Boston guitarist Tom Scholz has shared a rare live recording of “More Than a Feeling,” captured during the band’s 2017 Hyper Space tour — and it offers a glimpse of Boston onstage that fans have never officially been given before.
The recording arrives as Boston celebrates the 50th anniversary of their legendary self-titled debut album, which was released on August 25, 1976. Earlier this week, the band announced an expanded edition of Boston featuring previously unreleased “lost demos.”
Now Scholz has reached further into the vaults, sharing what he calls “one of the last available recordings” of the band performing its signature song live.
In a new Facebook update shared August 27, he explained that the recording isn’t a polished studio reconstruction, but an unvarnished document of the band in concert.
“Everyone is familiar with the recording of ‘More Than a Feeling’ Brad [Delp] and I performed in 1976, so now, 50 years later, I’d like to offer one of the last available recordings of the song performed live by the band Boston in 2017,” he detailed.
“This is not a studio remix of a multitrack recording, but the actual stereo feed from the mixing console to the sound system speakers. The mistakes (mostly mine), and oddities of a live mix in a large venue are all there. Gary Pihl has edited some actual video footage from the show. Enjoy!”
The release is notable because, despite Boston’s extensive history on the road and the existence of numerous unofficial concert recordings, the band has never issued an authorized live album.
But Scholz’s post ultimately looks far beyond the 2017 performance. Fifty years after Boston transformed his career, he’s still reflecting on just how unlikely that breakthrough was.
“In 1975, with singer Brad Delp and drummer Jim Masdea, I finished my final demo recording number six of my songs that were recorded, arranged, played and produced the way I wanted to hear them. I wasn’t expecting any success,” he explained in the Facebook update. “My demos had been universally rejected for years — now I was just making one last recording of my best songs before I threw in the towel at age 29.
“I was not surprised when almost every record company rejected them again — including Epic,” Scholz remembered. “By now, I figured my musical tastes were just a lot different than most people’s, but surprisingly, after Epic had a good listen to “More Than a Feeling,” Brad and I received a contract offer. (Thank you Tom Werman at Epic for having ears!)”
Even then, Scholz wasn’t convinced that signing a record deal would lead to a hit. After years of rejection, he had little reason to expect otherwise. What he did have was the chance to finally make what he considered a real record — albeit one that was still being created in his basement.
The rest is rock history. Boston became a blockbuster, “More Than a Feeling” became an enduring classic with a memorable electric guitar riff, and the music Scholz had nearly abandoned ended up reaching millions of people.
Half a century later, he’s still hearing from listeners about what those songs have meant to them.
“After six years of discouragement, Boston suddenly blanketed the radio airwaves! The ultimate success was the result of you, our listeners and fans,” he said. “The variety of stories I’ve heard of people who were helped through hard times by this music (I’m one of those stories!), and the number of lives that have been saved by the donations made possible, have all made the enormous work effort more than worth it.
“Thank you all for an amazing run.”
