The Bosstown Sound (or Boston Sound ) was the catchphrase of a marketing campaign to promote psychedelic rock and psychedelic pop bands in Boston , Massachusetts , in the late 1960s. The concept was conceived by the record producer Alan Lorber as a marketing strategy intended to establish several underground musical artists native to the city on the national charts and compete with the popular San Francisco Sound . Lorber chose Boston for his plan because of the several bands developing in the city, the abundance of music venues (such as the Boston Tea Party ), and the proximity of MGM Records , which had signed the core groups.
49-547: The Bosstown Sound was promoted as harnessing the hallucinogenic essence of psychedelia , also known at the time as acid rock . Numerous bands were involved, but the groups Ultimate Spinach , the Beacon Street Union , and Orpheus were the most prominent. The Boston music scene briefly captured the interest of the youth culture , and recordings by bands from Boston achieved positions on the Billboard 200 chart. However, by
98-494: A "roving" (rather than the conventional "stay-at-home") style. In jazz it had been exuberantly pioneered by numerous musicians. A musician who was a leading example of this, Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane (and the offshoot Hot Tuna ) pioneered the approach, perhaps best represented on the album Bless Its Pointed Little Head . Phil Lesh , bassist with the Grateful Dead, furthered this sound. Lesh had developed his style on
147-638: A TV show that Ralph J. Gleason hosted: "In his syndicated newspaper column, Mr. Gleason has been the foremost interpreter of the sounds coming out of what he calls 'the Liverpool of the United States.' Mr. Gleason believes the San Francisco rock groups are making a serious contribution to musical history." Ralph Gleason became one of the founders of what would become the rock-scene fan journal, Rolling Stone . The new sound, which melded many musical influences,
196-418: A great incubator of musical talent, producing acts like J. Geils , Aerosmith , and The Cars ". While interviewing Bruce-Douglas in 2001, critic Gary Burns stated Ultimate Spinach, which received the brunt of the media stigma focusing on Bosstown, "deserved a much better fate. The Bosstown hype was not their idea, and their records are some of the best psychedelic music available then or now. Their brief time in
245-532: A large number of performance clubs where artists could develop before touring nationally. There were many pop music college and commercial radio stations which could expose the new product on a grass-roots level". Based on his past successes with the label, MGM Records agreed to showcase the bands Lorber signed. Conviently, the company's studio was situated in New York City , making it easier for Lorber to manage and record several groups. Another important figure in
294-494: A manufactured attempt to cash in on the popularity of psychedelia. Music journalist Paul Williams , writing for Crawdaddy! , homed in on the concern: "[T]here isn't any common consciousness in the Boston rock scene -- there isn't even any Boston rock scene. There are good groups coming out of that area but there isn't the spiritual unity that San Francisco had". A Jazz & Pop article remarked that "the sound doesn't exist except in
343-658: A shift from one subculture to the next. Monterey, California is about 120 road miles south of San Francisco. At the June 1967 Monterey Pop Festival , Bay Area groups performed from the same stage as established and fast-rising musical groups and well-known individual artists from the U.S., the UK, and even India. Soon after, Ralph J. Gleason and Jann Wenner , based in San Francisco, established Rolling Stone magazine (first issue's date: November 1967). Each San Francisco band had its characteristic sound, but enough commonalities existed that there
392-886: The Boston Tea Party . Ill Wind and the Hallucinations' performances helped establish the Boston Tea Party as a must-go-to venue for the city's psychedelic scene, and soon other like-minded musical acts—among them the Velvet Underground , the Peanut Butter Conspiracy , and Lothar and the Hand People —became frequent attractions. Journalist Earl Greyland, described the Boston Tea Party's importance in Boston After Dark : "[It] occurred on March 15, 1968, when, as
