”, read by Joe himself is now available at www.audible.com, amazon.com and iTunes.
Click here for Blast from the Past photo! Joe with Sandy Denny and Chris Blackwell in 1970
News
* Joe's latest newsletter celebrates the life of John"Hoppy" Hopkins
* Read Joe's letter to the Guardian 'Analogue makes a comeback on vinyl'
* Joe has had the honour of being the first guest given the 'freedom of the collection' at the John Peel Archive. Have a look at a video of Joe's visit and the records he selected for his Record Box
* Joe's first studio production of the New Millenium, Robyn Hitchcock's "The Man Upstairs" has been released. And there's a short film of Joe and Robyn discussing it....
*A “White Bicycles” YouTube channel which tracks the music in the book chapter by chapter is now up and running
Upcoming Events
The Greystones, Sheffield. Friday 6th March 8pm. Joe will be in conversation with JP Bean, author of the acclaimed 'Singing from the Floor: A History of British Folk Clubs', and will answer questions from the audience. Click here for tickets.
Recent Events
Festival No 6, Portmeirion, Wales. 5th & 6th September. Joe did a DJ set before The Rails performed on the Estuary Stage. A screening of 'From Here to Before' in the Gatehouse followed by a discussion featuring Joe, Vashti Bunyan and Kieran Evans, the director of the film. The next day Joe appeared back on the Estuary stage in discussion with with the author JP Bean.
Joe did two more events with Classic Album Sundays to celebrate Nick Drake's 'Five Leaves Left'. The first was in Oslo, Norway and on 20th September he appeared at the National Audio Show at Whittlebury Hall in Towcester, Northamptonshire.
Camp Bestival 2nd & 3rd August. Joe was invited by Classic Albums Sundays to discuss two classic albums both celebrating their 45 year anniversaries, Fairport Convention ‘Liege & Lief’ and Nick Drake ‘Five Leaves Left’.
June: Italy. Joe made two appearances at June's Dal Mississippi al Po Music and Literature Festival in Piacenza, northern Italy.
May: Joe read passages from White Bycycles as Olivia Chaney sang songs at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival
November: Joe appeared on Paul Jones' BBC Radio 2 show talking about James Booker and on BBC Radio 4 talking about The Songs of Molly Drake
October 27, Southbank Centre, London. As part of The Rest is Noise Festival Joe was in conversation about the 1960s and the artists that made this decade’s appeal everlasting.
October 13, House of St Barnabas Chapel, London. Classic Album Sundays hosted an event in aid of The House of Barnabas charity where Joe presented Nick Drake's album 'Bryter Layter' and answered questions from the audience.
September 20. Joe did a Masterclass in London's Underground Music of the 60's at the Batumi International Art-House Film Festival, Georgia
A double cd of the Kate McGarrigle concerts in London, New York and Toronto called “Sing Me The Songs” was released in June by Nonesuch, coinciding with the release of the film of the New York Town Hall concert – “Sing Me The Songs (Which Say I Love You)”.
CD Reviews and Radio Feature
BBC Radio Scotland 21 June 2013
June 25 and 26 Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYC. There was a two-day event with a screening of the film followed by a discussion about Kate’s legacy as a songwriter, then a concert starring Kate’s children Rufus and Martha Wainwright with guests Norah Jones and Emmy Lou Harris
June 17: Tabernacle, London W11. Joe took part in a 5 x 15 show with Robyn Hitchcock at the Tabernacle
April 29 Grammy Museum, Los Angeles. Way To Blue event
April 23 Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis. Way To Blue event
April 18, Joe gave a keynote address to the EMP Pop Music Conference on the NYU campus in New York, 6:30pm.
April 13 and 14 Nitehawk Cinema, Williamsburg, NYC. Joe hosted two rare US screenings of “A Skin Too Few”
April 10 Joe's Pub, NYC. Way To Blue event
April 5 Joe talked about Nick Drake and his songs at the Laugharne Weekend in Wales. Robyn Hitchcock, Charlotte Greig and Keitel Keinig will interrupt to sing a Nick Drake song or two.
April 2 Wilton’s Music Hall London. Way To Blue event
March 23 Joe sat in as guest DJ on KALW Radio 91.7 FM in San Francisco
Feb 21, Joe talked to RTE about Sandy Denny - catch the podcast
Jan 14, Joe met Amanda Eichstaedt at KWMR Radio, see the playlist
November 16: Joe took part in a talk at the Victoria and Albert Museum on the subject of 'Hendrix through the lens'.
Sept 17: Joe spoke about his book, his time in Soho and the UFO Club at a meeting of the Sohemian Society.
Sept 8, 2.30pm: Mantova Literature Festival, Casa del Mantegna, Italy
June 15: Love Over and Over - The Songs of Kate McGarrigle, Toronto, Canada. This concert was part of the Luminato Festival and was held in Massey Hall.
Way to Blue 2011
November 11: Sydney Opera House
November 13 - 15: Melbourne Recital Hall
Chinese White Bicycles 2011
November 10th: The Basement, Sydney
December 1: 7.45 pm Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London
| In Madrid recently, I saw a Goya etching with the following timely caption - "The sleep of Reason produces Monsters." j |
White Bicycles now available in Kindle Edition!
