The Psychedelic Supermarket was an

underground music Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground music is intimately tied to popular music culture as a whole, so there are important tensions within underground ...

venue in Boston, Massachusetts, that was open in the 1960s, and became one of the core establishments of the city's

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 ...

scene. It stood at 590 Commonwealth Avenue inside a parking garage that was converted into a club by promoter George Papadopoulo in 1967. The Psychedelic Supermarket was active for two years, before its closing. The venue was established in August 1967 by promoter George Papadopoulo. Papadopoulo, who was already an owner of a popular Boston-based

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

club called the Unicorn, hastily put together the Psychedelic Supermarket in an abandoned parking garage to cash in on the scheduled performances dropped by the Crosstown Bus after it was shut down by police. On September 8, 1967, the Supermarket opened to an eight-day stay by

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

, just as the

group was preparing to record their second

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Disraeli Gears ''Disraeli Gears'' is the second studio album by the British rock band Cream. It was released in November 1967 and reached No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart. Search "Cream" in ''Name of Artist'', and No. 1 on the Swedish and Finnish charts. The albu ...

''. Cream utilized this time to practice their new material, including "

Sunshine of Your Love "Sunshine of Your Love" is a 1967 song by the British rock band Cream. With elements of hard rock, psychedelia, and pop, it is one of Cream's best known and most popular songs. Cream bassist and vocalist Jack Bruce based it on a distinctive b ...

" and "

Strange Brew ''Strange Brew'' (also known as ''The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew'') is a 1983 Canadian comedy film starring the popular '' SCTV'' characters Bob and Doug McKenzie, portrayed by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, who also served a ...

", before showcasing themselves to a national audience.

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...

, at the time using her real name Donna Gaines, debuted in this venue as lead singer of a rock band named "The Crow". However, for what it offered with major musical acts, the Psychedelic Supermarket's greatest shortcoming was its need of renovation and refurbishing. The venue was described as a "very industrial place" that had walls littered with

album covers An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to either the printed paperboard covers typically used to package sets of and 78-r ...

, no windows, and could hold between 200 and 300 patrons, but in its beginning stages the Supermarket had no seats installed. Perhaps the only positive of being situated in a parking lot was the elevated ceiling which allowed for more lucrative light shows. Throughout its existence, the venue featured a mixture of nationally recognized acts such as the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

Moby Grape Moby Grape is an American rock band founded in 1966, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting, and who collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz with rock and psychedelic music. They were ...

, and Country Joe and the Fish, and local Boston bands like Eden's Children,

the Freeborne The Freeborne was an American psychedelic rock band formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1966. The band was one of the numerous groups associated with the "Bosstown Sound", and is noted for releasing one eclectic album, ''Peak Impressions'', in 19 ...

, and

Listening Listening is giving attention to a sound or action. When listening, a person hears what others are saying and tries to understand what it means. The act of listening involves complex affective, cognitive and behavioral processes. Affective proce ...

. In 1969, Papadopoulo closed the original site of the Unicorn Coffee House (733-825 Boylston Street,

Back Bay, Boston Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and th ...

) and moved its operations into the Psychedelic Supermarket. The venue did not stay open for too long thereafter as Boston's psychedelic rock scene, also known as 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 ...

, was on a decline. The building was converted into a

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

known as the Nickelodeon, before being demolished for a science lab for

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Psychedelic Supermarket Music venues in Boston Psychedelic rock