Barry Miles

Barry Miles, or "Miles" (born 1943, Cirencester, England), is an English author known for his participation in and writing on the subjects of the 1960s London underground and counterculture. He is the author of numerous books and his work has also regularly appeared in left-wing papers such as The Guardian. In the 1960s, he was co-owner of the Indica Gallery and helped start the independent newspaper International Times.

Life and work

In the 1960s, Miles worked at Better Books, which was managed by Tony Godwin. Godwin was friends with Lawrence Ferlinghetti, with whom he would exchange Penguin books for City Lights publications. In 1965 Allen Ginsberg gave a reading at Better Books that led to the International Poetry Incarnation, a seminal event co-organised by Miles.

In 1965, Miles and his wife, the former Susan Crane, introduced Paul McCartney to hash brownies by using a recipe for hash fudge that they had found in The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook.

Following the International Poetry Incarnation, Miles established the Indica Gallery and Bookshop, allowing him to meet many of the stars of the Swinging London social scene. Miles brought McCartney into contact with people who wanted to start International Times, which McCartney helped to fund.

Barry Miles (musician)

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Barry Miles (born March 28, 1947 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American pianist, drummer, composer, producer, arranger and author.

Life and career

Miles was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in North Plainfield, New Jersey.

He joined the musicians union at age nine in 1956 as a child prodigy drummer/pianist/vibist appearing with Miles Davis and John Coltrane among other talents of the day live and on TV shows including To Tell The Truth, Dick Van Dyke's variety show, and The Andy Williams Show. He made his solo artist debut recording at age fourteen in 1961, "Miles Of Genius", as drummer and composer with sidemen Al Hall and Duke Jordan. Miles continued to perform with his own band in the early 1960s in which he composed the material that enabled up and coming talents such as Woody Shaw, Eddie Gómez and Robin Kenyatta to display their talents.

He wrote the instruction book, "Twelve Themes With Improvisations", published in 1963 by Belwin-Mills, and currently out of print.