B
oston may have become famous
for tender singles like “More Than
a Feeling,” or rollicking epics
like “Foreplay/Long Time,” but
perhaps the most ironic song on the record
was the no nonsense jam “Rock N’ Roll
Band.” Dismissed by the band as three
minutes of “pure fantasy,” the lyrics tell a
story of them being
down on their luck until
a man who “smoked
a big cigar/drove a
Cadillac car/said ‘Boys I
think this band’s out of
sight.’”
obtained a master’s degree at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
in Mechanical Engineering and, at the
time of Boston’s formation, was working
as a product designer for Polaroid. He
played in bands on the side though and
spent his salary on building a personal
recording studio at his house, recruiting
collaborators along the
way, including vocalist
Brad Delp, whose
crystal-clear tenor was
invaluable to Boston’s
music.
“What
began
was one
of the
greatest
capers in
recording
history.”
If only things had been
that simple. For one,
even calling Boston a
“band” was a stretch.
The sonic architect of
its sound was guitarist-
songwriter Tom Scholz,
who to this day has
been Boston’s only
consistent member.
For two, as successful
as Boston’s debut was
(17 million sold in the
US alone), the road to
completion was one
of the most difficult
but also unique in
rock history, and perhaps set a template
for music recording in ways Scholz and
company could never have predicted.
Perhaps fitting for such a recording guru,
Scholz’s original education wasn’t in
music but in engineering. While he was
a classically trained pianist, he originally
The band wasn’t
originally known as
Boston, however. It
originally recorded and
toured under the name
Mother’s Milk, with
no success. Its demo
(mostly recorded alone
by Scholz) was soundly
rejected by numerous
labels before finally
attracting the attention
of CBS records. CBS
wanted to sign Boston,
but under the condition
they fly to Los Angeles
and re-record the
album in a proper
studio. Scholz felt this would undermine his
creative process, but to placate the label
they hired producer John Boylan to “run
interference.” What began was one of the
greatest capers in recording history.
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