And the Roots of Rhythm Remain

by Joe Boyd

From the legendary producer of Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, REM, and Taj Mahal and author of White Making Music in the 1960s comes a riveting, world-spanning tour of the artists, histories, controversies, and collaborations that shaped global music. 

When Paul Simon first heard the Zulu accordion flourish that would open his multi-platinum album Graceland, he told Joe Boyd that it seemed to proclaim, “You haven’t heard this before!” Yet the “world music” boom of the 1980s that Simon’s album helped to usher in had roots that extended back through the decades and across tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, gypsy music inspiring classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.  As far back as 1853, the music that had intrigued Simon had captivated London during a Zulu choir’s extended run there. (Only Charles Dickens dissented.) Like that of other far-flung musical traditions sweeping the globe, the story of Zulu music and its relationship to neighbors, invaders, appropriators, and admirers—from brutal 19th century massacres to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”—is more controversial, colorful, and complex than many imagine. 

Joe Boyd was part of a small group of label heads and journalists who chose “world music” as their marketing slogan in the 1980s. Already the legendary producer of artists including Pink Floyd, The Incredible String Band, Soft Machine, Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, Toots and the Maytals, and many others, Boyd had little idea how fast and how wide those simple words would spread, or how far back the history went. He would soon learn, producing pathbreaking music in Cuba, Brazil, Bulgaria, Mali, Hungary, Spain, and India under his label Hannibal Records. 

Following the success of his book White Making Music in the 1960s, a self-published smash hit, Boyd now sets out to explore the stories behind the world music he had helped to popularize. He has traveled across continents and interviewed dozens of musicians, producers, and academics, and spent years reading, listening, and writing. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a riveting, symphonic, globetrotting tour of the music that shapes our world.

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Biography, Cultural

944 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 24, 2024

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

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Reviews

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boyd has produced dozens of great records over the last nearly 60 years, including Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, R.E.M, and many of the albums mentioned in this book. I've not read his first book, which tells the story of his experiences in the 60s, but this one proves he's a great storyteller, a detailed researcher, and an acute listener to a wide variety of musical styles.

Boyd starts his exploration of all these musics with a long chapter - there are no short chapters - on South Africa. To make sure he grabs the widest possible audience, he focuses at first on Paul Simon's Graceland album, then goes back through the history of South Africa as a colony and a country, and the history of its music and recording industry, and carries on to the ways the music and musicians spread around the world. He also points out that by the time we in the West heard the likes of Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Mahlathini & the Mahotella Queens, they were essentially out of favor with many black South Africans - it was music of an older generation. With changes in detail and occasionally with timing, this is the template of every chapter.

Boyd covers reggae, Cuban music, Indian music (which expands to the music of Roma people in Europe, including some nice stuff on Django Reinhardt), tango and other South American musics, Eastern European and Russian music, and ends up with the entire rest of Africa. I don't agree with everything he says - he doesn't like Bob Marley's most popular records very much, and he especially doesn't like John McLaughlin - but for the most part, his taste aligns with mine on the many artists covered here that I have heard, and on the few (so far) I've sampled that had escaped my ears to date.

The final chapter reiterates his nearly complete hatred of drum machines and autotune, and to the extent that this technology eliminates the magic of human interaction between musicians, I understand this. But I think there is exciting music - even music from countries in Africa and South America - made with drum machines. That doesn't make him less of an expert on what he does like - it just shows that at age 82, his open mind has a few closed doors. (Although, to be fair, I think his dislike of drum machines goes back to the late 80s.)

The writing is as crisp and entertaining as the music - and it goes on for over 850 pages before the footnotes. The book increased my understanding of the people who made and appreciated all this music, and the ways in which the music worked (not to mention was influenced across national and ethnic borders). I consider it to be an essential work that will probably be well worth revisiting to pick up on even more insights.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful HUGE book both in size and scope, with fascinating backstories through decades — about music that went global. All stars are here. I particularly liked reading the chapter on Brazil, samba, bossa nova, tropicalia….with all the greats Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethania, Milton Nascimento, Gil Gilberto, Elis Regina…and so many others of renown celebrated by their audiences, who know every word and dance to every note of their songs. A mind blowing spectacular achievement.

[Joachim Stoop · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

5 stars for the incredible research
4 stars for the reading experience

I guess it's logic that the parts about music genres and artists that interest me less (Balkan gypsy, Cuban son, Congolese Rumba) felt more like studying and the parts about my favourites (Fela, Mulatu, Indian raga, hippies, jazz) felt like a free pass in a candy store.

