Rock And Roll Band
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"Rock & Roll Band" is a song by American
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
written by main songwriter and guitarist
Tom Scholz Donald Thomas Scholz (born March 10, 1947) is an American musician. He is the founder, main songwriter, primary guitarist, keyboardist and only remaining original member of the rock band Boston. He has appeared on every Boston release. Scholz, a ...
and helped out by lead vocalist
Brad Delp Bradley Edward Delp (June 12, 1951 – March 9, 2007) was an American musician who was the original lead singer and frontman of the rock band Boston. He began collaborating with leader Tom Scholz in 1970 and appeared on every album except '' W ...
. The song appears on the band's 1976 self-titled debut. It is one of many songs Scholz worked on in his basement in 1974 and 1975 before Boston got its record contract, five of which eventually appeared on the ''Boston'' album. The "Rock and Roll Band" demo was finished in 1974, along with three of the six. However, Scholz had begun writing the song years earlier, in the early 1970s. The drum parts of this and other early Boston songs were developed by
Jim Masdea Boston is an American rock band formed in 1975 in Boston, Massachusetts, by multi-instrumentalist Tom Scholz, who was joined by vocalist Brad Delp, guitarist Barry Goudreau, bassist Fran Sheehan and drummer Jim Masdea (who was replaced by Sib H ...
, but this is the only song on the ''Boston'' album on which Masdea plays drums. Scholz plays
clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...
and all the guitar parts, including bass guitar, and
Brad Delp Bradley Edward Delp (June 12, 1951 – March 9, 2007) was an American musician who was the original lead singer and frontman of the rock band Boston. He began collaborating with leader Tom Scholz in 1970 and appeared on every album except '' W ...
sings vocals. Boston consistently opened with "Rock and Roll Band" while playing at live concerts.


History

"Rock & Roll Band" is the song that Paul Ahern played for Charlie McKenzie to interest him in the yet unnamed band that was to become Boston. Shortly after, Ahern and McKenzie signed on as the band's managers. ""Rock and Roll Band" is one of several Boston songs with the theme of making music and how music makes them feel. According to
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
critic Vik Iyengar, it" is about the band's "rise from a
bar band A musical ensemble, also known as a music group, musical group, or a band is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumen ...
." In ''The Rough Guide to Rock'', Charles Bottomley calls the song Boston's "self-description." Lyrics supporting this statement include: :''Well we were just another band out of Boston'' :''On the road to try to make ends meet'' :''Playin' all the bars, sleepin' in our cars'' :''And we practiced right on out in the street.'' However, the song's lyrics do exaggerate the band's story, as they spent years of work and rejection to get their recording contract, rather than being suddenly discovered by a record executive who happened to catch a show. Boston's official website acknowledges that the song is "a charming bit of group self-mythology." Scholz himself admits that the song is "pure fantasy" since the band never played live or toured at the time the song was written. According to Scholz, the song was inspired by Masdea telling him of playing in bands in
Hyannis, Massachusetts Hyannis is the largest of the seven villages in the town of Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. It is the commercial and transportation hub of Cape Cod and was designated an urban area at the 1990 census. Because of this, many refer to Hya ...
and dreaming of being discovered. Scholz decided to write a song "about everybody who dreams about that," even though "that's not what happened with Boston." Todd Maternowski claims that the band "set a precedent when they wrote the song "Rock and Roll Band," about the gritty life of an up-and-coming musician, despite never actually having experienced anything of the sort and getting a major record contract before their first live gig."


Critical reception

Billy Baker of the ''
Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' called "Rock and Roll Band" "one of the biggest rock anthems of the 1970s." Scott Tady of ''
Beaver County Times Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-largest l ...
'' described "Rock and Roll Band," " Smokin'" and Boston's first four singles as having "helped set the foundation for classic-rock radio." ''Boston Globes Sarah Rodman credited "Rock and Roll Band" as one of the songs that helped drive sales of ''Boston'' to over 17 million copies. ''
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...
'' called "Rock and Roll Band" a "cleaned-up boogey 'sic''crowd pleaser..." Jamie Reno of ''San Diego'' magazine described it as an "infectious flick-your Bic staple."
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
's Gil Kaufman noted that the song is a "rock-radio staple." ''
Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...
'' states that when the radio plays "Rock and Roll Band" "few can resist indulging in fits of fleet-fingered air guitar and a spirited falsetto sing-along." In describing "the absolute perfection of every song" on Boston's debut album, Brian Thorpe Ferris claimed that "even the fake, cheering crowd on 'Rock & Roll Band' sounds authentic" ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' writer Chris Willman noted that, like all the other songs from ''Boston'', "Rock and Roll Band" "received sizable FM radio airplay" upon its release, and that as of 2007 the song is "still all over the
adio Adio may refer to: Government * Abu Dhabi Investment Office, a government investments and special projects entity based in Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Ca ...
bandwidth." Willman did claim that he considers the song's lyrics to be cringe-worthy. Writing in 2008, Kevin Smith of the ''
Arizona Daily Star The ''Arizona Daily Star'' is an American daily newspaper based in Tucson, Arizona, and owned by Lee Enterprises. It serves Tucson and surrounding districts of Southern Arizona in the United States. History 1877–1925 L. C. Hughes was the ...
'' described it as a "radio standard." In 2011, the radio station Q107 rated "Rock and Roll Band" as the #439 song of all time. ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Michael Gallucci rated it Boston's 6th best song, praising the band's playing like they are "seasoned vets." ''Classic Rock History'' critic Brian Kachejian also rated it as Boston's 6th best song.


Other appearances

The New Duncan Imperials covered "Rock and Roll Band" on their 1993 EP ''We're in a Band''. A downloadable version of the song is available for the video game ''
Rock Band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...
''. It is also available for ''
Guitar Hero World Tour ''Guitar Hero World Tour'' is a 2008 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fourth main installment and the sixth overall installment in the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was launched in North A ...
''.


Personnel

*
Tom Scholz Donald Thomas Scholz (born March 10, 1947) is an American musician. He is the founder, main songwriter, primary guitarist, keyboardist and only remaining original member of the rock band Boston. He has appeared on every Boston release. Scholz, a ...
– rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass guitar,
clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...
* Jim Masdea – drums *
Brad Delp Bradley Edward Delp (June 12, 1951 – March 9, 2007) was an American musician who was the original lead singer and frontman of the rock band Boston. He began collaborating with leader Tom Scholz in 1970 and appeared on every album except '' W ...
– vocals


References


{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock and Roll Band Songs written by Tom Scholz Boston (band) songs 1976 songs Song recordings produced by Tom Scholz Song recordings produced by John Boylan (record producer)