Barry Miles
Encyclopedia
Barry Miles is an English author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

  known for his participation in and writing on the subject of the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...

 London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 underground. He has written numerous books and his work has also regularly appeared in left-wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...

 papers such as The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

. In the 1960s, he was co-owner of the Indica Gallery
Indica Gallery
Indica Gallery was a counterculture art gallery in Mason's Yard , St. James's, London, England during the late 1960s, in the basement of the Indica Bookshop co-owned by John Dunbar, Peter Asher and Barry Miles...

 and helped start the independent newspaper International Times
International Times
International Times was an underground newspaper founded in London in 1966. Editors included Hoppy, David Mairowitz, Pete Stansill, Barry Miles, Jim Haynes and playwright Tom McGrath...

.

Life and work

In the 1960s, Miles worked at Better Books
Better Books
Better Books was an independent bookstore. It was founded by Tony Godwin and was located at 94 Charing Cross Road, London.-History:It was founded by British publisher Tony Godwin who took over the premises at 94 Charing Cross Road, London, in 1946....

, which was managed by Tony Godwin
Tony Godwin
Anthony James Wylie "Tony" Godwin was a British publisher of the 1960s/1970s. His contribution to the publishing industry is recognized in the form of the Tony Godwin Memorial Trust....

. Godwin was friends with Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti is an American poet, painter, liberal activist, and the co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers...

 with whom he would exchange Penguin
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...

 books for City Lights
City Lights Bookstore
City Lights is an independent bookstore-publisher combination that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected titles related to San Francisco culture. It was founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence...

 publications. In 1965 Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...

 gave a reading at Better Books which led to the International Poetry Incarnation
International Poetry Incarnation
The International Poetry Incarnation was an event at the Royal Albert Hall in Londonon June 11, 1965.In May, 1965, Allen Ginsberg arrived at Better Books, London, and offered to read anywhere for free....

, a seminal event that was co-organised by Miles.

In 1965 Miles and his wife, the former Susan Crane, introduced McCartney to hash brownies
Cannabis brownie
Cannabis foods , are food products made with cannabis in herbal or resin form as an ingredient. They are consumed as an alternate delivery means to experience the effects of cannabinoids without smoking marijuana or hashish...

 by using a recipe for hash
Hashish
Hashish is a cannabis preparation composed of compressed stalked resin glands, called trichomes, collected from the unfertilized buds of the cannabis plant. It contains the same active ingredients but in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves...

 fudge which they had found in The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook
The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook
The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book, first published in 1954, is one of the bestselling cookbooks of all time. Written by Alice B. Toklas, writer Gertrude Stein's life partner, Toklas wrote this book as a favor to Random House to make up for her unwillingness at the time to write her memoirs, in...

.

Following the International Poetry Incarnation, Miles established the Indica Gallery
Indica Gallery
Indica Gallery was a counterculture art gallery in Mason's Yard , St. James's, London, England during the late 1960s, in the basement of the Indica Bookshop co-owned by John Dunbar, Peter Asher and Barry Miles...

 and Bookshop, allowing him to meet many of the stars of the Swinging London
Swinging London
Swinging London is a catch-all term applied to the fashion and cultural scene that flourished in London, in the 1960s.It was a youth-oriented phenomenon that emphasised the new and modern. It was a period of optimism and hedonism, and a cultural revolution. One catalyst was the recovery of the...

 social scene. Miles brought Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

 into contact with people who wanted to start the International Times
International Times
International Times was an underground newspaper founded in London in 1966. Editors included Hoppy, David Mairowitz, Pete Stansill, Barry Miles, Jim Haynes and playwright Tom McGrath...

, which McCartney helped to fund.

With John Hopkins
John Hopkins (political activist)
John "Hoppy" Hopkins is a British photographer, journalist, researcher and political activist, and "one of the best-known underground figures of Swinging London" in the late 1960s.-Life:...

, Miles organised The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream
The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream
The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream was a concert held in the huge Great Hall of the Alexandra Palace, London, on 29 April 1967. The fund-raising concert for the International Times was organised by Barry Miles and John "Hoppy" Hopkins and David Howson...

, a concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

 on 29 April 1967 Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace
Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...

 to raise funds for the International Times
International Times
International Times was an underground newspaper founded in London in 1966. Editors included Hoppy, David Mairowitz, Pete Stansill, Barry Miles, Jim Haynes and playwright Tom McGrath...

. It was a multi-artist event, featuring poets, artists and musicians. Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

 headlined the event; other artists included: Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...

 and John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

, Arthur Brown
Arthur Brown (musician)
Arthur Brown is an English rock and roll musician best known for his flamboyant, theatrical style and significant influence on Alice Cooper, Peter Gabriel, Marilyn Manson, George Clinton, Kiss, King Diamond, and Bruce Dickinson, among others, and for his number one hit in the UK Singles Chart and...

, jazz-rock group Soft Machine
Soft Machine
Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre...

, Tomorrow
Tomorrow (band)
Tomorrow were a 1960s psychedelic rock band. Despite critical acclaim and support from DJ John Peel who featured them on his "Perfumed Garden" radio show, the band was not a great success in commercial terms. They were among the first psychedelic bands in England along with Pink Floyd and Soft...

 and The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things are an English rock and roll band from London, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British press the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful...

.

