When the sounds were a-changin'

White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s
By Joe Boyd
Serpent's Tail, 282 pp., illustrated, paperback, $18

In his bittersweet and thoroughly entertaining memoir, music and film producer Joe Boyd defines himself by what he didn't do: "Let's see now," he writes, "that's Steve Winwood, Lovin' Spoonful, Cream, Pink Floyd, the Move, 'Fire' and 'Whiter Shade of Pale' that slipped through my fingers."

But, as "White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s" illustrates, Boyd had his victories, too, largely because he loved music and musicians and had the kind of drive that improves chance. There's a reassuring causality to his success: While still a Harvard undergraduate, he brought Delta bluesmen to Cambridge, which led to a post as a tour manager for music impresario George Wein. In turn, Wein installed him as production manager at the 1965 Newport jazz and folk festivals, where he witnessed legendary bands led by Muddy Waters, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane ; shortly thereafter, Boyd had an insider's view of Bob Dylan's controversial "electric" set. He moved to the United Kingdom to head Elektra's London operation, and soon began running an influential rock club, the UFO -- all before his 25th birthday. Later, he produced albums by British artists Fairport Convention, Richard Thompson , and Nick Drake.