441-737: The Remains , and the Rising Storm at the forefront. The most commercially successful group in the area was the proto-punk teen band the Barbarians , who reached the Billboard Hot 100 twice with the singles " Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl " and " Moulty ". The heyday of these bands pre-dated the Bosstown Sound, and they did not have much involvement in the Sound's development, with the notable exception of
490-475: The San Francisco Sound . In his article Bosstown Sound 1968 - The Music and Time , Lorber wrote Boston was a logical epicenter for his marketing plan "since it was a place for new and progressive music forms from the folk days, and had an exceptionally strong initial sales potential in the 250,000 college students in residence in Boston's 250 colleges and universities". Lorber also mentioned that Boston "had
539-535: The album Basic Magnetism , by Teddy and the Pandas. The main problem was a lack of viable rock music venues to bring the groups together into a unified music scene. Also missing were the local and regional record labels often associated with a developing rock scene. Perhaps more evident in what grew into the Bosstown Sound was the city's equally active folk scene which was led by key figures like Bob Dylan , Joan Baez , and Mimi Farina . Their influences later emerged in
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#1732869351167588-598: The 1965 album Rubber Soul , which reflected the reciprocal influences shared between the group and Bob Dylan . San Francisco historian Charles Perry recalled that in Haight-Ashbury, "You could party hop all night and hear nothing but Rubber Soul ", and that "More than ever the Beatles were the soundtrack of the Haight-Ashbury, Berkeley and the whole circuit." In San Francisco, musical influences came in from not only London , Liverpool and Manchester , but also included
637-445: The 1980s and, again, in the 2000s. In the aftermath of the Bosstown Sound, reviews remain mixed, but critics have begun to describe the scene in a better light. In 1988, Rolling Stone magazine, while reevaluating the Sound, conceded it was perhaps "easier to put down Ultimate Spinach and the other Boston groups than it had been to like them". Music critic Steve Nelson notes that after "the hype died down, Boston in fact turned out to be
686-453: The 45 RPM record, and to the limited potentials of many pop songs and song treatments. It is true that many of the San Francisco bands did record "three-minute" tracks when they desired pop-music station airplay for a song. But in live performance, the bands would often share their improvisatory zest by playing a given song or sequence for as long as five or six minutes, and occasionally for as long as half an hour. Bay area resident Tom Donahue
735-611: The Beacon Street Union charted at number 75 on the Billboard 200 , and Orpheus's self-titled debut reached number 119. Although Orpheus is pegged as a part of the Bosstown Sound, music historian Richie Unterberger notes they were "sentimental pop writers at heart" reminiscent of the Association , rather than the psychedelic bands that comprised much of the Sound. Later benefiting from their more commercially accessible sound, Orpheus
784-596: The Bosstown Sound followed with a more condensed track listing. Psychedelia Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.133 via cp1102 cp1102, Varnish XID 105312706 Upstream caches: cp1102 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 08:35:51 GMT San Francisco Sound The San Francisco sound refers to rock music performed live and recorded by San Francisco -based rock groups of
833-525: The Bosstown Sound was Dick Summer, one of Boston's most popular deejays , who worked at that time for WBZ (AM) . After Summer left WBZ in 1968, he ultimately returned to Boston and was hired by WMEX Radio in May 1969, and he continued to play the Boston Sound bands. Summer was directly responsible for the initial radio boom that Bosstown musical acts would experience, and arranged concerts and outdoor festivals in
882-409: The Boston area where the local bands could hone their skills in anticipation of being signed to a recording deal. It was also Summer who coined the "Bosstown Sound" phrase to create a sense of cohesion among the bands. On January 20, 1968, MGM Records commenced its advertisement campaign for the Bosstown Sound by funding for a patriotic-style ad in Billboard magazine that read: "The Sound Heard Around
931-476: The California locales that nursed the psychedelic era..." The bohemian predecessor of the hippie culture in San Francisco was the " Beat Generation " style of coffee houses and bars, whose clientele appreciated literature, a game of chess, music (in the forms of jazz and folk style), modern dance, and traditional crafts and arts like pottery and painting. Acoustic music had had an avid following far and wide, but it
