Joe Boyd
America-born Boyd became involved in music during the early '60s. A room-mate of folksinger Tom Rush, he promoted concerts in the New England area and penned liner notes on several releases by local artists. Boyd first visited the UK in 1964 with a Blues and Gospel tour and, having enjoyed a brief period assisting producer Paul Rothschild, returned to head the London office of Elektra Records. He produced material for the Powerhouse, an impromptu collaboration between Eric Clapton, Paul Jones and Steve Winwood, before co-founding the UFO Club, the focal point for the emergent London ‘underground’ movement. Boyd oversaw sessions by Pink Floyd and the Soft Machine, including the former's debut single and hit, Arnold Layne, before inaugurating Witchseason, his lauded management/production company. Nick Drake, John Martyn and the Incredible String Band were among the acts enjoying Boyd's patronage, but his greatest success came with Fairport Convention. Boyd produced their first five albums, of which LIEGE AND LIEF was a landmark experiment in English folk/rock. He returned to the USA in 1971 to accept a post at Warner Brothers Films, where he assembled the documentary Jimi Hendrix. Further production work for Maria Muldaur and Kate And Anna McGarrigle preceded the founding of a new label, Hannibal. Initial, indeed contrasting, releases by Defunkt and Richard And Linda Thompson augered well for its future, but the company struggled when Island Records severed its distribution deal. Boyd nonetheless persevered and throughout the '80s established the venture as a leading outlet for ‘world music’. Judicious archive releases by Fairport Convention, Nick Drake and Sandy Denny maintained a sense of continuity, while Boyd's production skills were heard on releases by R.E.M. (FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION), 10, 000 Maniacs (THE WISHING CHAIR) and Mary Margaret O'Hara (MISS AMERICA). The excellence of his lengthy catalogue is a tribute to a superlative taste in music.