Jenny Boyd Has New ‘Icons of Rock—In Their Own Words’ Book

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Jenny Boyd modeling a Foale & Tuffin suit (Photo © John Cole; used with permission)

Jenny Boyd, the 1960’s fashion model and former wife of Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood, has a new book, Icons of Rock—In Their Own Words, on the way. The former sister-in-law of George Harrison and Eric Clapton—she is the younger sister of Pattie Boyd—spent much of her life in the proximity of musical and cultural influencers. Her access allowed her to interview some of the world’s most recognizable musicians and the new book is a compendium that provides an intimate insight into how some the world’s greatest musicians and producers created some of their greatest work. It arrived in the U.S. via Mango Publishing on February 13, 2024. Order it here. (The U.K. edition was published on Oct. 26, 2023.)

From the announcement: Boyd originally conducted and compiled most of these revealing interviews as part of her Ph.D dissertation some 30 years ago. She talked with dozens of artists about how they made music and whether natural talent or external influences were the key factors in their work. Her research culminated in the 1992 book Musicians in Tune.

In a major rewriting of that book, Icons of Rock is a testament in “write what you know,” delving into the drive to create, the importance of nurturing creativity, the role of unconscious influences and the effects of chemicals, alcohol and drugs on the creative process. Among the music legends included are Clapton, Julian Lennon, Don Henley, Keith Richards, Ringo Starr, Steve Winwood, Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks, Joni Mitchell, Huey Lewis, and many others. It also shines a light on the creative process of several artists who are no longer with us, among them Harrison, David Crosby, Ravi Shankar, Sinead O’Connor, Warren Zevon and Christine McVie to whom she dedicates the new book.

“I had spent the last twenty-something years surrounded by talented musicians and had watched them playing their instruments and creating songs,” Boyd explains in the book’s introduction. “I was immersed in their world and had witnessed their creative process first hand. Whether it was watching Paul, George and John sitting on the roof of our bungalow in India creating songs that were later to appear on the White Album, or Fleetwood Mac searching for lyrics in the communal house we shared in Hampshire, or sitting in the studio a few years later in Sausalito making their mega-hit album Rumours, it always left me wondering what it must feel like to be so creative.”

Rather than use portions of the 65 interviews in topical chapters as she had done previously, Boyd returned to the original transcripts of the interviews she conducted and has included them in their entirety under each of the artists’ own name. She has also added interviews with four newer musicians—Eg White, Jacob Collier, Atticus Ross and Sarah Warwick—to illustrate the difference in the music world today compared to the late 1980’s when her original interviews were conducted.

Born Nov. 8, 1947, in Surrey, U.K. and raised in Kenya, she discovered her love of writing at an early age as a way of expressing her innermost feelings. She, along with her sister Pattie, were among London’s top fashion models in the 1960’s and witnessed the evolving British music scene first hand. As George Harrison’s sister-in-law, Jenny accompanied The Beatles on their well-documented trip to India to study meditation, worked in The Beatles’ London shop, Apple, helped run a clothing boutique in San Francisco’s North Beach during the momentous “Summer of Love” and was the inspiration for Donovan’s famous song, “Jennifer Juniper.” She became part of the chaotic 1970’s travelling circus that was Fleetwood Mac while married to the band’s drummer Mick Fleetwood (twice).

While living in Los Angeles and looking to develop her own voice and identity, Jenny enrolled in college, achieving a Masters in Counseling Psychology and a PhD in Humanities. She worked as a consultant for an addictions treatment center in Arizona and founded Spring Workshops, organizing psychotherapeutic groups for people in need of personal development. She has become a sought-after speaker on the subject of musicians, culture and creativity. Jenny Boyd’s memoir, Jennifer Juniper: A journey beyond the muse, was originally published in 2020, with a paperback edition in 2023.

Jenny Boyd today (Photo: Steve Bainbridge; used with permission)

“Musicians and their creative process is still a magical component to me, even after all these years,” Boyd says. “As I worked on the interviews, I couldn’t help but feel enormously privileged to have had the opportunity to hear these musicians describe what it’s like to play onstage in front of thousands, or to write a song and not know where the words came from, to hear about the magic of the muse or describe
a transcendence of self. For most, it appears to be the greatest feeling of integration they experience in life, where they feel more at peace with themselves, more complete.”