980-460: The Carousel Ballroom (which was later renamed Fillmore West). Outdoor performances, often organized by the band members themselves and their friends, also played their part. Because San Francisco had an especially vibrant and attractive countercultural scene in the latter half of the 1960s, musicians from elsewhere (along with the famous hip multitude) came there. Some stayed and became part of
1029-699: The Cow Palace. At first, the local Bay Area bands played in smaller ones. The early band venues, while the new SF scene was emerging from folk and folk-rock beginnings, were often places like the Matrix nightclub. As audiences grew, and audience dancing became customary, performances moved into venues with more floor space, such as the Longshoreman's Hall, the Fillmore Auditorium, the Avalon Ballroom, Winterland, and
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#17328693511671078-676: The Fillmore". Other psychedelic venues that contributed to the promotion of the underground music scene in Boston include the Psychedelic Supermarket , the Crosstown Bus, the Catacombs, and the Unicorn. Record producer Alan Lorber materialized a concept to congregate several progressive Boston bands, and promote them as a new unique music scene, in a similar fashion that led to the birth of
1127-452: The Freeborne recorded the album Peak Impressions , an ambitious, but somewhat unpredictable, piece that experimented with a variety of instruments. Another group known as Listening recorded a self-titled album in late-1968, which encompassed performances by former Velvet Underground bassist Walter Powers and guitarist Peter Malick . Several additional groups were also associated with
1176-469: The San Francisco Bay Area, famed singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks gained her first performing experience there in the 1960s with Lindsey Buckingham and his band. Nicks and Buckingham went on to bring that San Francisco sound to established British rock band Fleetwood Mac when they both joined in 1975. Performances of an international super group like the Beatles were hosted in a huge venue like
1225-459: The Steve Miller Band) was from Wisconsin, by way of Chicago and New York City while bandmate Boz Scaggs originally called Texas home. The San Francisco bands' music was everything that AM-radio pop music wasn't. Their performances contrasted with the "standard three-minute track" that had become a cliché of the pop-music industry, due to the requirements of AM radio, to the sound capacity of
1274-524: The World; Boston!!". On the same date, three Boston-based groups known well to the underground scene -- Ultimate Spinach (better known as Underground Cinema prior to the album), Beacon Street Union , and Orpheus had their debut albums released on the MGM label. The anticipation of the Bosstown Sound's debut to the record-buying public generated a booming market for Boston-based bands. Beacon Street Union's The Eyes of
1323-465: The band, Ultimate Spinach released one third and final album called Ultimate Spinach III ' , but directionless, in 1969 with an almost completely reconstructed lineup. The Beacon Street Union's The Clown Died in Marvin Gardens was plagued by the Sound's negative stigma, and only reached number 175. Orpheus was among the few groups to remain active into the 1970s, and has since conducted reunions in
1372-553: The bi-coastal American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, the Chicago electric blues scene, the soul music scenes in Detroit , Memphis , and Muscle Shoals , jazz styles of various eras and regions. A number of key San Francisco rock musicians of the era cited John Coltrane and his circle of leading-edge jazz musicians as important influences. The journalist Ed Vulliamy wrote: "The Summer of Love had an empress, and her name
1421-562: The end of 1969, the campaign faltered, its advertisements rejected by listeners. Critics panned the groups involved, and few of the Bosstown bands survived after the scene collapsed. Opinions are still mixed, but the music of these bands has received more positive assessments in recent years. Prior to the Bosstown Sound, Boston had a burgeoning garage rock scene with bands such as the Rockin' Ramrods , Teddy & The Pandas , Barbarians , The Lost ,
