The Boston story gets more interesting as time moves forward.

This guy loses all credibility with me when he says Tom Scholz claimed he wrote all those songs the year before the album was released. I've seen multiple interviews where Tom talks all the way back to songs from 1969 and doing demos after demos and having the songs rejected many times, including versions near their final form. He never claimed he wrote all the songs in that last year. And of all the past band members Tom never seems to say anything bad about Jim, and in fact gives Jim credit for the drum parts and says that Sib copied them note for note. And he highlighted Jim on the third album. The biggest proof for me of Tom's role is the one that matters is that all of these other musicians from the early band, with incredible name recognition, failed to produce anything close to what Boston achieved on any of the first four albums. RTZ was the closest, and it wasn't even in the same galaxy. Barry Goudreau is an amazing guitarist. Absolutely amazing. But he's not a song writer in Scholz's class. The reason Brad gets more credit is because his voice was a one in a million instrument, AND he wrote or co-wrote some of the songs. Where are all the hit songs and song writing credits for any of these guys over the last 45 years? What have they ever done outside Boston that achieved anywhere near the success teed up for them by the first two albums??? The only reason we know who any of them are is because of their time in Boston. They should be thanking Tom and not complaining about the raw deal they got. It's like if the drummer from Nirvana had a lot of talent and if he was just given a chance he could have been a big star in his own right. Oh, wait, I forgot- his name is Dave Grohl...and he did manage to make something of himself. Something huge. Because he has that kind of talent!

Hi John, thanks for putting these videos of Jim Masdea up again. He provides a very interesting perspective on when the Boston drum sound really began. Jim deserves alot of the credit for what he did.

Love this interview, John. What an eye opener. I always believed it was Tom and Brad. Now Jim and your Barry Goudreau interview had more involvement than was ever reported previously. The music industry is a really unfair world.

Sib played Jim's pots note for note. I recall from my brief time living in New England that there is a significant fine and possibly jail time for pronouncing the letter R.

I heard someplace else that the Boston sound was created by the band members before they got together with Tom; Sheehan, Goudreau, Masdea were together in a band before.

Amazing! Great behind the scenes of a band that always had a mystique.

Fun fact: there’s a song from the sixties by a band called The Left Banke. The song: Walk Away Renee. I noticed a descending chord sequence that occurs a few times throughout the span of the tune. This is where Tom got the idea for More Than A Feeling. He didn’t tell me this personally. I heard him say it in an interview once. Call up that Left Banke tune and decide for yourselves what you think.

Would love to hear Tom's take on this.

IMHO - Jim as a drummer might have helped in the arrangements but he shouldn't get writers credit. If he created the melodies and chord progressions too then he should get a writers credit. I am a song writer too, if I was Jim, I would have fought as hard as I could back in 1976/1977 to get my name on the writing credits to the first Boston album. Coming up with drums parts doesn't make you a writer. On my music projects I use all different drummers and I use session drummers all the time. When I send a song in to have the drums recorded, the drummer doesn't get a writers credit when they play the drums, they get a performance credit. Why is this coming out now? I wonder if this a case of sour grapes. But what do I know? I was not there when they made the music.

So interesting to hear about the creative process. I've heard Elton John talk about making 'mistakes' and how they can then end up being part of the song because they sounded good.

Tom never once said "Nobody else worked on this album but me". There's multiple instances of him talking about how he didn't play the drums. He never once claimed to play every single instrument on the album, only "most". Between this and the narcissist comment, which he completely contradicted by talking about Tom "feeling bad" for him when Epic wanted him out, I'm really starting to lose respect for Jim.

I love getting the back stories from the perspectives of the people that were there back in the day creating these timeless musical classics! This is one of my favorite channels🤘🤘

Very interesting, continued, comments by Jim. I wish Tom would come forward here to either refute or confirm and add to these comments from his perspective... But, softened up with time/age I don't see that happening with Tom... ...Once again, a very nice job John! I love your interviewing style very much!!

