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“Won't You Let Me Take You On A Sea Cruise” In the summer of 1967, WNAC Radio suddenly changed its call sign to WRKO and switched from “easy listening” to “rock.” To promote their new image and gain support in the Boston market area, they booked the Ramrods and Travis Pike's Tea Party for their inaugural harbor cruise, and began promoting the cruise and the bands, day and night for a month, which provided both bands with even greater name recognition throughout the New England area! |
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“A Very Merry Unbirthday”
At the beginning of 1968, pundits predicted the “Boston Sound” would eclipse
the “San Francisco Sound,” but as far as the Tea Party could see, there
was no “Boston Sound!” The most popular sound in the dance clubs
in the city was Motown, and James Brown and Wilson Pickett were the premiere
headliners. Folk was still big in the coffee house scene, but apart
from Bob Dylan (who had gone electric), folk was no longer considered commercial.
The Psychedelic Supermarket in Kenmore Square almost exclusively booked
out of town acts, paid by their record companies who sought exposure for
their groups in the Boston area. Travis Pike's Tea Party was the
local exception. They played the Supermarket on several occasions,
but primarily as an opening act for groups like Moby Grape, Spirit and
the Fugs.
But what Travis Pike's Tea Party did do, and did better than any other band in New England, was perform concerts of original music which went over with college crowds, high school crowds, coffee house crowds and even art festival crowds — in fact with any crowd, young or old, that actually listened to the music, the lyrics and the performance. So, to those rabid loyalists who insist that the only real, original Boston Sound was Travis Pike's Tea Party, thanks, but no thanks. The Boston sound was as eclectic and inclusive as Travis Pike's Tea Party, easily accommodating a myriad of musicians and styles from the Boston Pops to Henry Mancini! |
Travis Pike's Tea Party rehearsal of "One Ten Blues" on MP3 (3:26)
We were working on the arrangement.
I only sang the song to help everyone
keep his place. I
would have liked to overdub the vocal and release the song,
but my "scratch" vocal could
be clearly heard on every single music track!
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