[Charliecat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first came across the name Joe Boyd on the sleeve of Fairport Convention's album 'Unhalfbricking', credited as producer. The first side ends with an interpretation of the traditional song 'A Sailor's Life'. Legend has it that when the band listened to the playback, they were astounded by what they had produced. Thus, the legend continues, English Folk/Rock was born.

This was not the first time Joe Boyd played midwife to new music.

This is a tremendous book and I don't mean just the length. It is a masterpiece of research not only into what for a time was called 'World Music's (another notch in Boyd's belt), but the social and political conditions under which it either thrived or perished. It's breadth and depth is astounding.

I found it a bit opaque at times, but Boyd helps us by providing a Spotify playlist with many of the relevant artists. There's so much in here to learn and listen to.

For me the joy was in the connections he describes between the unlikeliest of artists and musical genres. Armenians in Ethiopia? Check. Kate Bush in Bulgaria? Check. There are so many nuggets in there that I always wanted to put the book down, marvel awhile, and then tell someone about it.

Two lessons.

Whenever authoritarian regimes or evangelical religionists of any persuasion come across music which makes people want to dance, sing, make love or just have a good time, then they will ban it and in extremis, murder the musicians.

That perversely, music is both tribal and universal. I'm sure we've all come across people who are tribal in their music. All modern music is rubbish, that sounds like people in pain, music died when the Beatles split up, you can't call it folk unless it's traditional and anon, etc, etc, etc. Real musicians don't think like that. Real musicians are respectful, interested and willing to learn from any genre - it's how things develop and new sounds emerge.

Long may it be so.

I love this book.

[Roger Rohweder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe Boyd takes readers on a rich and immersive journey across countries and cultures, tracing the historical roots of musical traditions and their influence both within and beyond their places of origin.

Drawing on his deep experience in the music industry and meticulous research, Boyd constructs a global narrative that is both educational and deeply engaging. At 940 pages, it’s a hefty volume, but each chapter is filled with fascinating history and (sometimes) accessible musicology.

My own reading was frequently (and joyfully) interrupted by listening breaks—tracking down songs and albums mentioned in the text. What began as reading quickly turned into a sprawling listening experience that has significantly expanded what I once thought was a fairly eclectic musical taste.

Boyd’s ability to explain what makes each musical tradition distinct—along with the social, political, and cultural conditions in which it developed—has deepened my appreciation for global music in a lasting way.

I’ve recommended this book enthusiastically to friends in the music world and to anyone who loves exploring the roots of rhythm. It’s not just a book—it’s a passport to the global soundtrack that shapes us all.

(with assistance from ChatGPT)

[Jerry James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dizzying tour of the history of world pop music, dance, and lyricism. You will expand your world.

[Fin Moorhouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boyd “was there when Dylan went electric, when Pink Floyd was born, and when Paul Simon brought Graceland to the world”. He's a musical Forrest Gump, having apparently brushed shoulders with most of the legendary musicians that make up late 20th c. musical history, and having produced albums for a large handful of them. He says it took him 17 years to write this book; a big old quilt of political history, artist biography, personal anecdotes, and sheer music appreciation, loosely organised by chapter into region.

The effect is something like listening to your amiable, worldy, and obsessively knowledgable uncle reminisce while on a very long train ride. There isn't really a point, how can there be, when each strand of “world music” is so sui generis, being more or less define by exclusion.

Instead it's just endless and overlapping stories. Frank Sinatra getting his start from a chance meeting with an Buenos Aeries tango singer; João Gilberto playing alone on his guitar for days in a tiled bathroom until he emerged having invented bossa nova; a reporter tracking down the legendary wedding bands of Mauritania, who could never recreate their dazzling sounds in the studio. The stories are not just about “world” music, but the politics of music across the world: how often musical innovation came from fringe cultures and trading outposts; the repression of Balkan folk music and bizarre reappropriation of national song by the Soviets; and the Russian man who recalled hearing Rubber Soul’s ‘Girl’ by the banks of the Moscow river in 1974, thinking “whatever this music was, it represented the truth, so everything I had learned up until that moment must be a lie”.

The “world” (or “global”) musical label is a weird one; other genres also being terrestrial. Arguably “world” music is not a genre at all, Tuvan throat singing sounding no more like Ghanaian highlife than Western pop sounds like metal. What it is is a polite way of saying “styles of music not from English-speaking countries”. If you want to sell a compilation album of Bulgarian folk songs, or kora-playing Mande music, then (like it or not) the vaguely adventurous “world” label gives the Western consumer of music a touchpoint, a sham sense of familiarity.

