Joe Boyd

Joe Boyd (born August 5, 1942) is an American record producer and writer. He formerly owned Hannibal Records. Boyd has worked with Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band, R.E.M., Vashti Bunyan, John and Beverley Martyn, Maria Muldaur, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Billy Bragg, James Booker, 10,000 Maniacs, and Muzsikás. He was also one of the founders of the highly influential nightclub venue UFO.

Background Boyd was born in Boston and grew up in Princeton, New Jersey. He attended Pomfret School in Pomfret, Connecticut. He first became involved in music promoting blues artists while a student at Harvard University. After graduating, he worked as a production and tour manager for music impresario George Wein, which took Boyd to Europe to organize concerts with Muddy Waters, Coleman Hawkins, Stan Getz and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Boyd was responsible for running the sound at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, when Bob Dylan played a controversial set backed by electric musicians.

In 1964 Boyd moved to London to establish the U.K. office of Elektra Records. In 1966, Boyd and John "Hoppy" Hopkins opened the UFO Club, a famous but short-lived UK Underground club in London's Tottenham Court Road. He produced the first single "Arnold Layne" by UFO regulars Pink Floyd, and recordings by Soft Machine. Boyd worked extensively with audio engineer John Wood at Sound Techniques studio in Chelsea. In this studio, Boyd and Wood made a succession of celebrated albums with British folk and folk rock artists, including the Incredible String Band, Martin Carthy, Nick Drake, John Martyn, Fairport Convention and Richard Thompson. Some of these artists were produced by Boyd's company Witchseason Productions.

Boyd returned to the United States at the end of 1970 to work as a music producer for Warner Bros. with special input into films, where he collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on the soundtrack of A Clockwork Orange. Boyd also contributed to the soundtrack of Deliverance, directed by John Boorman, where he supervised the recording of "Dueling Banjos", which became a hit single for Eric Weissberg. Boyd produced and co-directed the film documentary Jimi Hendrix (1973). In the U.S., Boyd produced albums by Maria Muldaur and Kate & Anna McGarrigle and then founded the Hannibal Records label in 1980 (later absorbed into Rykodisc), which released albums by Richard Thompson and many recordings of world music, including Hungarian band Muzsikás. Boyd also produced R.E.M.'s third album Fables of the Reconstruction (1985) as well as records by Billy Bragg and 10,000 Maniacs.

Boyd was executive producer for the 1989 feature film Scandal, starring John Hurt and Bridget Fonda about the Profumo affair in U.K. politics in 1963. Boyd left Hannibal/Ryko in 2001 and his autobiography, White Bicycles – Making Music in the 1960s, was published in 2006 by Serpent's Tail in the U.K. In 2008, he was a judge for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists. He was a producer on the long-delayed Aretha Franklin concert film "Amazing Grace."

