My Career As Village Crank
My career as village crank, banging out letters to the editor, is on the upswing! Two letters published in the past three weeks! One in the Guardian, one in the International New York Times. They...
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My Albanian adventures
I have been hiding my head in shame for the past month after committing an apostrophe-crime in the editor’s letter I shared with you, right after the other rant about bad grammar! Thank you to all...
View ArticleJoe’s new A – Z Podcast!
Last month saw the launch of my podcast, “Joe Boyd’s A-Z”. Each weekly 10-minute episode starts with a track from my collection, which serves as a doorway to talk about memorable recording sessions...
View ArticleiTunes!
It took a few weeks but JOE BOYD’S A-Z is now available as a podcast on iTunes. I have seven letters up, so you can listen for over an hour! (10 minutes each) Tell your friends, tweet them, facebook...
View ArticleJonah, American Epic Session and Les Blank
Due to a glitch on our end, all those email raves about the “Joe Boyd’s A-Z” podcast seem to have bounced back! The problem has been sorted now, so feel free to lob bouquets or brickbats by hitting...
View Article“A Poem Is A Naked Person” and the English Folk Expo
If any of you are near Bristol, England this Monday (November 2) evening – come along to the Institute of Art and Ideas where I’m giving a talk and answering questions. It starts early, at 6pm, which...
View ArticleEnglish Folk Music
Happy New Year! The A-Z podcasts are back after a fortnight’s hiatus with “T”. Easy as pie at www.joeboyd.co.uk – click on a letter and the ten-minute podcast plays. * * * As a teenager, I was...
View ArticleWith Cerys Matthews on the World Service
Dear Mailing List, Let’s hear it for Cerys Matthews! She sweeps all before her as champion radio presenter. And to prove what good taste she has, she did an hour-long programme with me, playing records...
View ArticleV&A Friday Late Special
Dear Mailing List Londoners and Thames Estuary denizens can find me this Friday evening (Feb 26) at the Victoria & Albert Museum. It’s one of their Friday Late Specials – this month’s theme is...
View ArticleLetter AA is here!
Letter AA is now available to download here and will be added to this site very soon…
View ArticleWay To Blue concert and Cuba
Dear Mailing List, I know, I’ve been back from Cuba for a while and I promised a full report. It was great……! OK, I’ll expand on that but first some ‘housekeeping’ as event comperes are wont to say....
View ArticleBayou Maharajah and WTB ticket link
Dear Mailing List, Almost forgot! Another very worthwhile event is the screening of “Bayou Maharajah”, a documentary about New Orleans pianist James Booker. It’s part of the Everyman group’s “Music...
View ArticleThe Podcast Spirit and upcoming events
Dear Mailing List, It’s been a while. There’s been a lot going on and those pesky podcasts take up quite a bit of time! But I keep getting great feedback and numbers keep climbing, so there’s no...
View ArticleKickstarter!
Please check out Joe’s new Kickstarter campaign. SAZE the day – the Albanian recording project
View ArticleYou say you want a revolution?
Sixties Weekend at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Nigel Waymouth and I “in conversation” at noon on Sunday. Free admission! Then I introduce the film “Performance” at 2pm – also free;...
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Amazing Grace
Dear Mailing List, Long time no see! The subject of this newsletter is one of the reasons you haven’t heard from me lately. I don’t believe I’ve previously mentioned my involvement in Amazing Grace,...
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Singer of Tales
Dear Mailing List, This is hardly the ideal time for a newsletter, since there seem to be a plethora of blogs, sharings, essays, diaries, etc triggered by the lockdown. You’re probably tired of people...
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Dudu Pukwana
Dear Mailing List, I got a very nice surprise last year. Matsuli Records got in touch to tell me they had tracked down a project I worked on fifty years ago with the great South African saxophonist,...
View ArticleOld Music For A New Year
Dear Mailing List, As we stagger into 2021, I can suggest a couple of comforting musical crumbs. For those of you in the UK, BBC2 is screening Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace this coming Saturday,...
View ArticleGeorge Wein
Dear Mailing List, George Wein: October 3, 1925 to September 13, 2021 On a cold January day in 1964, I walked into George Wein’s office on Central Park West. He was looking for a tour manager for the...
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