Miles became the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...

manager of the Apple's short-lived Zapple Records label in 1969. While temporarily living in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 Miles produced an album of poetry readings by Richard Brautigan
Richard Brautigan
Richard Gary Brautigan was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. His work often employs black comedy, parody, and satire. He is best known for his 1967 novel Trout Fishing in America.- Early life :...

 titled Listening to Richard Brautigan for Zapple. Miles' friendship with Brautigan ended when Miles became involved in an affair with Brautigan's girlfriend Valerie Estes. By the time the album was completed Miles and Brautigan communicated to each other only through their respective lawyers. Zapple was closed before it could release the Brautigan album, but it was eventually released in 1970 by the U.S. division of Harvest Records
Harvest Records
-References:* Harvest Records collectors guide ISBN 978-5-9622-0021-7...

.

In 1970 Miles moved with his wife to rural New York state
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, where he lived with Allen Ginsberg on his farm. However Miles' marriage soon ended and he returned to England.

Miles' book Hippie is a reminiscence of the Hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...

 sub-culture of the sixties and early seventies with interviews, quotes, and images. He co-wrote I Want to Take You Higher
I Want to Take You Higher
"I Want to Take You Higher" is a 1969 song by the soul/rock/funk band Sly & the Family Stone, the B-side to their Top 30 hit Stand!". Unlike most of the other tracks on the Stand! album, "I Want to Take You Higher" is not a message song; instead, it is simply dedicated to music and the feeling one...

(documenting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit by the same name) with Charles Perry and James Henke.

Miles wrote Paul McCartney's official biography, Many Years from Now
Many Years From Now
Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now is a 1997 biography of Paul McCartney by Barry Miles. It is the "official" biography of McCartney and was written "based on hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews undertaken over a period of five years" according to the back cover of the 1998 paperback edition...

(1998). Miles has also written biographies of Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

, John Lennon, William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...

, Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...

, Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski
Henry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles...

 and Ginsberg, in addition to books on The Beatles, Pink Floyd and The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...

. as well as a definitive history of London's counter-culture since 1945. London's Calling.

Miles is occasionally wrongly credited as "Miles Mabbett" because he co-authored a book with Andy Mabbett
The Amazing Pudding
The Amazing Pudding was a Pink Floyd and Roger Waters fan magazine , founded by Ivor Trueman and edited and published, variously, by him , Andy Mabbett , Bruno MacDonald and Dave Walker , for ten years .Mabbett...

, credited as, "by Miles and Andy Mabbett".

Politics

In March 1978 Miles wrote an article critical of the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 band Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...

 and its drummer Neil Peart
Neil Peart
Neil Ellwood Peart , OC, is a Canadian musician and author. He is the drummer for the rock band Rush.Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, Ontario . During adolescence, he floated from regional band to regional band in pursuit of a career as a full-time drummer...

 which falsely labeled the band as right-wing. Peart describes himself as a Left-libertarian
Left-libertarianism
Left-libertarianism names several related but distinct approaches to politics, society, culture, and political and social theory, which stress equally both individual freedom and social justice.-Schools of thought:...

. In the article, published in UK's New Musical Express, Miles took exception to Peart's advocacy of the Objectivist
Objectivism (Ayn Rand)
Objectivism is a philosophy created by the Russian-American philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand . Objectivism holds that reality exists independent of consciousness, that human beings have direct contact with reality through sense perception, that one can attain objective knowledge from perception...

 philosophy of Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....

. Miles also described Rand (a Russian born anti-communist
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...

) as an "ultra right-wing American." Miles focused on Peart's politics and criticized the band's perceived aloofness and libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...

 rhetoric. In the same interview Peart described the Sex Pistols as products of a "socialist" state.

In a 2005 biography of Frank Zappa Miles attacked Zappa over his business oriented approach to art and complaints about inefficient labor union regulations. Zappa regularly described himself as "a devout capitalist" and attempted to broker joint commercial ventures with business interests in the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 following the end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 in 1991.

Works

  • Bob Dylan (1978), Big O Publishing
  • Bob Dylan in His Own Words (1978), edited by Pearce Marchbank, Omnibus Press
  • Beatles in Their Own Words (1978, compiler), edited by Pearce Marchbank, Omnibus Press
  • Bowie in His Own Words (1980, compiler), Omnibus Press
  • John Lennon in His Own Words (1980, compiler), Omnibus Press
  • David Bowie Black Book (1980), Omnibus Press
  • Pink Floyd: A Visual Documentary (1981 revised edition, and 1988 as 21st anniversary edition), Omnibus Press
  • The Beatles: An Illustrated Discography (1981), Omnibus Press
  • The Jam (1981), Omnibus Press
  • The Pretenders (1981), Omnibus Press
  • The Ramones: An Illustrated Biography (1981), Omnibus Press
  • Talking Heads (1981), Omnibus Press
  • Pink Floyd: The Illustrated Discography (1981), Omnibus Press
  • Mick Jagger in His Own Words (1982, compiler), Omnibus Press
  • Pink Floyd: Another Brick: The Illustrated Pink Floyd Story (1984), Omnibus Press
  • Frank Zappa in His Own Words (1993, compiler), Omnibus Press
  • Frank Zappa: A Visual Documentary (1993), Omnibus Press
  • The Rolling Stones: A Visual Documentary (1994), Omnibus Press

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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