1992: Jenny Boyd Book Signing

[michelej1]

I was reading this "Coming Events" blurb about this book signing and I wondered if it had ever actually taken place? Anyone attend? It sounds like a pretty interesting collection of people together. I wonder if all of them showed up. If I had known about it at the time, I certainly would have gone.

I am posting other comments about Jenny's book below.

California Daily News:

Psychologist and author Jenny Boyd with musicians Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Graham Nash, Lindsey Buckingham, Don Henley, Albert Lee and Ian Wallace will sign copies of her "Musicians in Tune: Seventy-five Contemporary Musicians Discuss the Creative Process." Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; 7 to 9 p.m. Free. (310) 659-3110.

[michelej1]

Los Angeles Times:

July 12, 1992

Section: CA-Calendar

*** " MUSICIANS IN TUNE ", By Jenny Boyd , with Holly George-Warren. Fireside Books ($12)
VE HOCHMAN

How many psychology Ph.D. candidates get access to 75 top-flight contemporary musicians for their dissertation? Boyd did. It probably didn't hurt that the '60s London fashion model used to be married to Mick Fleetwood and is the ex-sister-in-law of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton. Boyd tapped those three and others for insights into the creative process, from nurturing to drug use to coping with the burden of genius. She avoids both dry academics and gossipy name-dropping while eliciting many illuminating anecdotes, as well as some comments worth a wink or two, including Sinead O'Connor's confession that "I smoke dope quite a lot. . . . Not when I'm on stage or in the studio . . . but when I'm actually writing."

[michelej1]

Daily News (Los Angeles, CA), July 31, 1992


Section: L.A. LIFE

CREATIVE CONFESSIONS OF ROCK LEGENDS

Bruce Britt Daily News Music Writer

It was during a Los Angeles book -signing appearance that author and therapist Jenny Boyd finally came in touch with her creative side. It was an epiphanic moment, she says, second only to giving birth to her two children.

"Musicians in Tune," her informal study on the creative process, "was a catalyst for me to come to terms with my own creativity."

"Even while writing the book, critics took form in the shape of different people - an uncle, an aunt, friends or relatives," Boyd said in a phone interview. "But, as I continued my writing, I learned how to silence the critic and write from the inner self."

"Musicians in Tune" (Fireside/Simon & Schuster; $12) features insightful quotes from such musical luminaries as Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood, David Crosby, Branford Marsalis, Phil Collins, B.B. King and others. As a top London fashion model during the 1960s, Boyd hung out with creative types - including the Beatles and the Rolling Stones - and always lamented her supposed lack of creativity.

Boyd, who has a doctorate in psychology, asked 75 musicians about the creative process. The interviews - which include such renowned musicians as George Harrison, Keith Richards, Joni Mitchell, Peter Gabriel, Sinead O'Connor, John Lee Hooker and a wealth of others - were based on a questionnaire that included queries about upbringing, influences, training and performing.

Boyd said all the musicians shared two common traits.

Nurturing influences

"All but two of the people I interviewed were nurtured as children," Boyd said. "They all had nurturing parents, grandparents, a man down the street or someone who encouraged them.

"The other thing I was amazed to find was that they all had a peak experience, whether when playing or writing, where they could almost feel something divine coming through them. It enabled them to do things they never thought they could do. And though all of them acknowledged having this kind of experience, most had never talked about it before. They didn't know others had the same experience."

In the book, Don Henley discusses the effect desire has on creativity. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richard talks about feelings of anxiety he experiences during a songwriting drought. Peter Gabriel speaks of what Boyd calls "the unconscious" - creating on a purely intuitive level.

Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis discusses honesty and the effect it has on his music. In fact, Boyd found that individuals' ability to be honest with themselves was a big factor in creativity.

"Artists seem to be able pick up what the masses are feeling or thinking," Boyd said. "They say the things we can't express for ourselves. I think it takes more courage, to dare against the status quo and be true to yourself. One of the musicians I spoke to said musicians represent the outlaws of society. They're willing to rattle the cage.

"Being creative is a matter of getting in touch with who you are, and what you really feel. A lot of us walk around in denial. If one can be truthful and honest, then it become a natural thing to express oneself."

Where most authors might have had a hard time interviewing musical giants such as Clapton, Collins and Richards, Boyd found it fairly simple - she is longtime friends with many of her subjects. The author was married to Mick Fleetwood and is also the former sister-in-law of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton (Clapton's classic, "Layla," was written for Boyd's sister, Pattie).

But even though many of the musicians interviewed for the book are acquaintances of Boyd's, the author still felt apprehensive about approaching some of them.

"A lot of these musicians I've known in a totally different way," Boyd said. "I was used to hanging out and going to the pubs with (Clapton), but there were never any serious questions. This, of course, was going to be different. But once the interviews started, everyone got completely into it.

"I actually felt a lot closer to them. When I finished the interviews with Phil Collins, he said it felt like therapy for him. I would ask Ronnie Wood a question, and he would answer and say, 'You know, I never thought of that before'. It felt magical."

Fodder for paper

Boyd's book came about by necessity. Vacationing in Hawaii with her husband, drummer Ian Wallace, the author - then a student at Ryokan College in Mar Vista - was contemplating a subject for her Ph.D. dissertation.

"I began thinking about (Clapton), and hanging out with him during the heavy drinking days," Boyd said. "I thought he was very gifted, and I wondered whether having that gift was so scary to him that he sought to numb it out with alcohol. When I interviewed him, he said it was absolutely true.

"He said it was like staring into the face of God, this feeling of destiny. In fact, all of the musicians had this feeling that music was their purpose."

Boyd's initial dissertation included interviews with 40 musicians, including Clapton, Collins, Henley and all the members of Fleetwood Mac and Crosby, Stills & Nash.

But Boyd didn't want to stop. Collaborating with free-lance writer and editor Holly George-Warren, Boyd conducted more interviews and added some sparkle to the dissertation's dry, academic prose.

"It was a great experience," Boyd said. "By the end, I could relate to the musician's sense of destiny, because I didn't want to stop researching. This was my own self-challenge."

SPOTLIGHT ON... JENNY BOYD

Birth date: Born Nov. 1, 1947, in Guildford, Surrey. She currently divides her time between California and Surrey, England.

Marital status: Married to drummer Ian Wallace. She has two children from her previous marriage to drummer Mick Fleetwood - Amy, 21, and Lucy, 19.

Favorite book: "Letters to a Young Poet," by Rainer Maria Rilke. "It's a really beautiful, inspiring book for anybody who wants to know about creativity. I'm always giving it away to friends, then ordering another copy."

Hobbies: Writing, dancing and walking in the English countryside. "I have a writing class and write a journal. I love dancing, but I don't go enough."

PHOTO
"By the end, I could relate to the musician's sense of destiny, because I didn't want to stop researching. This was my own self-challenge," says author Jenny Boyd.