The most important question was asked about composition. So Jim what parts did you write? He never really answered that question. We jammed, etc. Parts are typically an arrangement, not song composition. Legally a song copyright is a fixed melody and set of lyrics. Tom could have played an acoustic gtr or piano and sang the melody (which he likely did) and sent that in for US copyright office. A reggae drummer could have come in and changed the feel and arrangement of More than a feeling, but it would not make him a co-writer of the song. So if Jim did not write any of the lyrics or vocal melody, he did not write songs on the 1st Boston album. If Jim had that writing talent. More songs of that quality would appear on Jim's own album projects. The same argument was made by Paul Stanley about Peter Criss being the main writer of Beth. If Peter fully wrote that (as he claimed) he would have been able to come up with many more. But for Jim to not initially get performance credit was really disrespectful of Tom.

I have a demo recording of 5 songs from Jim and Tom. I think Barry Goudreau was involved, not sure who played Bass and Brad Delp sings. These were recordings from 1969-1973. The Songs are "Foreplay", "Don't be afraid", "She's a looker", "Talkin to the wall", "San Fransisco Day" I think this is supposedly when they rented out a studio, before Tom built his. Very James Gang like tunes. I've always felt that Jim got hosed on that whole album. The very first issues of that album didn't even credit Jim for "Rock and Roll Band" on the back cover until later. Supposedly Jim left and became a ship Captain according to Tom and didn't want anything to do with the music business. I'm glad these stories are coming out because there is so much Drama surrounding the members of Boston and Tom is constantly defending himself, when that happens you start to doubt the story a bit.

Very interesting. Makes complete sense.

Why now? Let’s say Mr Masdea has a point. Why has he waited 45 years to tell his side?

3 songs were recorded in LA ... "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" ( Brad Delp ), "Disco Maddness" ( Sib Hashian ), Unknown Song ...

1. Yes, Tom is on record that Rock & Roll Band us a nod to Jim Masdea and his gigging in the area. It's why Tom left Jim's drumming work on that song. 2. Yes, Jim is correct about Sib's bass drum/compressor/cymbals issues on tape. 3. What the former members didn't understand (or didn't want to understand) was, Boston was the Tom Scholz Project. Scholz is the one who paid for or built the recording devices and tape decks. He was the engineer and producer and played almost all the instruments on almost all HIS songs. Not common knowledge but Tom & Brad were the only two guys signed to the original EPIC deal. The other guys were essentially session guys, most of whom went out on tour to support Tom & Brad's albums and they paid accordingly. How I see it: instead of these guys being grateful and thankful for the opportunity to get their names out nationally and work with a larger pool of musicians to create/live THEIR OWN musical DREAMS and visions like Tom Scholz had done, they're upset because they couldn't live off the musical tit of Tom Scholz. Tom is Boston & vice versa. In retrospect, Tom woulda likely been better off naming this music project "The Tom Scholz Band" and it would've saved him alot of grief. Barry Goodreau successfully moved on with his own musical dreams and adventures and its too bad the others didn't.

Boston 1st Album is amazing. Outstanding. Unbelievable. Dont Look Back (The Song) is Awesome Feelin Satisfied is solid. Other then that Bostons soul died. Just the Hot take of a 96er

He should get together with Mike Love. They would make quite the powerhouse.

Goudreau claimed Masdea had abandoned drums to play keyboards about the time of the album’s release.

Another drummer that no one else thinks to interview. Bless ya 1000 times for that!

Tom never said that he wrote all those songs a year before the album came out, that's just a lie right there. There are numerous interviews of him saying that the songs have been around for years.

No wonder this guy was booted from the band. He lives in a fantasy world about how music is credited. He was probably constantly in Tom’s face about being paid for his perceived contributions. If anyone deserved to be paid as much as Tom, it would be Brad, the voice and soul of those songs - not some random guy who tapped a beat for Tom to play along with.

Perhaps Jim Masdea can come up with some of these early demos he keeps talking about and taking credit for.

Did Jim also write the Keyboard parts to Foreplay? This guy is taking it too far! 1st two tours were Sib, and he played great. Jim played a bit and not very well on third stage live! Stop the nonsense!