Chinese White Bicycles
Live and direct from 1967! Robyn Hitchcock and Joe Boyd present "Chinese White Bicycles"
Over the last couple of years Joe and Robyn have been touring their entertaining show where Joe reads excerpts from his book and Robyn plays related songs. Read Reviews
The Incredible String Band's first four albums have been reissued.
Read a Review from Shindig! Magazine
CD versions will also be remastered. The downloadable albums are not currently remastered but will be soon...
REM's Fables of the Reconstruction reissued and remastered.
Interview with B92 Radio in Belgrade
I have always admired the courage represented by B92 Radio in Belgrade, who provided a creative opposition during the dark Milosovic years in Serbia. I was pleased and proud to do an interview with them - which is transcribed here in Serbian. You can also listen to the radio interview in English
A Celebration of Kate McGarrigle
Lives That Touched Mine - Joe Boyd Newsletter April 10
A tribute concert was held for Kate as part of Richard Thompson's Meltdown Festival featuring Anna McGarrigle, Martha and Rufus Wainwright, Linda and Richard Thompson, Emmylou Harris.
Concert Reviews
Other Events:
Watch videos of the concert in Birmingham Town Hall Way to Blue - The Songs Of Nick Drake
The Witchseason Weekend at the Barbican celebrated the music of Fairport Convention and the Incredible String Band. Read a review - Very Cellular Songs
Newsletters:
Read Joe's Newsletters for news on Upcoming Events as well as reports on musical and other activities he has been involved with over the past few months
International News
(including translations of White Bicycles):
White Bicycles: Making Music in the the 1960s. ReviewsNew Reviews from Germany US Reviews "The simple brilliance of... an irresistible tale. Boyd's wit and candor are rare enough, but what truly makes his writing stand out are his insights into an era when rock 'n' roll still seemed exciting and strange." "Boyd tells...this thoroughly entertaining memoir....with the kind of tender precision that raises 'White Bicycles' far above the ordinary rock bio and into the realm of valuable cultural commentary." "One of the most balanced and engaging look-backs of the '60s yet" NY DAILY NEWS "A deliciously detailed memoir." "It's an extraordinarily entertaining book; Boyd pulls from a bottomless bag of great stories, and his understated way with a punchline catches you by surprise. The result is a rock memoir marked by the drollery of an old-fashioned show-biz memoir." "Read it!" |
Compilation wins Mojo Award!
White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s - The Joe Boyd Story Track Listing:
UK Reviews "One of the most lucid and insightful music autobiographies I've read. Captures evanescent history with remarkable clarity (and) has enough of a grasp of larger issues - historical, philosophical, psychological - to be of interest to readers unfamiliar with the records Boyd produced." "Joe Boyd's memoir of his musical adventures is as acute and natural-sounding as his record productions. White Bicycles is as good an adjunct to great popular music as any that's been written." "What a wonderful book! I was so engrossed I missed my train station. A gripping piece of social history and the best book about music I've read in years." "Terrific book. The stories he tells are so enthralling and his sense of the period and the characters are so vivid..this engaging and readable book is an important addition to the history of its time." |
New White Bicycles Chapter During the final edit, I dropped a chapter from White Bicycles. It didn't really fit into the flow of the book, being about the events surrounding the making of the film "Scandal", which I produced in 1988 (but which was about the Sixties, which was why I wrote the chapter in the first place). Taken out of the context of the book, it still makes a good yarn, so consider it a 'bonus track' to White Bicycles, available only online! Robert KirbyNick Drake's string arranger, Robert Kirby, died in October 2009. He had conducted his original string arrangements for Nick in May of that year in our tribute concert in Birmingham. The strings sounded glorious and he had a wonderful time. He was so looking forward to the concerts coming up the next January and all of us are saddened by his death. It was a pleasure and a privilege to work with him. I took part in a Radio 4 programme about him called "Last Word". Tributes to Ludovic Kennedy and the Queen's Press Secretary precede Robert's, but at least he comes before the former Queen of Libya! (They play a bit of River Man, although that was the one arrangement of Nick's Robert didn't do!) You can hear it here - it's the one dated October 23. Carthage Music:I am still dabbling in the music business as a partner in Carthage, a music publishing company. Artists include Ivo Papasov, Chango Spasiuk and Tony Allen. Click here for Carthage Music News Syd Barret Tribute ConcertBelow is an excerpt of my article featured in the programme of the Syd Barrett tribute concert May 10 2007 at London's Barbican Theatre. View full article.
DEMOS!: I have always adhered to the notion that I will listen to anything once. But I am no longer seeking producing gigs, I don't have a label and I don't go to gigs involving WPSEs (White People Singing in English). Serpents Tail have been very polite about forwarding cds people want me to hear. But I urge you NOT to send demos to them. If there is something you feel I absolutely must hear, and have no need for a response from me, please send a stamped envelope to Rebecca for forwarding. | |
