This book reviews the cultural history of Boston in the year 1968. In respect to this site that means two chapters concerning the Bosstown Sound.

Before we get into the two chapters, let's talk a minute about the other material. All the issues discussed in the book will be valuable for anyone to understand the zeitgeist of Boston and the cultural background that the Bosstown Sound sprouted from.

Ryan talks mostly about Mel Lyman a guru of sorts that was a creature of the times. I never understood the fascination of the man but plenty of others were enamored by him and he is worthy of attention. There is some Van Morrison material but not nearly as much as the title and cover would suggest.

Other topics are: Peter Wolf, The Boston Strangler, Jim Kweskin Jug Band, TV show - What's Happening, Mr. Silver, The Thomas Crown Affair, Titicut Follies documentary, Harvard/Leary/LSD, James Brown at Boston Garden, and the hippies on the common.

But what do we really care about? Ya, the music.

The great thing about Walsh is that he doesn't just rehash what has been said in the past like everyone else. I include myself in there too. He went out and got primary sources and seemed to talk to everyone still alive to get fresh insight and the extra details that have been missing. Chapters four and five, which comprise sixty pages, focus on the Bosstown Sound and the Boston Tea Party.

Chapter 4 - Paul Revere is Shamed; Being a Brief History of the Bosstown Sound.

Walsh goes into the origin stories of the Ultimate Spinach, Earth Opera, Beacon Street Union and Orpheus very briefly. He proceeds through the arc of the Bosstown Sound rise and fall.
One notable admission from John Landau who crucified the Bosstown Sound: "In hindsight, Landau admits that he might have been too rough on some of the musicians, and that the whole debacle wasn't their fault." Well, duh, and that's not even enough of an apology.

He writes of the Lost and Ted Meyers, even better for this is to go to Meyers own book. Info on Ted Meyers and book.
There's a few post mortems on the respective groups.
He doesn't really go into the music at all but more the personalities and the situations that the Bosstown Sound hype created for the bands.

Chapter 5- The White Light Underground.

Then it is Ray Riepen's time. He has quite a story and was right at the center of things in 1968. Walsh does well here, outlining the Riepen road to club and radio ownership.

Jonathan Richman was there with the Velvet Underground so he gets some attention.

There's a lot of detail in this chapter and is a worthy read for Bosstown Sound fans.

Walsh comes back to Riepen on page 215 as he relates the origins of WBCN. That's another seven pages that are specific to the Bosstown Sound.

Bottom line is that as a Bosstown Sound fan you should read this book.

The book is available on Amazon - Astral Weeks.