I like how some people feel that the percussion parts aren't as important as the guitar, or vocals or any other instrument. Whether Tom and Brad were the only original members signed to the contract, I don't feel it is right to place people's pictures on an album if they aren't a part of the band, not just session musicians. Once you've asked people to join, they should be just as much a part of the band as anyone else. For Jim to have helped write the parts and then those parts get used but he doesn't? That is theft. Sadly, the music business is as corrupt and lacking in integrity as Corporate America...

I believe he was there and was a friend, and did help make those songs? How much % ? Unless he played guitar or piano, what except the tempo, maybe some arranging? Did he write any lyrics? Is he delusional? Looking for a settlement? Looking for credit where credit is due? Interesting story, you have to ask more specific questions about the writing of the music?

I chatted with Jim on Facebook he told me The story of CBS/Epic forcing Tom to fire him was smoke and mirrors .There has to be truth to this of course Tom is Boston but why bot come clean about everything up to and including Brad's death. No i know he did not kill Brad ... but he was very hard on him in the end!

I wish the other guys would come and share their feelings too. John says he'd be happy to hear their side.

I think Jim has a point here. Sounds like alot of the ideas came from all the members...Tom refined the ideas in his studio and replayed them over and over. Basically it means alot of the guys would not receive performance credits for their input when the record would finally be released.

I allway new there was more to that than Tom was telling

The more he talks the more I believe this guy.

Didn’t Jim tour with Boston in the early 80’s?? I think he did, but I never knew why Sib didn’t?

Everyone knows the Boston songs go way back before 1976. This is not new news surely?

Blimey, this is a long time (no pun intended) to feel bitter about getting the sack!

It's called micro management, and Tom is the manager.

There’s only a statute of limitations if you subject yourself to a statute, and who says you have to follow statutes? Statutory Law is 1 law form, there are others

Nice job Love when the social narrative and the snowflakes who defend it get triggered when another side of the story is presented by someone who was there.

What he is saying overall is he and Tom worked the basics out for those early Boston songs in their various incarnations from 1970-75 just the two of them. Jim created drum bits for the intros, verses, choruses, bridges, turnarounds, intervals, the fills and those drums parts are just as important as the chords, the melodies, and the lyrics. The three basic parts of music is melody, harmony and rhythm. Jim's contribution was the rhythm parts. But obviously Tom doesn't see it that way. Tom is like John Fogerty who tries to take credit for every note, every word and every beat on ever CCR song (even the arrangement of all the cover tunes right down to each note, each beat and every word) In John's mind no matter how Doug Clifford arrived at the drum beats on the CCR records, they are not his property, they are John's, and belong to him as intellectual property. If a drummer agrees with that and allows it, then it becomes a legal matter of ownership by the guy leading the band ie Tom or John etc, but morally it is wrong. Fogerty has lied about this for years and claimed that he taught the other CCR members how to play each song, note for note, beat for beat, contending that the other three band members had ZERO input on his songs on CCR albums. To hear him tell it one minute he taught Doug how to play the drums, then taught him how to play each song, down to each beat, each fill and every cymbal crash. THEN he claims that he went back in the studio and wiped Doug's drum bits and and replayed them, just as he claimed teaching Stu Cook to play the bass and Tom Fogerty to play rhythm guitar, teaching them their chords and notes on every song and then wiping their parts and replaying all of them himself - which is ALL bullshit! All three of the other CCR members contributed to the CCR sound both instrumentally and vocally in the background vocal department. (John has claimed all CCR songs are all him on BGV's which is a complete LIE!) Boston has the same situation with Tom saying nobody did anything on those songs except him (with the exception of Brad Delp's lyrics) I'd like to see this channel interview Doug Clifford and Stu Cook and Fogerty about CCR and have the truth dragged out as to what really happened. Sadly Tom Fogerty is no longer with us but he was a great artist in his own right as a musician, singer and songwriter. He was always in the shadow of his younger brother John whose talents were huge for sure but the sibling rivalry created a very toxic environment in CCR with John's control issues and his "I have to be in center stage on everything," and his enormous ego trip having to be the only talented person in the band CCR which is just crap. If that's true he could have did it all himself and produced CCR albums without anyone's assistance. None of his solo albums even come close to CCR. If it was true he could have hand picked session players to create CCR recordings and his efforts at doing just that very thing have produced zero results - none of those albums sound like CCR. If he had to re-do all the CCR tracks on every song, WHY do the LIVE recordings of CCR sound GREAT? He didn't re-do any of their tracks - instrumentally or vocally! The proof is in the pudding - the other guys in CCR were more than adequate and in fact they were great! The trio provided a great backdrop for John to play and sing over both in the studio and on stage as well as in the woodshed working up those songs. The truth lies in what John told Dick Clark on Bandstand in 1969, that "we all contribute in the writing and the arranging of our songs I write, they add their ideas on each song and bring their individual talents to our sound." I believe that's what happened in Boston too! It was NOT all Tom Scholtz!

