Joe Boyd on the Birth of Rock, World Music, and Being There for Everything

Conversations with Tyler

Society & Culture, Education

4.8 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 22 January 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Joe Boyd was there when Dylan went electric, when Pink Floyd was born, and when Paul Simon brought Graceland to the world. But far from being just another music industry insider, Boyd has spent decades exploring how the world's musical traditions connect and transform each other. His new book And the Roots of Rhythm Remain, is seventeen years in the making, and is in Tyler’s words “the most substantive, complete, thorough, and well-informed book on world music ever written.” From producing Albanian folk recordings to discovering the hidden links between Mississippi Delta blues and Indian classical music, Boyd's journey reveals how musical innovation often emerges when traditions collide.

He joins Tyler to discuss why Zulu music became politically charged in South Africa, what makes Albanian choral music distinct from Bulgarian polyphony, what it was like producing Toots and the Maytals, his role in the famous "Dueling Banjos" scene in Deliverance, his work with Stanley Kubrick on A Clockwork Orange, his experiences with Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd, how he shaped R.E.M.'s sound on Fables of the Reconstruction, what really happened when Dylan went electric at Newport, how the Beatles integrated Indian music, what makes the Kinshasa guitar sound impossible to replicate, and how he maintains his collection of 6,000 vinyl LPs and 30,000 CDs, what he’ll do next, and more.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.

Recorded December 27th, 2024.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey listeners, this is Dallas, one of the producers of conversations with Tyler.
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0:18.6	We're looking forward to seeing you there.
0:20.3	Now, on to the show.
0:26.5	Conversations with Tyler is produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University,
0:31.5	bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems.
0:35.7	Learn more at Mercadis.org. For a full transcript of every
0:39.8	conversation enhanced with helpful links, visit Conversationswithtyler.com.
0:48.5	Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Conversations with Tyler. Today I'm speaking with Joe Boyd.
0:55.2	This is immediately prompted by the publication of Joe's wonderful new book
0:59.4	and the roots of rhythm remain,
1:02.4	which is, I would say, the most substantive, complete, thorough,
1:06.2	and well-informed book on world music ever written.
1:09.6	I enjoy it every page and every moment. Joe, more
1:12.4	generally, is very well known as a music producer, so he has worked with all kinds of groups
1:18.3	and artists including Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Richard Thomas, R.E.M., the Fables
1:25.6	of the Reconstruction album, Vashti Banyan, Maria Moldauer,
1:29.6	James Booker, 10,000 Maniacs, Toots and the Maitals. He ran the UFO Club in London,
1:35.3	which was significant in the development of the British avant-garde, and had a role in the famous
1:41.2	dueling banjos scene in deliverance. Joe, welcome.
	...

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