1470-539: The few who published, in literary bursts, about their perceptions, enthusiasms, and activities); in a word, they generally “kept cool.” The young hippies were far more numerous, less wary, and had scarcely any inclination to keep their lifestyles concealed. The new music was loud and community-connected: bands sometimes presented free concerts in Golden Gate Park and " happenings " at the city's several psychedelic clubs and ballrooms. The many bands that formed signalled
1519-508: The foundation of having studied classical, brass-band, jazz, and modernist music on the violin and later the trumpet. Exploration of chordal progressions previously uncommon in rock & roll, and a freer and more powerful use of all instruments (drums and other percussion, electric guitars, keyboards, as well as the bass) went along with this " psychedelic -era" music. Brasses and reeds, such as trumpets and saxophones were rarely used, unlike in contemporary R&B and soul bands and some of
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1568-472: The head of Alan Lorber". The newly established Rolling Stone magazine questioned "whether or not there is anything lying beneath the hype", describing the Boston groups as pretentious and boring. A few articles, such as one in Newsweek , attempted to defend the scene, saying a sense of unity was found in "subdued, artful electronic sound, an insistence on clear, understandable lyrics, the spice of dissonance and
1617-422: The infusion of classical textures". By early 1969, nearly all the Bosstown groups had either disbanded or disappeared from the public view as a consequence of media and youth culture backlash. Ultimate Spinach barely managed to chart at number 198 with their album Behold & See , which noticeably lacked the organ -driven instrumentals that were featured on their debut. Following Bruce-Douglas's departure from
1666-553: The mid-1960s to early 1970s. It was associated with the counterculture community in San Francisco, particularly the Haight-Ashbury district, during these years. San Francisco is a westward-looking port city, a city that at the time was 'big enough' but not manic like New York City or spread out like Los Angeles. Hence, it could support a 'scene'. According to journalist Ed Vulliamy, "A core of Haight Ashbury bands played with each other, for each other" According to an announcer for
1715-548: The most commercial success from their debut effort , which peaked at number 35 and sold approximately 110,000 copies in 1968. Despite sharp criticism from music critics upon release, over time, the album, now regarded as an acid rock classic, has become a cult favorite among psychedelic aficionados and is the highlight of the Bosstown Sound. Following in the trend set by the first three Bosstown groups on their label, MGM Records released other material by local groups such as Chamaeleon Church and Kangeroo. Attempting to cash-in on
1764-419: The music by mainstay Bosstown bands Orpheus and Earth Opera . What became the genesis of the Bosstown Sound is said to exist, at least in rudimentary form, as early as June 1967, when journalist Mel Lyman's first issue of Avatar was pressed. His newspaper carried an advertisement promoting a scheduled event, headlined by two of Boston's earliest psychedelic rock bands, Ill Wind and the Hallucinations, at
1813-514: The scene such as Earth Opera, the Tangerine Zoo , the Art of Lovin', and Ill Wind. Almost immediately following the success of the Bosstown Sound campaign, music critics began to comment on the apparent lack of originality of some of the bands. Another issue discussed was the diversity among Boston's musical artists, which brought to question whether there was an actual effort to create a unified scene or
1862-619: The scene. Examples include the Sir Douglas Quintet , whose music took on more of the character of the San Francisco sound, while yet retaining some of its original Texas flavor, Mother Earth , fronted by female lead singer Tracy Nelson , who relocated to the Bay Area from Nashville, and the Electric Flag , bringing Chicago blues to the Bay Area care of former Paul Butterfield Blues Band guitarist Mike Bloomfield . Steve Miller (who formed
1911-569: The spotlight brought them not well-earned glory but unexpected trauma, which fractured an already-fragile band". Others, like Richie Unterberger, dismissed the bands' work as "poor third cousins to the West Coast psychedelic groups that served as their obvious inspirations". In 1996, Big Beat Records released the compilation album Bosstown Sound, 1968: The Music & the Time , which included an assortment of Bosstown and pre-scene bands. In 2001, Best of
