What if the music you love carries stories you've never heard? And the Roots of Rhythm Remain takes you on a captivating journey through the hidden histories of global music traditions that have shaped our cultural landscape. This isn't just another music history book—it's a symphonic exploration of how sounds from around the world collided, collaborated, and sometimes clashed to create the music we know today.
Think you know the story behind Paul Simon's Graceland? Think again. When Simon first heard that Zulu accordion flourish that would open his multi-platinum album, he told Joe Boyd, "You haven't heard this before!" But that "world music" boom had roots extending back decades and across continents—from tango on the eve of World War I to Latin dance in the '30s and '40s, reggae in the '70s, pre-War samba, and pre-Beatles bossa nova.
Joe Boyd brings unparalleled authority to this story. As the legendary producer behind Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, REM, and Taj Mahal, and the man who helped coin the term "world music" in the 1980s, Boyd wasn't just documenting these musical traditions—he was part of them. He produced groundbreaking music in Cuba, Brazil, Bulgaria, Mali, Hungary, Spain, and India under his Hannibal Records label, giving him front-row seats to the cultural exchanges that shaped modern music.
These musical journeys weren't always peaceful or pretty. The story of Zulu music alone encompasses everything from brutal 19th-century massacres to the global phenomenon of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." Boyd explores how far-flung musical traditions swept the globe, involving neighbors, invaders, appropriators, and admirers in relationships far more complex than most imagine.
Whether you're a musician, producer, historian, or simply someone who loves discovering the stories behind the sounds, this book will forever change how you hear music. You'll never listen to your favorite albums the same way again once you understand the rich, sometimes troubled, histories embedded in every note.