Still, obviously Boyd thinks there's more to it than that. At the end of the book he makes an analogy to biodiversity. Collectors and nature enthusiasts might care to preserve species for their own sake, but there's more to biodiversity than fetishing nature: if you level a forest to grow the same variety of tree in neat rows, the artificial forest is more likely to wither and die.

Arguably, commercial musical culture has stagnated. So if English-speaking commercial music is a big river fed by new, unfamiliar tributaries, then it would suck if the tributaries totally dry up as a source of provocation and renewal.

On the other hand, isn't that kind of patronising? What if “other” musical cultures want to steal the autotune and the digital metronomes from commercial music?

I went to a London concert by Abdel Aziz El Mubarak […] He opened with a beautiful slow taqsim, answering his vocal lines with slinky runs on the oud. Then he paused, looked over his left shoulder and nodded. The guy in the end chair pushed a button and the snap and thump of a beat box came blasting out of the PA speakers. The Sudanese cheered, raised their arms and began swaying from side to side; the rest of the audience exchanged glances. The records Charlie had been playing are driven by tarambouka hand drums, but now, on stage, the taramboukas were following the box. As more than a few White faces began moving towards the exits, the Sudanese looked at us in bewilderment: what's your problem?

So many musical genres are more new, more invented, less traditional, more a product of freely stealing from other sounds and newly splicing them together, than we care to realise. And when a genre gets big in the rest of the world, it's often already become passé in its place of birth. The ‘roots’ of music are the sources of musical invention, not any ancient and unchanging musical traditions. The world should get its drum machines, so long as those roots remain!

[Theediscerning · Rating 5 out of 5]

This starts just as you'd want – for a book that quotes "Graceland" in the title, at least – with the author having the burgeoning album sung to him and him alone by Paul Simon at a soiree one night. It continues just as you might expect, with the shock revelation (to some) of how Tight Fit, the purveyors of loincloth-clad cultural appropriation pop sans pareil, were a world music act. It continues as you might not wish, after that, however, with page after page of politico-history, socio-history, whatever-it-is-history, about how the Xhosa and Zulu aren't the same. The point is that they both sing, and both dance, and both play music, just differently – and we can't fully have the likes of Simon's collaborators without centuries of development, history and characters, all of which are here as context for the records.

The second chapter is the same – taking us through the whole gamut of Cuban-styled dance, from what Desi Arnaz knew to what is on 'Strictly' each week – while also proving you need to go right back to slave days to get the full, forensic gist of what is going on. In fact 1492 and the liberation of Iberia from Islam is where that story is forced to start. Don't get me wrong, this is no woke apologia, but it is saying there is a lifetime's worth of knowledge and experience to factor in, even if our tin western ears cannot exactly hear it on the discs we like to play.

This, then, is not nearly about what is in our CD players – the semi-exotic, the nun-like Bulgarians, the aged Havana guys, the Tony Allens of this world– but what is in their ancestry. The story of reggae, lover's rock and dub needs to factor in 1655; Ravi Shankar and his Beatling has the Mughals invade in the sixteenth century; "Starting in 732…" is not the world's worst counting-in. It's never a buyer's guide, or listening checklist. When it comes to Brazil, there is far more about their World Cup successes and about a Camus movie than recording "Rhythm of the Saints" – yes, the obvious child is almost denied.

This counts as practically the longest book I've ever reviewed – and digitally it came without two hundred pages of notes, index and pictures. It is wrist-breakingly dense stuff, and the author would not have been blamed for taking separate chapters, such as the one on Eastern European/Slavic/Russian song and all the nationalism it has ever inspired, and making separate books of them. Nobody could have researched all of this without a lifetime's exposure to producing Hungarian dance, Pink Floyd, ("hello to…") Fairport Convention and anything in between. This is a rarity, then, surely – a book of this length where every page is seeking to be definitive and achieving it. No musicology book will better it, and it's a most satisfying achievement all round.

[Patrick Savage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly thorough and fascinating account of the diversity of the world's music by someone who devoted their career to understanding promoting it. Of the 8 main chapters, 6 are devoted to music with roots in Africa and its diaspora (Chapter 1. South Africa, 2. Cuba, 3. Jamaica, 5. Brazil, 6. Argentina, and 8. The rest of Africa), while the remaining two are focused broadly on Eurasia (e.g., India, Romani, Balkans, former USSR). On the one hand, this is a much-needed antidote to the shameful neglect of African diasporic musics and overemphasis on European music found in most books about music history. On the other, I would have loved to see more about the Indigenous musics of the Americas and the Pacific. Can't have everything, of course!