1960-536: The staid WBCN audience sat listening to its usual Muzak, the voice of Frank Zappa asked, 'Are you hung up?' and Cream launched into 'I Feel Free'. That was the beginning of the American Revolution , a daily seven-hour program originating from the dressing room of the Tea Party. The combination of providing an established performance setting and radio exposure made the Tea Party a gig second in importance only to
2009-486: The sudden craze, other major labels like Elektra Records and ABC Records signed their own assortment of bands native to the city. Among them was Eden's Children, which released a Jimi Hendrix -inspired album in 1968 that charted in the Billboard 200 at 196. Apple Pie Motherhood Band deviated from the psychedelic sound, recording two LPs that incorporated an assortment of bluesy originals and covers . Young teen group,
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2058-546: The white bands from the U.S. East Coast (e.g., Blood, Sweat & Tears or Chicago ). Sly & the Family Stone , a San Francisco-based group that got its start in the late 1960s, was an exception, being a racially integrated hippie band with a hefty influence from soul music, hence making use of brass instrumentation. "Rock & roll" was the point of departure for the new music. But well known stars of rock & roll "were being called fifties primitives" by this time. This
2107-487: Was Janis Joplin ." Women, in a few cases, enjoyed an equal status with men as stars in the San Francisco rock scene—but these few instances signaled a shift that has continued in the U.S. music scene. Both Grace Slick (singing with Jefferson Airplane) and Joplin (singing initially with Big Brother & the Holding Company ) gained a substantial following locally and, before long, across the country. Coming of age in
2156-467: Was "a fading world of traditional folk and Brechtian art songs." The entire tone of the new subculture was different. According to biography author Robert Greenfield, "Jon McIntire [manager of the Grateful Dead from the late sixties to the mid-eighties] points out that the great contribution of the hippie culture was this projection of joy. The beatnik thing was black, cynical, and cold." The Beats tended to be cagey, keeping their lives discreet (save for
2205-474: Was a regional identity. By 1967, fresh and adventurous improvisation during live performance (which many heard as being epitomized by the Grateful Dead and by the "cross-talk" guitar work of Moby Grape ) was one characteristic of the San Francisco sound. A louder, more prominent role for the electric bass—typically with a melodic or semi-melodic approach, and using a plush, pervasive tone—was another feature. This questing bass quality has been wryly characterized as
2254-581: Was a veteran disc jockey, songwriter, music-act manager, and concert producer (with an associate, he had produced the Beatles’ last show in their final public tour); he was inspired to revive a moribund radio station, KMPX, in early 1967. Donahue, inaugurating the first FM-radio rock station in San Francisco, intended to showcase this new genre of music. He was uniquely qualified, being savvy and enthusiastic about jazz, R&B, Soul, and ethnic music. An important departure in this new era of "album oriented radio" (AOR)
2303-566: Was among the few Bosstown bands to have a single ("Can't Find The Time" in 1968 and 1969, since covered by the Rose Colored Glass and by Hootie and the Blowfish , and the minor 1969 hit "Brown Arms in Houston") chart on the Billboard Hot 100 . Emerging from the original three MGM-signed groups, Ultimate Spinach—masterminded by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ian Bruce-Douglas—achieved
2352-470: Was perhaps heralded in the live performances of Jefferson Airplane (from 1965 on), who put out an LP record earlier than nearly all the other new bands (August 1966). According to writer Douglas Brinkley, celebrated author Hunter S. Thompson , one of the Bay Area cultural-scene boosters, was a big early fan of the group: "Thompson extolled the sonic energy of the Jefferson Airplane as it pulsed around
2401-510: Was the period when "rock" was differentiating itself from rock & roll, partly due to the upshot of the British Invasion . Among these British acts, according to music journalist Chris Smith, writing in his book on the most influential albums in American popular music , the Beatles inspired the emergence of the San Francisco psychedelic scene following their incorporation of folk rock on
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