Takin' A Walk – Joe Boyd on Global Music’s Timeless Power

Podcast: Takin’ A Walk – Music History with Buzz Knight
Episode Title: Joe Boyd on Global Music's Timeless Power: From Pink Floyd to World Music Revolution
Release Date: December 9, 2025
Host: Buzz Knight
Guest: Joe Boyd
Book Featured: And the Roots and Rhythm Remain

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the career and worldview of legendary producer, writer, and musicologist Joe Boyd—whose new book "And the Roots and Rhythm Remain" explores the often forgotten roots and lasting influence of global music traditions. Host Buzz Knight and Boyd discuss the intricate interplay of politics, culture, and music, touching on stories from jazz’s birth in New Orleans, to the backstories of world music phenomena like Paul Simon’s Graceland, Ry Cooder’s Buena Vista Social Club, and the haunting harmonies of the Bulgarian Women's Choirs. Joe offers insight drawn from his unique six-decade career producing artists from Pink Floyd to Nick Drake, and shares his ongoing fascination with music’s unbreakable threads across time and geography.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Joe Boyd’s Dream “Walks” – With Jelly Roll Morton and Chris Blackwell

[04:10 - 06:14]

• Joe’s fantasy walk would be with jazz legend Jelly Roll Morton in New Orleans, to witness firsthand “the moment in American music history when ragtime, Spanish, Cuban music met the blues and jazz emerged.”
• For a living companion, he picks Chris Blackwell (Island Records founder), acknowledging Blackwell's key role in his early career and the birth of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, and Sandy Denny’s careers.
  • “He always knows all the street guys, you know, he doesn’t live in a bubble, Chris.” – Joe Boyd [06:15]

2. Why This Book, and Why These Musical Traditions?

[06:25 - 11:13]

• Boyd’s motivation for writing And the Roots and Rhythm Remain draws on his love of writing, “telling people things they think they know but don’t,” and unpacking the social and political context of global hits.
• The Graceland phenomenon is cited as an example of Western audiences missing complex realities:
  • “They didn’t realize that in South Africa, Ladysmith Black Mambazo…represented the enemies of the ANC. It was very complicated.” – Joe Boyd [07:42]
• Examples extend to musical crossovers in Cuba and New Orleans—Boyd’s experience producing a record with Cuban and New Orleans musicians reveals “such a different concept of rhythm,” sparking his long exploration of how African-American and Afro-Cuban cultures diverged musically.
  • “Hits that everybody knows, but they don’t really know where it comes from and…what are the stories behind it?” – Joe Boyd [10:00]

3. Deeper Dive: Buena Vista Social Club & Ry Cooder

[11:22 - 16:08]

• Boyd traces previous cycles of Western interest in “world music,” arguing major moments like mambo and early ‘30s Cuban hits had a broader, deeper impact than ’90s Western releases.
• Buena Vista Social Club was ironically disliked by Cuban audiences as too old-fashioned and sanitized:
  • “It’s as if…the world said to Britain, we’re not interested in Massive Attack or Radiohead…We’re falling in love with a group of banjo and accordion players who do music hall songs from the ‘30s. That was the Cuban view.” – Joe Boyd [13:11]
• He reveals the album was born from accident: “the Malians didn’t get on the plane,” so Ry Cooder and Nick Gold, “stuck in Havana,” decided to record something spontaneous instead.
  • “Hats off to them…they just didn’t blink.” – Joe Boyd [15:09]

4. The Meaning Behind The Title

[16:08 - 19:47]

• The book title is a lyric from Paul Simon’s “Under African Skies.” Boyd recounts a revealing interview with Simon about the making of Graceland:
  • Simon created the music first without lyrics, which he found intimidatingly strong, delaying his lyric writing for months.
  • “He felt they were probably the best lyrics he ever wrote. And I think they are.” – Joe Boyd [17:40]
• Rhythm is everything:
  • “To me, music lives in rhythm…if you start with the rhythm…that’s what Paul Simon did. He takes the music on its rhythmic basis and pays it that respect.” – Joe Boyd [19:25]

5. Healing Power of Music

[22:57 - 24:24]