To carry the resentment all these years isn't healthy. At this stage of the game it doesn't really matter. Tom has the big bag of money and this guy has memories. I would like to hear Tom rebut this or say it's true.

I'd hate to be in his position...... the drums can be considered part of the writing, especially the unique fills that punctuate the music..but often musicians input is ignored in favour of the chords and melody... .. the smiths' drummer received a big payout, didn't he, i wonder if it was a similar situation.....

No doubt Jim is telling the truth, Tom is an egomaniac and didn’t want to lose more money to another writer/musician. Tom was no drummer and those drumming parts are a HUGE part of that Boston sound!

Boston went DOA after the 2nd album. I have a STEM background like TS does. I get to the facts/reality because electronic circuits will fail if you 'fudge.' So here's the truth. 1) There was an opportunity NOT to shroud the music behind a band effort. If TS thought it was that good he would not have allowed the first album to showcase the other members. 2) If TS was 100% convinced the project was that good why hire back the same members involved in the 1969 demo tape that failed? 3) If TS was honest with himself and said "I don't need anyone else so the project is going to be called 'Scholz' and not 'Boston' and never used any of the same members, ever, if they were simply 'hired guns' because, as all of us with music industry experience know, there are scores of very talented people desperate to make any kind of money from music. Very few do. So TS had SCORES of talented 'hired guns' to work with. I also had a 1st career as a rock guitarist. The 'curse of the limelight-seeking ego' kills a lot of bands. Let me say it again. Boston died after the 2nd album. And the 2nd album, unlike Led Zeppelin's work, sounded unchanged from the 1st album. So if Boston was TS's 'baby' he is not too creative. Only in a 'one hit wonder' fashion. Compare to the songwriting and the variety of music of bands like Green Day, Stone Temple Pilots, etc. The perception of TS is "curse of the limelight-seeking ego" and it's freaking unfortunate he enjoys treating people poorly. Maybe that's why his success in the business after album #1 has been practically non-existent. .

I find jim to be credible voice. Tom was the head chef in the kitchen and he just hired and fired people as he needed to get the meals prepared and get his various projects done. It’s not a crime but tom really never had a band call Boston. it was just a basement recording project

Doesn't matter who wrote what, without Sholtz's business mind there would have never been a Boston or a record deal.

I’ll have to go back and check, but I feel like there’s a comment in the Third Stage liner notes about Jim making a “comeback”. Apparently Tom and Jim were still good friends in ‘86. I’m still torn as to how much of what he says is delusional thinking. Always looked at Scholz as being an evil genius, working in his basement for years making the Boston sound. Would love for a lot of this input from Jim to be true to bring Tom down a few notches. I know he’s a bleeding heart tree-hugging liberal and I have no time for his political bullshit. Kinda made me rethink how much a Boston fan I was anyway. Hoping Jim is telling the truth hear. Would love to see Tom taken to court and lose his shirt a bit.

Bottom line: Just not buying it. I'm sure scraps are true, but the twists he wrings from them I don't find make his case (against TS).

so Jim has platinum, gold or silver records awarded to him?

Jim may be telling the truth but man is he ever pissed off about the whole Boston concept.

With this guy's attitude I can see why Tom got tired of him....

