Boston Tea Party 1967

1967. It was the Summer of Love in SF, but in comparatively provincial Boston, times were different. In June, a riot erupted in Roxbury and concerned citizens were surprisingly perplexed. That autumn, over in the Fenway, Yaz hit for the Triple Crown and Sox barely lost the World Series. In close proximity to each, the Boston Tea Party music venue was in its first year of programming psychedelic rock. Short-lived, it was then located in a century-old structure on Berkeley St. in the South End--a building that had once been a synagogue and later Unitarian meeting house/mission, reflective of neighborhood changes. It was a unique space in a culturally fragmented city, and locals would gather there along with hippies and intellectual imports, all getting along. Of special significance, post-Nico Velvet Underground was embraced as if a house band.

The handbill/flyer on display, with its organic forms designed by Lightship Productions and printed on very thin paper, advertised a show for August 4-5 ‘67. Headliner The Peanut Butter Conspiracy was yet another foodstuff-named psychedelic act from L.A. I’m more interested in the openers on those evenings, The Bagatelle. Described as an “integrated” band when Boston was anything but, these nine musicians were part of the loosely affiliated “Bosstown Sound” being marketed at the time. There is not much information on this band, but they did release one album, 11PM Saturday, on ABC Records, in 1968. Featuring many covers and live takes, it is soulful, jazzy, even big band, and sounds quite wonderful in warm analogue on vinyl. Sort of an alternate current from the era. 

For background and context on the Boston Tea Party venue and these times in the region, see Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968, by Ryan H. Walsh (2018).