White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s [Paperback]

Joe Boyd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2007

“This is the best book about music I’ve read in years, and a gripping piece of social history.”—Brian Eno

When Muddy Waters came to London at the start of the 1960s, a kid from Boston called Joe Boyd was his tour manager; when Dylan went electric at the Newport Festival, Joe Boyd was plugging in his guitar; when the summer of love got going, Joe Boyd was running UFO, the coolest club in London; when a bunch of club regulars called Pink Floyd recorded their first single, Joe Boyd was the producer; when a young songwriter named Nick Drake wanted to give his demo tape to someone, he chose Joe Boyd.

More than any previous sixties music autobiography, Joe Boyd’s White Bicycles offers the real story of what it was like to be there at the time. As well as the sixties heavy-hitters, this book also offers wonderfully vivid portraits of a whole host of other musicians: everyone from the great jazzman Coleman Hawkins to the folk diva Sandy Denny, Lonnie Johnson to Eric Clapton, Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Fairport Convention.

Record and film producer Joe Boyd was born in Boston in 1942 and graduated from Harvard in 1964. He went on to produce Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, R.E.M., and many others. He produced the documentary Jimi Hendrix and the film Scandal. In 1980 he started Hannibal Records and ran it for twenty years. He lives in London.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'Don't read this book on a train. I did, then missed my stop. This is the best book about music I've read in years, and a gripping piece of social history' Brian Eno 'It is a wonderful book, full of interesting and quirky detail, funny and wise, and elegantly written' Zoe Heller 'Fascinating, captivating and enthralling - what a life, and what a way to write it!' Charlie Gillett"

About the Author

Record and film producer Joe Boyd was born in Boston in 1942, and was the producer of Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, REM and many others. He produced the documentary 'Jimi Hendrix' and the film 'Scandal'. In 1980 he started Hannibal Records and ran it for 20 years. Boyd lives in London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Serpent's Tail; 4th ptg. edition (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852429100
• ISBN-13: 978-1852429102
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #713,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Record and film producer Joe Boyd was born in Boston in 1942 and graduated from Harvard in 1964. He went on to produce Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, REM and many others. He produced the documentary Jimi Hendrix' and the film Scandal'. In 1980 he started Hannibal Records and ran it for 20 years. Boyd lives in London where he writes for the Guardian and Independent.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Window on the golden era of rock, December 5, 2006

By 

J. R. P. Wigman "Hans Wigman" (Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s (Paperback)

Written by a man who has produced so many classic albums and who has encouraged and brought to the limelight many artists I love, I simply had to get this book. It certainly delivers, too. Many, many interesting facts, dates, anecdotes about as many artists are crammed into the pages, so it makes for avid reading, especially if you're a music fan interested in the music in the past century (for we can not only read about obvious artists and groups like Fairport Convention and the Incredible String Band, but about jazz artists like Duke Ellington and Sonny Rollins as well).
The downside of this book for me is the fact that it stays a bit on the surface. Both the artists as indeed the writer himself stay a bit distant, so that I didn't feel as involved as I could be. It might well be that Joe Boyd just wants to keep it factual and concise, but I think that he could have written a better book had he chosen to go a little deeper into (some of) the artists whose records he has produced.
Nevertheless, this is a fine book and you'll love all he has to write. Like I said, for me not buying and reading it immediately was not an option.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging book by Joe Boyd., March 15, 2007

By 

Sylvia Majka (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s (Paperback)

White Bicycles, by Joe Boyd, is a "pick up and don't put down all weekend" type book. Boyd has great storytelling style, here telling us about his career and where it took him with various recording artists, his escapades and participation in London in the "60's", and his professional development as a producer. I got the book primarily because I am a Nick Drake fan. The two existing Nick biographies, while diligently researched, and containing info based on many interviews, still have that degree of detachment that necessarily exists when the authors have never personally met their subject.I certainly wasn't disappointed-as Boyd's few chapters on Nick brought this departed artist to life for me more than the two existing bios. He conveys his interactions with the shy artist, and writes about him in a way that lets us see the person as well as the artist. Yes, it is very funny to read as Boyd describes how Nick answered his telephone (as if it had never rung before) and his first meeting with him after the intro by Ashley of Fairport Convention, then moving in to the production of Five Leaves and Bryter Layter, and Nick's decision to take a new direction w/Pink Moon, which Boyd did not produce.

But there are also so many other artists! The book is a fascinating journey through the emerging rock/pop/folk scenes of the 60's early 70's on both sides of the Atlantic, with some gigantic names, and some not so well known on one shore or another. My feeling upon finishing the book was a Question: I wonder what he'll publish next? I want to be there.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not long enough, May 7, 2007

By 

E.I.E.I. Owen (Philadelphia, Pa United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s (Paperback)

This book is an interesting look into the swinging London of the 1960's from the viewpoint of an American looking to make a name for himself in the music biz. Like fellow American Shel Talmy Joe Boyd was involved in many of London's top bands by running the UFO club and producing the Pink Floyd's first single, producing and managing Fairport Convention and Nick Drake and capitalizing on the new interest in the British folk music scene. This book starts with Boyd's childhood and his experiences working for the Newport Folk Festival, Elektra records, and his own Witchseason Productions. It is very well written and it makes me wonder why he has not written a definitive book on Nick Drake but that's for another time. If you love reading about music in the 1960's or just music in general this is a great book albeit very short.