 Boykins has been described as "the pivot around which much of Sun Ra's music revolved for 8 years".This is especially pronounced on the key recordings from 1965 (The Magic City, The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One and The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume Two) where the intertwining lines of Boykins' bass and Ra's electronic keyboards provide the cohesion.He was a regular member of Sun Ra's band from 1958 until 1966, and occasionally thereafter up to 1974.