• Boyd attests to music’s unique ability to create elation, joy, “lifting you out of yourself,” if not actual medicine:
  • “If there is sort of holy realm, that’s the closest I get…listening to great music.” – Joe Boyd [24:06]

6. The Story of the Bulgarian Women’s Choirs

[24:24 - 30:49]

• Boyd’s first exposure came via American record labels—origin stories involving Bob Dylan’s manager, Albert Grossman, and a chance Parisian encounter.
• The Bulgarian sound stood out for its raw village singer authenticity and “open throat” harmonies, unlike the artificiality of Soviet “folkloric” ensembles:
  • “In Russia, Stalin…wanted to destroy peasant music. So no peasants were ever in Moiseyev’s choir…It was just all invented.” – Joe Boyd [29:15]
  • By contrast, Bulgarian choirs featured real villagers, preserving folk traditions.

7. Witnessing the Jamaican Reggae Explosion

[30:49 - 34:35]

• In the ‘60s, most British audiences rejected reggae as “music for skinheads.”
• Boyd’s conversion came during a transformative night listening to Toots and the Maytals with Paul Rodgers and Blackwell:
  • “We just sat there shaking our heads – this music is unbelievable…so cool. We never imagined Jamaican music was that good.” – Joe Boyd [32:25]
• He later produced Reggae Got Soul, a rare album he’s perfectly satisfied with:
  • “There’s probably two records that I made that I can listen to from beginning to end…And Reggae Got Soul is one, and [Nick Drake's] ‘Rider Later’ is the other.” – Joe Boyd [34:35]

8. Unexplored Musical Traditions

[34:40 - 36:54]

• Boyd expresses lingering curiosity about South Pacific music, recalling a breathtaking encounter with Tahitian tourists singing in a San Francisco hotel:
  • “It was just the most glorious sound I’ve ever heard. I couldn’t believe it.” – Joe Boyd [35:14]
  • He dreams of recording the best musicians throughout Tahiti, reflecting wistfully on the world’s “so much music…I could spend another lifetime…making records.”_ [36:41]

Notable Quotes

• On music’s political complexity:
  “Here’s music, which is wonderful…but also tell people something they don’t know about the political context.” – Joe Boyd [08:04]
• On cross-cultural rhythm:
  “Havana and New Orleans are next door, but yet the sensibility is so different.” – Joe Boyd [09:24]
• On the inside story of Buena Vista:
  “Latin radio [in American]…How many radio plays did it get? Zero. Big zilch.” – Joe Boyd [14:12]
• On the mystique of the Bulgarian sound:
  “It’s like a shout. There’s no vibrato…if you had these adjacent notes and were singing bel canto, it would sound like a train wreck. Because the note is straight and doesn’t wobble, it works.” – Joe Boyd [27:41]
• On why he keeps exploring:
  “There’s so much music in the world…I could spend another lifetime, you know, travelling around, making records.” – Joe Boyd [36:41]

Important Timestamps

• Opening and Introduction to Joe Boyd: [04:03 - 04:08]
• Favorite ‘Walking’ Companions: [04:10 - 06:14]
• Book Inspiration and Early Stories: [06:25 - 11:13]
• Buena Vista Social Club Backstory: [11:22 - 16:08]
• Title Meaning & Paul Simon Interview: [16:08 - 19:47]
• Music as Healing: [22:57 - 24:24]
• Bulgarian Women’s Choirs: [24:24 - 30:49]
• Jamaica and Reggae Explosion: [30:49 - 34:35]
• The World Unexplored: [34:40 - 36:54]
• Closing Thoughts: [36:54 - End]

Memorable Moments & Episode Tone

The episode pulses with Joe Boyd’s warm storytelling, humility, and enduring curiosity. He weaves canonical music history with firsthand production tales, political nuance, and sly humor—a tone matched by Buzz Knight’s enthusiasm and curiosity. Their back-and-forth celebrates both world music’s mysteries and the deeply personal sense of discovery at its heart.

Summary Takeaway

This is a must-listen for anyone fascinated by the unseen forces shaping world music. Boyd’s stories will leave you hearing classic records with fresh ears and appreciating the global weave of rhythm, politics, and passion behind every note. If you love music history, And the Roots and Rhythm Remain—and this conversation—are essential.