I'm thinking, this is where The Beatles once sat: NI singer in awe as he records at Abbey Road studios
Belfast singer Andy White has told of the 'special' experience of recording his latest album at the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London, used famously by The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Radiohead.
The double-CD, The Night Is Approaching Though Some Would Say It Was Morning, was recorded in 'the best sounding room in the world' — Abbey Road's Studio Two, which has been at the heart of popular music since 1932.
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It worked, it was a huge game-changer in the battle against apartheid, but I knew that wasn't the story. The story was the Zulus'. The African National Congress, he added, was furious with Simon, not so much because he'd broken a cultural embargo on working with apartheid South Africa, but because he was working with the Zulus, who were in regular combats with the ANC. And no-one in the northern hemisphere knew that, Boyd said. 'Then I thought of all the other hits of so-called world music' Cuban music, samba, tango, reggae, raga. Let's tell the people who have been enjoying this music where it comes from and what it really represents ... Everything in Anglo-American pop has been covered in great detail. I thought, Why don't I turn the spotlight on music that we know, but know very little about?' The book and its attendant sales success and publicity tour are the latest chapter in an extraordinary life. His previous book, White Bicycles, is rich in vivid Sixties detail and anecdote. 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'Hamish Imlach, a singer I had met in London, told me the club had been closed as a fire hazard and gave me a phone number along with the news that Robin and Clive were now a trio called, in honour of the padlocked club, the Incredible String Band'. The third member was Mike Heron. When he and Williamson played him their new material, he was blown away. The debut album for Elektra, The Incredible String Band, was however their first and last as a trio, Palmer decamping for Afghanistan shortly afterwards. The album was named as one of the top five folk albums of the year by both the Guardian and the Observer. Further, equally innovative, albums followed, all produced by Boyd: The 5,000 Spirits or The Layers of the Onion, The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, and a double LP, Wee Tam and The Big Huge. The recording of The 5,000 Spirits came during a time when record producers such as the Beatles' George Martin were exploring the possibilities of what could be achieved in the studio. 'The explosion in dope-smoking and acid in 1966 also helped to alter recording practices: the stoned ear loves complexity', Boyd notes, 'and Robin and Mike were nothing if not drug culture pioneers". Both of Boyd's books are worth reading for their insights, and both have the effect of prompting the reader to check out the music under discussion. A comprehensive CD linked to White Bicycles can be bought from Amazon and includes three early, Boyd-produced tracks by Eric Clapton and an all-star band, the Powerhouse, released on an Elektra sampler compilation, What's Shakin', in 1966. Joe Boyd: White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s (Serpent's Tail, paperback); And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: A Journey Through Global Music (Faber & Faber, paperback, £18.99). Website:
