Still, who cares, as Epic were happy with the new ‘professional’ recordings… even if they were 90 per cent identical to what they’d already heard. Delp found the LA smog disagreeable, and actually went back to Scholz’s basement to finalise some vocals.įor even an established band to pull-off this way of working was a ‘maybe’: for a debut album it was unheard of. When Scholz was done, the tapes were taken to Capitol Studios for Delp to sing on, and for the album to be mastered. Scholz, meanwhile, was back in Massachusetts finalising his demos and transferring them to a professional, 24-track format himself. He eventually agreed with Scholz that the LP would be best completed in a basement where the tall Tom even had to bow his head to get from one room to the second, and, in return for a 50/50 co-producer credit, Boylan had the new makeshift ‘band’ doing sessions (for tour practice, as much as anything) at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles and fielding questions from CBS/Epic. The first Boston album is surely the only debut ever that was basically an R&D project, and Scholz later claimed his biggest thrill as an engineer was when he received two warranty cards for Rockmans from… Jeff Beck.įor the album, Scholz found an ally in producer John Boylan. In the 80s, he’d bundle some aspects together in the hugely popular Rockman-brand headphone amp (Distortion+Chorus+Echo-in-1) and EQ racks. His demos had made use of his own custom gear: he had built his own attenuator he called the Power Soak (so he could drive his Marshall head at low volume), the infamous Hyperspace Pedal (only two exist), a crude prototype of a chorus unit mounted in a cigar box, and numerous EQ racks that helped achieve his unique analogue sound. More pressingly, Scholz knew a pro studio could not match his own elaborate demos. The newly formed band passed the audition, and signed a deal for 10 albums over the next six years… as if! And it was only then that Scholz decided on a perfunctory band name he didn’t much care for: Boston. The other Boston members – drummer Sib Hashian replacing Jim Masdea, plus second guitarist Barry Goudreau and bassist Fran Sheehan – only joined properly for the Epic showcase. What he was singing to was simply six years of Tom Scholz’s time. Then again, Delp himself only co-wrote two of the tracks: Smokin’ and Let Me Take You Home Tonight. Even Delp, Scholz claimed, didn’t realise this for 10 years… the singer just assumed there’d been a string of other guitarists, bassists and keyboardists at work on the epic-sounding demos. The demos (apart from the drums) were just all Scholz (and Masdea’s drums) with vocals added by Delp. Some of his demos had been years in the making, perfected in his basement. The thing is, Tom Scholz fervently disagreed. And, all being well, they would re-record the tracks in a ‘proper’ professional studio. ‘Boston’ had to perform a showcase for label execs. A deal – notably with songwriters Scholz and Delp only – was struck. Columbia, and Phonogram were all interested, but it was CBS/Epic Records – also home of Scholz’s hero Jeff Beck – who were keenest. But interest was starting to grow by 1976. He’d sent out dozens of demo tapes over the years of tunes recorded in his basement with Masdea and Delp, only to receive a string of resounding “No”s. Proto disco acts may have worked this way, and Scholz was quick finding out that Boston’s music didn’t fit in there anyway. In the live hotbed of the early 70s, this was out of the norm.
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