The Freeborne was an American

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band formed in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts in 1966. The band was one of the numerous groups associated with the "

Bosstown Sound 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 m ...

", and is noted for releasing one eclectic album, ''Peak Impressions'', in 1967, which exemplified the young members' versatility embedded in psychedelia.

History

The Freeborne was organized from the remnants of two local frat rock groups, the Indigos and the Missing Links. The two groups performed covers of Top 40 radio hits, but key players sought to move on from both bands in hopes of penning original material. From the two bands, the lineup of the Freeborne, a name inspired by the film '' Born Free'', consisted of

Bob Margolin Bob Margolin (born May 9, 1949) is an American electric blues guitarist. His nickname is Steady Rollin'. Biography Margolin started playing guitar in 1964, and his first appearance on record was with Boston psychedelic band The Freeborne, and the ...

(lead guitar), Dave Codd (bass guitar, vocals) Nick Carstoiu (lead singer, rhythm guitar, keyboards), Lew Lipson (drums), and Mike Spiros (keyboards, trumpet), who was not a member of either the Indigos or the Missing Links, but was added for his versatility. In early 1967, the band began playing at music clubs and fraternities before attracting the interest of Barry Richards, a

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

musician who, through his connections with the New York-based Monitor Records, had the Freeborne signed to a recording contract. The album that resulted was titled ''Peak Impressions''. They recorded three of their debut album's songs at ESP studios, and the rest at CBS studios, in New York City. Despite the Freeborne's age range—between ages 17 and 19—the group featured three capable multi-instrumentalists, who played a wide variety of orchestral instruments including piano,

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

, cello, trumpet, flute, and

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

. Coupled with the band's highly

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

theme is traces of

, which Margolin picked up from watching a

Remains Remains or The Remains may refer to: Music *The Remains (band), a 1960s American rock band *The Ramainz, originally The Remains, a Ramones tribute band Albums * ''Remains'' (Alkaline Trio album), 2007 * ''Remains'' (Annihilator album), 1997 * ' ...

concert prior to the Boston act's tour with

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. The album was released in mid-1967 to moderate success on the East coast. However, ''Peak Impressions'' suffered from being associated with the "

", a commercial campaign that advertised groups such as

Ultimate Spinach Ultimate Spinach was a short-lived American psychedelic rock band from Boston, Massachusetts which was formed in 1967. In terms of style and national recognition, the band was one of the most prominent musical acts to emerge from the "Bosstown S ...

, Beacon Street Union, and

Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with Jaso ...

with the intention of competing with the San Francisco Sound. It began with moderate commercial success. A factor that lead to the album's commercial disappointment was the Freeborne's lack of touring, due to the fact that three members were high school students. However, the band opened up for

the Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise w ...

and the Left Banke at a venue called the Boston Tea Party. They also opened up for Tim Hardin and Canned Heat at a venue called

the Psychedelic Supermarket The Psychedelic Supermarket was an underground music venue in Boston, Massachusetts, that was open in the 1960s, and became one of the core establishments of the city's psychedelic rock scene. It stood at 590 Commonwealth Avenue inside a parking ga ...

. After firing their manager, the group lost their contract with Monitor Records, and the prospect of recording two more albums. In late 1968, the Freeborne disbanded though variations of the band continued to perform well into the 1970s. Margolin was the only member of the band to achieve considerable success after the Freeborne, performing with

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

in the 1970s. In 2014, Arf! Arf! Records reissued ''Peak Impressions'' with bonus tracks. The album is now considered one of the better psychedelic pieces to emerge from Boston during the "Bosstown Sound" movement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeborne, The Musical groups established in 1966 Musical groups from Boston Psychedelic rock music groups from Massachusetts