Some of what Jim’s saying is true. Where I disagree with him is that although coming up with drum parts is a part of composition, he overstates it. When writing chord sequences, they often have an inherent rhythm to them when played alone, without drums. A drummer then adding to that is often working within a rhythmic pattern inherent or implied in the chord progression (not always, but often). So it’s clear to me that Jim solidified and finalised the drum parts with Tom, but not necessarily sufficient to warrant a writing credit. Because Jim’s not a humble man, it may make what he’s saying hard to swallow, but there is some truth in there. If a drum part significantly changes the feel of a song and was thought of by someone other than the main writer, then they deserve a co-writing credit, but otherwise not. In my view, Jim’s contributions likely were helping to round out the songs Tom had written, but not altering them enough to be considered a co-writer of the song.

After listening to and reading interviews from Jim Masdea, Barry Goudreau, and Fran Sheehan, I no longer wonder why, after the first two incredible Boston albums, that their music & songs started a down-hill decline in quality. After Third Stage, Boston albums are barely that awesome Boston sound, and they are difficult to listen to, the stuff is so bad. Basically, Tom Scholz fired Boston and was left with little. He had a gold mine and blew it up, to spite everyone and prove his power. Now there's nothing.

It shows in how weak Third Stage was compared to the first two albums; the band lost a lot of its dynamic on the third record. The songs were kind of generic and contrived sounding, at least to my ears. The band I think of as Boston only did two albums.

This depresses me so much. As a massive Boston fan with my whole arm sleeved up on the don’t look back cover-the band that made me pick up a guitar-it kills me to think this happened to jim. However I did know his importance in the band so I hope he doesn’t think true fans don’t know. Jim you friggen rock buddy!

With all due respect, Masdea is delusional. If you listen to all 3 parts of this interview, and you truly know the inside workings of Boston, you will see what I mean. If you distill down what Masdea is saying, he is basically saying that Tom stood on his shoulders in making the first album. If you believe Masdea, then Tom was just along for the ride. IF that were in fact true, Tom would have been ejected from the start.... instead of becoming the multi-millionaire that he is. The band would have consisted of Masdea, Goudreau, Delp, and Sheehan. But that didn't happen. I am in fact a working drummer, and although we do lay down the rhythm section, I dare not call it the "foundation" of the song. That is silly.... which is precisely why there have been many drummers in Boston, but you have only ever seen ONE guy standing in Tom's spot on stage. Peart wrote almost all music for Rush.. this is an example of what Masdea is saying happened (in his mind) with Boston. The truth is, Boston was, is, and always be the Tom Scholz project, period. Nothing more. This may sound harsh but, everyone else that was involved with Boston, was lucky to have ever been a part of it, and along for a hell of a ride! Tom was the mastermind behind everything that is Boston, including the invention of the Rockman, which is responsible for the signature guitar sound, as im sure you all know. Everyone else that was involved, (yes including Delp), were hired hands. That is why Tom is the only musician that is a member in every version of the band. He swapped players out like he swapped his socks. Tom was the one that put in most of the work.. he literally recorded, played most of the instruments, produced, mixed, and mastered most of Boston's hits in his own basement. Boston is Tom's baby. Don't get me wrong.... without the other guys, especially Brad, Barry, and Sib, Boston would possibly be nowhere near where they are, we will never know. Brad Delp had one of the best rock voices (if not THE best) on the planet. But they were all hand picked by Tom. By all accounts, Tom is an extremely controlling perfectionist, and protects Boston by all means necessary (including lawsuits).. but I can't criticize the guy for that. The music industry (see Corporate America) is a monster and he knows it. Personally, (and not that my opinion matters), but Scholz and Delp double-handedly propelled Boston to the stratosphere, and gave us some of the best Rock and Roll ever recorded. Masdea was lucky enough to be a part of Boston for a small period of time. Right place, right time... not the "creator of the first album" like he claims.. ffs.

all he's said isthe saame thing over and over in 4 parts. this is just the drum parts. not the writing itself. Unless the drums have a priominant part, hence we will rock you. No

Despite the interviewer's body language (clearly a Scholz Kool-Aid drinker), Jim did a great job making his case.

Tom is worth 90 million the rest of the band died broke

Jealous much?

This guy is totally out to lunch. Drum parts aren't "intellectual property" and aren't considered part of the songwriting. Sitting there and playing drums while Tom wrote the melodies isn't songwriting. Some bands like REM gave the drummers a cut of publishing royalties just to be cool, but many more don't.