As someone who considers myself an expert in the world's music, I found it incredible and learned a lot - I didn't know the vast majority of the artists mentioned. I would hesitate to recommend it to non-experts/non-afficianados, just because even as an expert I struggled to remember and keep straight all the names throughout the ~900-page book, so can't imagine people with less experience would be able to. But I love that he shone a light on fascinating musicians and histories that have been unfairly neglected for so long, particularly as his own career was spent working with them so he knows their stories intimately.

I also enjoyed the companion Spotify playlists, and can't wait to hear the broader musical companion website that remains ‘under construction’ (https://www.joeboyd.co.uk/the-music). I was a little surprised that some of the more famous music/musicians discussed (e.g., Youssou N'Dour) weren't included in the playlists. It kind of felt like Boyd assumed that all his readers would already know and be very familiar with the sounds of people like N'Dour, Buena Vista Social Club, Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, etc. So, if you don't already know those musics well, the book might not be for you, but if you do and want a much deeper cut, that is exactly what this book will give you!

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joe Boyd's excellent first book, White Bicycles, described his career as a record producer, etc., of British folk, singer-songwriter, and folk-informed music in the Long Sixties. After that, he spent much of the rest of the century talent-hunting non-English ethnic folk-infused music, as the head of Hannibal Records, etc. He participated in the meeting that decided on the successful marketing-based music genre term World Music. (This was later deemed problematic, so the subtitle is A Journey Through *Global* Music.)

Boyd's second book covers this fka World Music: South African/Zulu/Graceland, etc.; Afro-Cuban (rumba, mambo, bolero, Buena Vista Social Club, etc.); Latin American (tango, samba, bossa nova, etc.); African highlife/Afrobeat/Fela Kuti, etc.; Eastern European (Bulgarian choirs/Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares; Romani/Gypsy, etc.); Indian (George Harrison, ragas, etc.); Ethiopian (Éthiopiques collections, Jim Jarmusch soundtrack, etc.). It's a 900-page doorstopper, with hundreds of footnotes, books & articles referenced, and people thanked, for having assisted.

Really, it could have been released as a series of books -- maybe one for each continent. There's lots of backstory: the section on Bulgarian music includes a history of nationalism in Russian classical music, for example. Boyd switches from the big picture to describing his role in promoting various artists in the story. The stories include complexity & irony, and surprising anecdotes. Boyd is a promoter and a fan but not a bullshitter. I've read about the Graceland / South Africa boycott controversy, for example, but was surprised by Boyd's subtle take on Zulu music's role in apartheid.

Few people will read this tome from cover to cover. Most should probably closely read only about their preferred music style, & skim the rest.

[Stephen Rynkiewicz]

Joe Boyd is not a complete unknown. At the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, when Bob Dylan went electric, Boyd was behind the sound board. The next year, with the British Invasion still raging, he was in London as an A&R assistant for Elektra Records and running a club where Pink Floyd gigged. Boyd went on to produce albums for Chris Blackwell's Island and his own Hannibal label, moving from Nick Drake and Richard Thompson to an increasingly diverse set of Caribbean, Eastern European and African genres.

Connections among these and other musical traditions are the subject of Boyd's latest book, "And the Roots of Rhythm Remain" (Ze Books), now in paperback and on my desk as a bulky Chicago Public Library hardcover.

Boyd writes that the book's genesis was not similarity but contrast between the musical sensibilities of New Orleans and Havana, two traditions with African roots. Still, he seems to find direct links wherever he looks, and at 944 hardcover pages, not much escapes his gaze.

Three inches of ethnomusicology does not make a good beach read, but I've been known to take James Joyce to the lake, so why not? In my first summer as a radio DJ in decades, I'm catching up on a lot of music that escaped my notice in between. While following Boyd, many albums dropped into my crate.

Read more…

[John Vettese · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strong three stars / leaning toward four because it is so interesting and informative and information-filled. But for as much as the author is obviously knowledgeable, dude has no focus. I think he envisioned this as an exhaustive The Rest Is Noise detailing the quote unquote world music wave of the late 20th century (and its building blocks in the most granular sense). But dude cannot convey information in a concise manner, tangents build on tangents in a non chronological or explicitly connected manner, topics are underserved, he inserts himself perhaps too often (yes, he absolutely has cred, but I don’t care that you produced the first couple Pink Floyd albums, much as I love them, that’s not germane here) and what we’re really left with is a situation where it’s one extremely long book that could have been a series of seven or eight shorter and more focused books. (Seriously; once chapter is like 180+ pages.) Definitely a good read, but brace yourself for much immediate re-reading when you’re like “wait, how did we get here from there?” Best way to read this book: if an album sounds interesting to you as he describes it, listen to it on Apple or YouTube, that alone makes the experience worthwhile.

