The Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party was an American psychedelic garage-rock band from Burbank, California, that cut two 1967 singles and a 1968 album.

Members: Travis Fields (vocals), Mike Stevens (guitar), Richard DePerna (bass), Robert “Mike” DePerna (organ), David “Dave” Novogroski (drums)

Background

The Boston Tea Party evolved from a backyard surf band formed in 1963 by keyboardist Robert “Mike” DePerna and his bassist brother Richard DePerna. They first recorded as a sextet with singer Travis Fields, rhythm guitarist Dennis Franklin, lead guitarist Mike Stevens, and drummer Dino Totten. Based in Burbank, California, with no Boston connection, their name derived from the 1773 Tea Act revolt by American colonialists.

(Ironically, they coincided with the emergence of the Bosstown Sound, a media nomenclature for a loose collective of psychedelic bands from the Boston area, including Beacon Street Union, Chamaeleon Church, Eden’s Children, Orpheus, Ultimate Spinach, and the like-minded Phluph.)

1967 Singles

In 1967, the Boston Tea Party linked with Challenge Records, a Hollywood label co-founded by screen icon Gene Autry. Challenge issued their first single: “Words,” a song by Monkees songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. The b-side, “Spinach,” is a Fields/Stevens original. In June 1967, the single also appeared on Big Boss Records with the sides reversed. Their second single, “My Daze” backed with “Rose In the Night,” appeared months later on Vogue International. Fields and Stevens wrote both sides with organist Richard DePerna.

A. “Words” — is a fuzz-toned garage spin on the subsequent Monkees hit, first recorded in 1966 by The Leaves.
B. “Spinach” — an amphetamine-paced psych outburst with off-kilter structure and abstract lyrics. With its manic energy and experimental edge, the track earned belated praise as an early outlier of quirky psych, drawing later comparisons to XTC.

A. “My Daze” — matches fuzz guitar with hazy harmonies and swirling keys in a pop-psych mold.
B. “Rose In The Night” — stretches further into lysergic territory with dreamlike imagery and dense keyboard layering. Both cuts showcased Stevens’ increasingly expressive guitar work.

(In Chicago, an unrelated band called The Bots changed their name to Boston Tea Party for the 1968 brassy soul-pop single “Is It Love” / “Don’t Leave Me Alone,” released on Fona Records with future Aura guitarist Bill Waidner.)

The Boston Tea Party (album)

The Boston Tea Party released their singular album in July 1968 on Flick Records, a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer affiliate.

By this point, the band had slimmed to a five-piece with drummer David Novogroski replacing founding member Dino Totten and rhythm guitarist Dennis Franklin exiting. Recorded at Sidewalk Sound Studios and co-produced by Jerry Styner and Dave Brooks, the album features ten original numbers by Travis Fields, Mike Stevens, and Richard DePerna, blending AM-ready pop hooks with lysergic textures and garage grit.

Opening cut “I’m Tellin’ You” rides stabbing organ and a raspy, double-tracked vocal from Fields over a catchy top-40 groove. The track was issued as a single with “Free Service,” a swirling blend of fuzz and Farfisa also seen in the biker flick The Cycle Savages. “Straighten Up and Fly Right” boasts a punchy, call-and-response hook and an acid-laced instrumental bridge. Fields takes a faux-Brit vocal stance on the brisk “I Found a Way,” while Stevens asserts himself with prickly leads on “Fantasy” and the psych-punk belter “We Have Already Died,” both of which also appear in The Cycle Savages soundtrack.

Side B continues their kinetic fusion with the funky “Just Pretend You’re Sherry” and the raucous “In Their Shoes,” where Richard DePerna’s melodic bass carries the tune. “The Time Being” stretches to nearly seven minutes, unfolding as a minor-key dirge that swells with vocal harmonies and a stormy extended solo by Stevens. The album closes on a melodic high with “Please Be Glad (For What You Have In Your Heart),” an upbeat track with radio potential that further highlights Fields’ expressive vocal timbre.

A1. “I’m Tellin’ You” (2:50)
A2. “Straighten Up and Fly” (4:15)
A3. “I Found a Way” (2:00)
A4. “Fantasy” (2:43)
A5. “We Have Already Died” (2:40)

B1. “Free Service” (2:39)
B2. “Just Pretend You’re Sherry” (3:36)
B3. “In There Shoes” (2:51)
B4. “The Time Being” (6:46)
B5. “Please Be Glad” (2:32)

The band recorded at Sidewalk Sound Studios under Sidewalk Productions. Val Valentin served as director of engineering. Songs were published by Mirby Music and performed by: Travis Fields (vocals), Mike Stevens (guitar), Richard DePerna (bass), Robert “Mike” DePerna (organ), and David Novogroski (drums). Ron Walotsky designed the technicolor floral-framed colonial cover, photographed by Tom DeNove. MGM Records handled distribution.

Though it fell short of chart success, the album later gained collector prestige for its hooky blend of sunshine harmonies, Farfisa freakouts, and garage energy — with highlights like “White Lace and Strange” and “Fantasy” praised by later generations of psych aficionados.

Post-Breakup Activity

After the 1968 Boston Tea Party album and a cameo in The Cycle Savages film, the band dissolved. Drummer David Novogroski resurfaced as a member of two late-’60s underground acts. He briefly played in The American Revolution, a Los Angeles psych combo that issued a self-titled album in 1968 on Flick Records. He later joined Edge, a baroque-psych band that recorded a lone album in 1971 for the tiny Nose label, featuring ex-Revolution bandmates Richard Barcellona and John Keith.

Guitarist Mike Stevens re-emerged in 1970 as part of Atlee, a bluesy psych-hardrock quartet led by bassist Atlee Yeager. Their Flying A Head album appeared on Dunhill. Stevens then joined the hard rock trio Highway Robbery, who cut the riff-heavy cult classic For Love or Money (1972, RCA) alongside bassist John Livingston Tunison IV and drummer–lead vocalist Don Francisco. The record became a minor touchstone among proto-metal collectors and solidified Stevens’ shift toward heavier rock.

No further recordings surfaced under The Boston Tea Party name, though The Cycle Savages soundtrack remains the only other official release to include their songs — “Fantasy,” “We Have Already Died,” and the exclusive “Chained to Your Heart.”

Discography:

• “My Daze” / “Rose in the Night” (1967)
• “Spinach” / “Words” (1967)
• Boston Tea Party (1968)

Sources:

• Discogs: Boston Tea Party
• 45worlds: Boston Tea Party
• 45cat: Boston Tea Party
• RYM: Boston Tea Party
• MusicBrainz: Boston Tea Party