White text on a black background on the band Boston’s website says it all. I never met Brad Delp, Boston’s lead singer, but I watched him four times in concert and listened to him many many thousands of times more. He died Friday at the age of 55.
Anyone of my generation (I’m 47) knows the lead-in chords to Boston’s classic single “More Than A Feeling”, the song that played first on their debut album, which went on to become the best-selling debut album of all time.
A classic rock song, it sounds as good today as it did in 1976 when it was released. The Boston sound is unique, the result of a perfectionist mindset by the Band’s founder Tom Scholz, not incidentally a MIT grad which gave those of us not into Rock ‘n Roll an excuse to make an exception for Boston.
Brad Delp’s voice was also unique, with an amazing range and tonal quality. When he hits the high note on “More Than A Feeling” shivers run up and down my spine.
A band like Boston can not be compared to a band like the Rolling Stones, and thankfully so to those of us who are fans. Boston was (is) always about the music, not fame and fortune. How fitting then, that among the memories flooding the web since the news of Brad’s death are many recollections of how he was just a down-to-earth guy with lots of time for the “little people.”
I, and many other people for whom the song “More Than A Feeling” is the greatest song of all time, will miss the chance we thought we would have this year to hear Brad Delp belt out those memorable lyrics one more time. Live, that is.
We’ll have the recordings of his voice forever.