The Beantown Legacy

The Boston area has always had a reputation for good music, and the passing of two individuals from opposite ends of the spectrum amply illustrates the point.

Former Boston lead singer Bradley Delp apparently committed suicide several weeks ago. Although I really haven't paid any attention to his career since the 1970s, his voice is a staple on classic rock stations across the country. The first Boston album is a rock and roll masterpiece, so well done that the band could never improve on it, and Delp's strong melodic vocals are a prominent part of the mix. "More Than A Feeling" is the best known cut, showcasing both the voice and the precise, electrifying guitar solos that were Tom Scholz' trademark, but as you run down the list of tunes on the album, nearly every one has become a classic. Unfortunately, the band drowned in its own hype by creating a standard that was just too good to be true. Almost like the so-called "One-ders" - the bands that materialize long enough to cut a record before disappearing into the mist - Boston's legacy is just one magnificent album, which would not have been possible without Bradley Delp's voice.

Long before Tom Scholz started crafting leads in his Wayland basement, John B. "Fritz" Richmond was a vital part of the 1960s "folk" scene in Cambridge, the undisputed master of the washtub bass as well as the jug. Besides backing such legendary Boston area "folkies" as Eric Von Schmidt, Tom Rush and others, Fritz Richmond helped found the The Jim Kweskin Jug Band in 1961. Although it may seem hard to believe that an empty Clorox or juice container can, in fact, be a musical instrument, Richmond was able to coax incredible melodies out of the plastic, including several amazing solos on Prairie Home Companion in the recent past. After the Jug Band broke up in 1968, Richmond moved to California where he worked as a sound engineer for Elektra and recorded with musicians like the Doors, Ry Cooder, and Jackson Browne among others.

Two dramatically different talents from two separate eras, yet they were both part of Boston's legacy.