Records produced or co-produced Date Artist Album Label Notes 1966 The Incredible String Band The Incredible String Band 1966 Sydney Carter Lord of the Dance 1966 Alasdair Clayre Alasdair Clayre 1966 Various artists, three tracks by Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse What's Shakin' 1966 various artists: Cyril Tawney, Matt McGinn, Johnny Handle and Alasdair Clayre A Cold Wind Blows Elektra 1967 Shirley Collins The Power of the True Love Knot 1967 The Incredible String Band The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion 1967 Dave Swarbrick, Martin Carthy, and Diz Disley Rags Reels and Airs 1967 Pink Floyd "Arnold Layne" / "Candy and a Currant Bun" 1967 The Purple Gang "Granny Takes a Trip" see 'Further reading' section 1967 Soft Machine "She's Gone", "I Should've Known" recordings for projected single (Sound Techniques, London), released 1977 on Triple Echo, CD rel.: Turns On Volume 1, Voiceprint 2001 1968 Pink Floyd tracks of compilation Tonite Lets All Make Love in London 1968 Chris McGregor Very Urgent 1968 Fairport Convention "If I Had a Ribbon Bow" / "If (Stomp)" 1968 Fairport Convention "If (Stomp)" / "Chelsea Morning" 1968 Fairport Convention Fairport Convention 1968 The Incredible String Band The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter 1968 The Incredible String Band Wee Tam and the Big Huge 1968 various Indian artists Kalpana compilation of instrumental and dance music from India 1969 Fairport Convention What We Did on Our Holidays 1969 Fairport Convention "Si Tu Dois Partir" / "Genesis Hall" 1969 Fairport Convention Unhalfbricking 1969 Nick Drake Five Leaves Left 1969 Fairport Convention Liege & Lief 1969 Dr. Strangely Strange Kip of the Serenes 1969 The Incredible String Band "Big Ted" / "All Writ Down" 1969 The Incredible String Band Changing Horses 1970 Nico Desertshore 1970 Vashti Bunyan Just Another Diamond Day 1970 John and Beverley Martyn Stormbringer! 1970 The Incredible String Band U 1970 Fairport Convention Full House 1970 Fotheringay Fotheringay 1970 The Incredible String Band I Looked Up 1970 The Incredible String Band Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending 1970 Geoff and Maria Muldaur Pottery Pie 1970 Brotherhood of Breath Brotherhood of Breath 1971 Nick Drake Bryter Layter 1971 Mike Heron Smiling Men with Bad Reputations 1971 Mike Heron "Call Me Diamond" / "Lady Wonder" 1971 John and Beverley Martyn The Road to Ruin 1971 Dr. Strangely Strange Heavy Petting 1973 Maria Muldaur Maria Muldaur 1973 Maria Muldaur "Midnight at the Oasis" b/w "Any Old Time" 1973 Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandel "Dueling Banjos" b/w "Reuben's Train" 1973 Jimi Hendrix Jimi Hendrix soundtrack 1974 Maria Muldaur Waitress in a Donut Shop 1974 Muleskinner Muleskinner 1975 Kate and Anna McGarrigle Kate & Anna McGarrigle 1975 Geoff Muldaur Geoff Muldaur Is Having a Wonderful Time 1976 James Booker Junco Partner 1976 Fairport Convention Live at the L.A. Troubadour 1976 Maria Muldaur Sweet Harmony 1976 Toots & the Maytals Reggae Got Soul 1977 Kate & Anna McGarrigle Dancer with Bruised Knees 1978 The Albion Band Rise Up Like the Sun 1978 Julie Covington Julie Covington 1981 The Act (a band fronted by Nick Laird-Clowes) Too Late at Twenty 1981 Joe "King" Carrasco and The Crowns Party Safari 1981 Geoff Muldaur I Ain't Drunk 1982 Richard and Linda Thompson Shoot Out the Lights 1982 Richard and Linda Thompson "Don't Renege on Our Love" / "Living in Luxury" 1982 Defunkt Thermonuclear Sweat 1982 Cool It Reba Money Fall Out the Sky 1983 Richard Thompson Hand of Kindness 1983 original cast recording Poppie Nongena 1984 Richard Thompson Small Town Romance 1985 Richard Thompson Across a Crowded Room 1985 R.E.M. Fables of the Reconstruction 1985 10,000 Maniacs The Wishing Chair 1986 Fairport Convention House Full – Live at the LA Troubador 1986 Dagmar Krause Supply and Demand, German version: Angebot und Nachfrage 1987 Balkana The Music of Bulgaria 1987 John Harle Habanera 1987 Danny Thompson Whatever 1988 Nazakat & Salamat Ali Nazakat & Salamat Ali 1988 Billy Bragg Worker's Playtime 1988 The Trio Bulgarka The Forest Is Crying 1988 Toumani Diabaté Kaira 1988 Ketama, Toumani Diabaté and Danny Thompson Songhai 1988 The Dinner Ladies These Knees Have Seen the World 1988 Brotherhood of Breath Country Cooking 1988 Mary Margaret O'Hara Miss America Boyd uncredited 1989 Ivo Papasov and His Bulgarian Wedding Band Orpheus Ascending 1989 June Tabor Some Other Time 1990 The Blackgirls Procedure 1991 The Blackgirls Happy 1991 Ivo Papasov and His Bulgarian Wedding Band Balkanology 1991 The Watchman The Watchman 1992 Orbestra Trans-Danubian Swineherd's Music 1994 Ketama, Toumani Diabaté and Danny Thompson Songhai 2 1996 ¡Cubanismo! ¡Cubanismo! 1996 Toumani Diabaté Djelika 1997 Alfredo Rodriguez Cuba Linda 1997 ¡Cubanismo! Malembe 1998 ¡Cubanismo! Reencarnation 1998 The Hank Dogs Bareback 1998 Jazz Jamaica Double Barrel 1998 Dana and Karen Kletter Dear Enemy 1998 Kate & Anna McGarrigle The McGarrigle Hour 1998 Philip Pickett The Bones of All Men 1998 The Yockamo All-Stars Dew Drop Out 1999 ¡Cubanismo! Mardi Gras Mambo 1999 Taj Mahal and Toumani Diabaté Kulanjan 1999 Loudon Wainwright III Social Studies 2002 The Hank Dogs Half Smile 2004 Geoff Muldaur's Futuristic Ensemble Private Astronomy 2004 Virginia Rodrigues Mares Profundos 2005 Pink Floyd London '66-'67 2007 Athena Breathe with Me 2014 Robyn Hitchcock The Man Upstairs 2017 Maya Youssef Syrian Dreams Executive Producer 2020 Damir Imamović Singer of Tales Wrasse Records co-production Andrea Goertler

Books His memoir, White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s, was published in 2007, and his second book, And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: A Journey Through Global Music, in 2024.