THE MOJO INTERVIEW

Scenester-savant, peerless producer of folk-rock and more, and now author of the War And Peace of world music, a philosopher of pop guides us through seven decades of sound. “I wanted to be the perfect listener,” says Joe Boyd.

JIM IRVIN

ON SUNDAY, MAY 10, 1964, AT THE Hammersmith Odeon, London, a visiting 22-year-old American, raised in Princeton, New Jersey, decided that Britain was his spiritual home. The event was an all-star package show headlined by Chuck Berry. Joe Boyd was standing in front of the stage, where he’d been taking photographs, surrounded by teenage girls screaming for Chuck. From his vantage point, he spotted John Lee Hooker standing in the wings watching Berry play. Boyd exclaimed, “Oh look, there’s John Lee Hooker!” The girls followed his gaze and all started screaming and calling, “We want John Lee! We want John Lee!” Berry, unsurprisingly, was annoyed by the interruption, but invited Hooker to come out and take a bow. Hooker did so. The girls screamed. These, Boyd saw, were no blues…

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MOJO (Digital) - 1 Issue, September 2024

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