[Fred Bianco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable and wide ranging book about phenomenal music traditions from around the word. You're riding shotgun with Joe Boyd, a music business veteran with a pretty good set of ears. Be forewarned that Triple R is a huge book with lengthy chapters. But, if you are a musically omniverous sort who is constantly seeking new things to listen to, I think this book is for you. He cover the musical scenes in Brazil, Cuba, Africa, India, Eastern Europe, Spain. It really seems like a labor of love here for Boyd, and he wants to share his enthusiams. One thing it is not is a music guide, but by reading this book even the most jaded music fan will find some new artists to seek out.
Also worth seeking out is his White Bicycles book where he recounts his earlier days when he managed UK Folk artists like Fairport Convention, Incredible String Band, & Nick Drake.

[Mark Steell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magnum opus on world music by a man who has experienced much of it first hand as a producer and music guru. The research is first class and as a history book this captures cultural events and music in a context that explains the evolution of musical styles across the globe. It's nearly 1,000 pages so took some time to get through! Having said that, its style is not academic and there's plenty of anecdotes from Boyd which personalise the journey across time and space. I made many discoveries of new music along the way -Bulagarian female choirs included. Superb.

[Jonathan Hawpe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe Boyd has crafted this monumental tribute to the melting pot of popular music with unusual ambition, rigor, and beauty. With the insider's point of view of a rock-n-roll producer with five decades (!) of experience Boyd tours readers through the crosspollinating connections between everything melodic from Paul Simon and African Highlife to 60s Acid Rock and Brazilian Tropicalia to John Coltrane's cosmic Jazz and Ravi Shankar's Indian modals. Incredible and essential for music nerds! 10/10

[Jed Aicher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deep dive into “world music”, its origins and its superstars. Joe Boyd is the perfect Sherpa to lead us on this journey into the roots of so many types of styles and genres. He’s funny, frank, insightful, and opinionated. Besides gaining an epic playlist that will take me months to get through, I learned a lot about the histories and politics of the various countries whose music he explores.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This will be the first review I have ever written for a book and I will keep it short and sweet. This is a seminal read that is exceptionally interesting and informative not only for the new music to be discovered but also for the incredibly well woven cultural and political background pieces in each section. Cannot recommend highly enough to any music fan that wants to dive into “world” music. Boyd has provided me a treat to now discover many exciting artists (Dr. Nico, Femmes Bulgares and many more)

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinary work that I couldn’t put down. 841 pages went by in a rhythmic flash of exploration. Two reservations: 1. I was a little taken aback at the rant against contemporary music at the very end, and, more positively, 2. It cost me a fortune in second hand stores and on Discogs, all without regret.

[Jason Mellard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic, expansive, and essential historical survey of the music coursing through the global twentieth century, with roots that run much earlier and tendrils reaching through the twenty-first. I would say it's literally in-credible to accomplish as much as this book does, but few match author Joe Boyd's credibility in such matters.

[Byron · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this extraordinary book, Boyd reveals himself to be a Renaissance man-author when it comes to his knowledge and insights about the history, cultures, peoples, geography, politics, musicians and the rhythms-music that connect us across the world and time. This book is truly a tour de force ahievement. I'm already looking forward to rereading it.

[Geoff Winston Leghorn Balme · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic and in depth treatise on music around the world its origins and its impacts on western popular music. This tome is one part remembrance and two parts history politics and characters of the arts from Django to Gilberto, Kuti to Ravi. It is a rich book that will improve anyone’s appreciation of the art and how it shapes our experience.

[Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me, this did for “world music” what The Rest Is Noise did for classical: illuminated all sorts of unexpected connections, with a deft feel for storytelling that both deepened my understanding of music I already cared about and sparked interest in music I didn’t.

[Doug Garrett]

This one's LONG, but has some excellent history tied to music in it.

[Andy Holdcroft · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an absolutely superb book: I thoroughly recommend it

[Amy :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can tell Boyd loves music - *the* music bible, dense but so so so insightful

[Norman Revill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Joe's work and he writes well but this is just too heavy to read in bed.

[Timur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overly long and not quite as engaging as his memoir.

[Kurt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is as good a book as I can recall reading. The subject is a pet interest of mine – the way Music and Music styles emerge and influence each other.

The author writes in a clear way that is both free of the jargon of academia and of the hyperbole and self absorption of come across in many music writers. Despite the authors, many successes, he does not come across as self important.

If you have an interest in ethnomusicology or our interested in a variety of musical styles, there’s a darn good chance this book will interest you.